I came upon this story, and it brought up a question.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._eyebrows_dc_1
It is about 6 high school kids that were ejected from a judo tournament for shaving their eyebrows in a thin line "because they are intimidating to opponents and cause displeasure."
I know thay had rules in the tournament, and they were broken, but would thin eyebrows scare you?
On the street, I have seen people back down because the other guy had a loud voice, prison tatoos, or was drunk. You would think that being drunk would be a disadvantage, but I've had friends say "that guy was drunk, and you don't know if he will pull out a knife or a gun." Size is also an intimidation factor.
This may be more of a psychology question than an Aikido question, but why do you think some people lose the fight before it even begins? I know some of you will say something like "A true Akidoka would walk away from a fight and no one would get hurt" , but I believe more people walk away from a fight out of fear than of higher morals and principles.
It's all about connection.
Diablo