Last year when I posted “The Point of Contact,” about tactical decision-making in martial arts, I wrote:
“…we might want to evade threats, like if there’s a riot down the block, and it’s heading your way…”
Several commenters thought I was just being dramatic.
The Point of Contact took on the question of when to respond to a threat: at trespassing? property destruction? proximity and body language? verbal threat? assault? attempted murder? The issue does not seem theoretical any more.
In January of this year, months before the Covid shutdown, before the current street phase of the revolution, I posted “People Get Ready”. It said:
“…The world is in a world of trouble… The world needs you strong. Trouble is coming… Either we get ready to meet it, or we will suffer, maybe more than we need to. Maybe more than we can even imagine…”
Despite our awareness of this, or maybe in light of it, we have a great time training in our dojo. Every day of training is a good day. The habit of training lifts the quality of life. You get strong. Your mind is clear. You feel good.
We know: It is easy to hurt people. Anyone can do that. It is hard to protect people. That’s why we train.
It is easy to yield to impulses of rage or desire. In the short run it might feel good. But there is no “purge”. Those impulses grow stronger. Soon they control you. In training we overcome impulsiveness and negativity.
Are dojo martial arts relevant? More than ever. We have a great time training in every class. We need that. We appreciate one another, challenge and encourage one another, develop our bodies and minds.
If you are in training, this is the time to dig deep. If you have not started – don’t wait. This is our time.
The alternative is to stand by. If we do that there may be nothing for the meek to inherit but a big smoking hole and a life of dependence and dread. Can our training prevent that? Can it really help?
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Post by Jeffrey M. Brooks Copyright © 2020
Read “The Good Fight” by Jeffrey Brooks, available on Amazon