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Old 07-20-2008, 09:28 PM   #42
mathewjgano
 
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Dojo: Tsubaki Kannagara Jinja Aikidojo; Himeji Shodokan Dojo
Location: Renton
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Re: Violence Under the Pretext of Love

Quote:
Andrew Hanson wrote: View Post
Would you not call MMA or other arts being part of a group that is "tougher" than Aikido? That is the essential question here. If people see Aikido as tougher than according to psychological research on bullying, then yes, we should have more bullies. Besides trying to hold power over others, one of the common attributes of bullying that is found consistently among research is being part of a "tough" group.
My take on Aikido is that it is not what most people would call tough. That's a slippery concept though in that I feel like Aikido is tough. The ability to remove the ego and let things slide (as opposed to forcing some "lesson" by injuring someone, for example) is far tougher than reacting violently...even when that violence is in the guise of cold calculating sadism. Self control is the toughest thing a human can practice, in my opinion, but all too often dominance is seen as equal to toughness.

Quote:
The problem with competition removing bullying is that it is counter to research on aggression. There are no safe forms of aggression. For instance, I think everyone has seen the classic, or heard, about beating a pillow instead of a person. This has been statistically shown to INCREASE aggression though, and in turn increases aggression against people as well. Because it enforces aggressive behavior .... there is no such thing as "getting out of your system" ..... at least not with aggression.
That makes sense to me. I would view the pillow beating option as a band-aid option, temporary at best. It makes sense that acting on those feelings of aggression would actually strengthen the neurological connections which propogate them.

Quote:
My point is that there is no such thing as a simple answer.
Amen to that! You and I are of like minds on this as far as I can tell. My observations in everyday life fit perfectly with what you're describing here about agression and competition.

Last edited by mathewjgano : 07-20-2008 at 09:31 PM.

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