Finish him! ... !?

Lynn,

Of course, it is all the same, but different... One Thing! Kwatz!

John Matsushima wrote: When do we ever need to harm someone? I still don't get it, WHY is it EVER necessary to harm an unarmed person with a weapon? If you are good enough to take away a weapon from someone trying to kill you and put him down on the ground, how is that person any kind of a threat that warrants you harming him?

You said harm, I said mindset of harming. Two different thing altogether in my book.

Maybe I convey the message wrongly. I meant to say having the mental readiness or zanshin or awareness that is akin to make that decision without hesitation or emotional attachment. A sense of no-mind if you know what I mean.

Boon.

Clinton Anderson, the great horse trainer, is famously gentle with his charges, and his charges, of course, happen to weigh in the neighborhood of half a ton. They also possess sharp teeth and hooves. His training mantra is, "As gentle as possible, as firm as necessary." Owing to his profound understanding of horse psychology, plus deep experience, he rarely puts himself in a situation where he could be seriously hurt. If a horse tries to hurt him, therefore, he will be in a position where he is hard to get at, but one in which it will be easy for him to, for instance, bop the horse on the nose. If it becomes necessary to do any bopping, he seeks to do so in a manner similar in intensity and nature to how horses "correct" each other, which is to say doing no significant or lasting damage. I've worked with him a bit, and I believe that he works this way in part because it is by far the most effective way to go, but also because he genuinely respects and admires horses. But I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to kill a horse that went crazy, and was a threat to him or others.
So here we have someone with thousands of encounters with very large animals that are utterly, easily capable of maiming or killing a human that doesn't know how to work with them. Unlike many of his predecessors (and some of his contemporaries), he sees no need to "break" a horse with brutality, or even unkindness. But he is under no illusions about whose life is more important, if it comes to that.
Humans training in fighting skills face a much more dangerous animal, which I take to mean that we must bring an even broader, more complex array of psychological, ethical, physical, and spiritual tools to any encounter, violent or otherwise. This array might have a barely perceptible nod at one end, and a knife slash at the other. Aikido, for me, is not an attempt to discard the need for a knife, but to make its use remotely unlikely.

Nice post Brion, thanks for sharing.

What does that mean, "finish him".?

Does it mean to kill him?

In training, okay, play act it out. But remember that how you train will be how you fight and that in reality you have to be able to defend it and (worse) live with it.

Lynn Seiser wrote: What does that mean, "finish him".?

While they're dazed, you quickly tap in a special button sequence to activate your FATALITY move. Mine's down for two seconds, up, right, left, a, a, b.

While we're talking Mortal Kombat, I remember seeing this on aikiweb not long ago, taken from one of the games' storylines:

"Created in the early 20th century by Morihei Uyeshiba, the Black Dragon was formed by former members of the Red Dragon, who were fed up with the honor and loyalty of that clan. The Black Dragon wouldn’t be nearly as disciplined as the Red Dragon. Instead, they would be a composed of thugs and mercenaries constantly stealing riches and murdering the innocent. Morihei Uyeshiba was the creator of the Aikido fighting style, which many of the Black Dragon members still use today. The last known leader of the Black Dragon was Kano. Kano & some other members (a fomer Lin Kuei expatriat named Tremor, No Face, Jarek, and Tasia) broke free from prison, but most were caught by Special Forces agent Major Jackson Briggs."

(By the way, "Kano" is this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_%28Mortal_Kombat%29 rather than http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigoro_Kano )

Wow! I knew O-sensei got into some interesting altercations and bad crowds as a young guy, but I didn't know he started cyborg ninja clans!

People tend not to think about it, perhaps, but understanding the laws in your area regarding the use of force is critical, not just if you're in the martial arts, but especially so if you are.

I understand why I've been taught this. Aikido is, in fact, a martial art, and a martial mindset is of paramount importance, not just the explanation sensei gave me which amounts to "just in case," and more than the violence, improving ourselves mentally in this way is largely the reason we train in the first place.

But it's important to note that in the worst case, if you're actually attacked with a knife, cutting down a pinned, disarmed individual could amount to 2nd degree murder. It's also stupid to try to "hamstring" your attacker; any deliberate contact you make with the knife must be regarded as deadly force.

And, no, I was never a fan of Mortal Kombat.

We are far more dangerous to people driving to work than we will ever be as a martial artist. Yet the moment someone practices a lethal move, hell and damnation upon them.

Training with lethal moves is an exercise like the other execrises we practice. We learn the enormity of our actions through the severity of the outcome. Training to the end is a synthesis of a terrible act that teaches us the value of awareness and the severity of our actions. When I train with devastating or lethal moves, I do so to mature my understanding of the value of life and wholeness of the body.

I would never choose to understand taking a human life, and I never hope to be presented that situation. But likewise, I work each day with students whose hands and bodies are valuable tools necessary to their livelihood. How would I feel if my carelessness in training damaged a doctor's hands, or a jogger's leg? Ending a person's life is sometimes no different than ending a person's livelihood.

The way you synthesize killing me is the way you would treat me in training. If I see carelessness, boredom, animosity, I believe that is the way in which you will treat me in training; I hope to see compassion, carefulness, and precision.

Jon Reading wrote: We are far more dangerous to people driving to work than we will ever be as a martial artist. Yet the moment someone practices a lethal move, hell and damnation upon them. Training with lethal moves is an exercise like the other execrises we practice. We learn the enormity of our actions through the severity of the outcome. Training to the end is a synthesis of a terrible act that teaches us the value of awareness and the severity of our actions. When I train with devastating or lethal moves, I do so to mature my understanding of the value of life and wholeness of the body. I would never choose to understand taking a human life, and I never hope to be presented that situation. But likewise, I work each day with students whose hands and bodies are valuable tools necessary to their livelihood. How would I feel if my carelessness in training damaged a doctor's hands, or a jogger's leg? Ending a person's life is sometimes no different than ending a person's livelihood. The way you synthesize killing me is the way you would treat me in training. If I see carelessness, boredom, animosity, I believe that is the way in which you will treat me in training; I hope to see compassion, carefulness, and precision.

Good point and spoken like a real Budoka!

Thanks for the post.

William Hazen