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Methods to Remain Calm during Violence
This is a very good question
as a suggested topic. While it may be possible to write extensively on it,
I
will give several examples.
I recall when I was about 18 years old, and had been practicing aikido for about a year or two,
my
teacher developed an exercise where he would attack with a wooden sword and we practiced evading
it.
As a Vietnam vet, I think he wanted to impart something he experienced while facing his fears
during 2
years of combat. So one day he picked up a real samurai sword and began attacking us with
that
during these exercises. Slowly, he built them up to the point where I found him attacking me
7 times in
rapid fire movements at full speed and with full commitment. He did not have the experience
or control
to train people in this manner, and we have disagreed on this practice he developed ever since.
However, on the last sword cut, I realized I was too late to evade the attack. I immediately
felt panic
welling up. However, at the moment I noticed panic develop, I had a powerful reaction to it:
I knew panic
= death. I shut it down instantly and began an evasive move. After I began to evade the
attack, again, I
knew it was too late. I recall seeing that the sword was going to cut off my right shoulder
and arm. I
thought there was a hospital across the street from the dojo so I would be alright, but then I
realized I
would not even live to get to the hospital. There was nothing left to do, so I relaxed and
waited for my
fate to complete itself. What I did not realize was that at the very moment when I shut down
the panic
and began to move, my feet went into the air and my movement continued. As I watched the
sword
come down to slice off my shoulder, my shoulder continued to move out of the way from my
initial
reaction. One could say that the sword practically shaved the hair off my chest rather than
slice off my
right shoulder. I remember how my face became pale and my knees began to shake. My
instructor was
also quite shaken up as well. I tell this story to highlight a method of staying calm in an
attack. To the
extent one learns the lesson that fear is self defeating through awareness, one will learn to cut
off the
reaction and do what is necessary constructively. In my case, this situation was an example
of plain
dumb luck, I was not aware so much. But I use it as an example that can help others realize
the
importance of cutting off one's fears through awareness and then returning to appropriate action
at
hand, an important tool in staying calm during a violent
situation.
In point of fact,
the entire practice of aikido is a method to help one remain calm during a
violent
situation. We practice having someone attack us. We learn a movement. We practice
it over and over
until muscle memory takes over and the calculating mind dries up. We focus on closing
openings by
being aware and relaxed. Our partner should, in a non-combative way, show us where we are
open
during regular practice so we can close each opening over time. Then we practice defending
ourselves
in more pressured situations where numerous people are attacking us simultaneously. We learn
to
become relaxed and aware of our entire environment, so we can perceive sneak attacks, etc.
Through
awareness during practice, we learn to calm ourselves down and become more efficient, and
importantly
we learn that this is critical in making our efforts effective. We also perform during tests
so people who
feel that environment as pressure will learn to relax while coping with it. All these forms
of practice lead
to a substitution effect: when an emergency situation develops, rather than become tense, we
are
relaxed, aware and react reflexively based upon muscle memory. This practice is called
takemusu aiki,
or the highest form of practice in any martial art (obviously with different names for each art,
but the
practice is the same).
For some people, learning to concentrate on their center of gravity is a useful form of practice to
learn
to control their fears. The center, or hara, is an infinitesimal point about 2 inches below
the naval. We
practice learning how this center is a receptacle where we receive ki and allow that ki to flow
from there.
Ki flows freely and should not be obstructed, but it is also not something "special." Like
air, it is
everywhere and ordinary. This is not a method of training we regularly use in our school, but
it can be a
useful to help people learn to control their fears and remain
calm.
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