DaveO

I personally wouldn't call this much of an 'article'; it's an advertisement for aikido. Not that that's a bad thing; I've a dear friend in Castle Rock and have heard good things about this dojo.

Still; the whole 'make friends with your attacker' thing irritates me - if that was so easy; conflict resolution would be a cinch. It also irritates me that the writer is blending the idea of a physical attack whith what seems to be abusive/agressive co-workers - two very, very different things.

Making friends is all well and good, but that's up to the attacker. Keep in mind that he is the one that initiates the attack and carries it out to varying degrees of success depending upon circumstance/skill/luck etc. IOW; he's the one that makes the determination to use violence on another human being to get what he wants and if he's foiled in that; 'friends' is the last thing he generally wants to be - trying to 'make friends' could easily open a defender up to a much more common desire: payback. Remember - all he wanted was your money and was willing to slice your a$$ to get it - you were a total ignorant a***ole to stop him; therefore it's all your fault. Sound crazy? Well, that's what a street hood thinks like.

All this said, the idea of making friends is a good one; albeit a total cliche; as the previous poster said. In a workplace against jerks; maybe. Against a physical attacker; forget it - find a hole, get through it, get out of there. Take him out if necessary. If you feel bad about his feelings; you can send him a card later - I'm sure he'll cherish it.