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Old 01-26-2010, 10:48 PM   #16
David Orange
Dojo: Aozora Dojo
Location: Birmingham, AL
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,511
United_States
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Re: Matt Thorton recounts an experience with Aikido

Quote:
Kevin Leavitt wrote: View Post
AND "do we understand our own criteria for evaluating our training objectives?"
When the topic is actual war combat (as opposed to "combat" where someone is pointing a finger at you), I know you're talking a whole nother level.

For me, it's just the real world of a rather dangerous hometown filled with some crazy sobs who are liable to do literally anything on a sudden impulse--baseball bats, knives, pistols, sticks, medieval swords. You meet some pretty crazy people around my part of the world, who act friendly when they find out you have some kind of black belt, but they're always really sizing you up and wondering how you would react to this or that sudden attack. And if they think they have a chance, they might just swing a bottle at your head or slash at you with a knife. And there are criminals who actually plot out robbery methods like football plays, to get a victim between two guys in a tight space before he knows it, and then bring out weapons.

I have found myself in a number of suddenly very dicey situations over the years and have so far come out of each one with all my money and dignity intact without having to fight it out. I credit that more to God's taking care of me than to my taking care of myself, but I've always thought that one thing God did to protect me was to give me a good background in very good aikido.

I make my living with science, but when I go out on the streets around here, I'd rather have God with me than statistics.

David

"That which has no substance can enter where there is no room."
Lao Tzu

"Eternity forever!"

www.esotericorange.com
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