Quote:
George S. Ledyard wrote:
Hi Mary,
It's interesting to see what so-called "threats" people choose to focus on.
environment is polluted, their diets are poisonous, our health deteriorates and medical costs soar. We are far more likely to die from cancer or heart disease than from some hypothetical violent attack
Tens of thousands of people die every year in auto accidents yet you don't see people attending defensive driving classes three times a week at night in their spare time
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Frankly - though I couldn't have admitted at the time - a big reason for me to start any Martial Art was the "threat" to my pride of the
feeling of being unable to take care of myself in a scrap. I know the real threats that MA could help me with even in those days are negligible, but I had the muscle memory of being in 3rd grade and backing down from the older kids who were terrorizing the scene on playground/schoolbus etc. I've talked to enough others who feel the same way, whether or not they're comfortable sharing it a group, that I think this is big part of what gets many of us involved. Then like many of us here, we find lots more reasons to stay . Today, the benefit I get goes far beyond whatever fighting skill that I might have...but I wouldn't have gotten here if I hadn't believed that it was possible to get the fighting skills I wished for in 3rd grade.
It's not logical, it's emotional. Logic comes in later to justify - Aikido fit with my personal philosophy, I could tell myself all along that I was there for more than the fighting...but I wouldn't have had the dedication that kept me coming back through all the plateaus on the learning curve if fighting ability wasn't part of the promise.