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Old 02-10-2013, 08:03 PM   #73
Messias
Location: Praha
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 17
Portugal
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Re: Just how real is violence? And where does Aikido stands in all of this?

Hi there,

I just wrote about this violence in the "off-the-matt" section, so Iīll spare you the duplicity, but about the reality of violence nowadays and contrary to many opinions here, I would have to say that itīs getting more and more real. Even worse... itīs getting into a whole new level of violence.

I was raised in a culture of respect not only for our parents, but generally to elder people. It was still unthinkable to be disrespectful to a teacher and, as a boy, I was supposed to "look after" the girls. No matter which ones! It it was a girl, it was to be respected by everyone around. This obviously brought some scenes of fist fighting, but that was that. Broken noses, bruised stomachs and so on... but we could call it as fair! Nobody was in a hurry to get into a fight, but if the other guy still insisted, nobody was backing down.
Then I moved from Portugal to Switzerland... nothing happened nowhere!
Then to Boston, where I used to hear about violence, but I never saw much of it and came out "clean" back to Portugal again.
Years later I was getting my first degree in violence in Luanda, Angola, a place where everything happens... and it can happen very fast. A funny thing about it is that they HATE robbers, and if one is caught by civilians...letīs say that itīs unlikely to make it to court. Guns were common, but big knifes were like a "trend" and the "free usage" of them made me re-think the possible solutions for a confrontation. The old-school fist fight was no longer available...

After gettting married I moved to the Czech Republic where apart from quite a few drunks and some really discrete vietnamese cartels, nothing really relevant happens. I could walk home with my wife after the theater without having to look over my shoulder (that is a precious thing to have).

Now weīre in Brasil... and itīs like Texas in the 1800īs! Shoot first, ask later (hell...just shoot, donīt bother asking). There are guns everyhere, carjackings daily, whole buildings robbed in a flash, kidnapps...and shooting. All the time shooting. There is almost absolutely no chances of getting into a clean and fair fight.

Every now and then I have the chance to visit my home country, but I see the headlines getting more and more violent. Kids in the streets are all a "bad boy wanna be" and thereīs clearly a complete disrespect not only for the institutions, but for the family values (any values apart from "whatīs in it for me?" ) And most parents have completely transfered the education role to schools... isnīt it a clear evidence?

Weīre counting the days to return to the Czech Republic... and walk home. Just walk.

Cheers,
Messias.
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