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Old 04-12-2010, 09:15 PM   #13
Michael Hackett
Dojo: Kenshinkan Dojo (Aikido of North County) Vista, CA
Location: Oceanside, California
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,253
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Re: Developing courage

You can't train to develop courage - you either are courageous at a specific moment or you aren't. And courage is the willingness to act despite your fear.

You can train yourself to act in a crisis and that is a process of practicing making decisions while under stress and may have nothing at all to do with courage.

You can also train to not freeze under certain circumstances by repeatedly facing those circumstances in reality or by mental preparation.

Often courageous acts are calculated risks taken by the actor in situations that he has faced many times. A good example is the firefighter who rushes into burning buildings. While I see that as incredibly brave, my firefighter buddies will tell you that they know the dangers involved through their training and experience and that courage has little to do with their actions.

Michael
"Leave the gun. Bring the cannoli."
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