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Old 05-14-2008, 07:28 AM   #48
Stefan Stenudd
 
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Dojo: Enighet Malmo Sweden
Location: Malmo
Join Date: May 2005
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Re: applying aikido in real street fights

Quote:
Ron Tisdale wrote: View Post
And I also agree that confidence tends to keep some thugs away. In the wrong enviroment though, I have seen it attract trouble.
Confidence is not exactly what I talk about. A radiation of confidence can be provocative, sometimes, that is true. What aikido can teach is an attitude where a vicious observer just does not get the idea of attacking - because he is neither provoked, nor does he feel that he could win a fight.

I think that the best prevention is an attitude of calmness, stature, and peace. If I am allowed to talk in ki terms: If you let your own ki just flow away from you, like water from a goose (as we say in Sweden), then the potential attacker will have the same experience when trying to aim at you - his ki flows away, and his aggression slips away.
It is not fool-proof - nothing is. But it works quite well in most situations. I once held off the attack of a vicious gang of some 15-20 very aggressive men that way, but I still regard myself as a beginner of it.

We can learn a lot from the animal kingdom, where very different things from number and muscle are decisive.

Stefan Stenudd
My aikido website: https://www.stenudd.com/aikido/
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Aikidostenudd
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