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Michael, it sounds to me like you used excellent aikido in your situation. Did you not want to cause them physical pain? Maybe I'm coming from somewhere else on this, but it reminds me of my high school football coach. He would ask us when we were laying on the field after being creamed: are you hurt or injured? Two very different things. I find it critically important not to injure my attackers but I don't feel bad if they hurt. Pain is our friend in aikido, it tests the resolve of our attacker and gives them an out before getting injured. I do agree that if an attacker injures themselves because of resistance to technique or not knowing how to fall, that it's not our fault. I just don't like the idea of using more force than necessary, ie breaking bones, snapping necks, etc. Just because I plant a good atemi and somebody might get a black eye, doesn't mean that I wasn't loving them at the same time. But if I was poking out my fingers and gouging out their eyeballs, that would be a different story.
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