One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never! - Winston Churchill
It reminded me of something that happened to a friend of mine in college.This particular friend was about 5 feet and 6 or 7 inches tall, and at the time probably weighed about 110 to 120 pounds. He was a very happy-go-lucky guy and never did anyone any harm. In fact at the time of this event he professed himself to be a pacifist.
One night, while he was walking on campus some guys jumped out of a truck, made accusations about his preferred company, and proceeded to beat him up while he shouted, "Stop! I'm a pacifist! I'm a pacifist!"
He told me that he realized that perhaps there was room within pacifism for self defense.
A few weeks later while walking across campus, (apparently he was perceived as an easy target for this sort of activity), a truck pulled up near him and some guys jumped out of the truck, making accusations about his preferred company. This time my friend grabbed a broken bottle he saw next to the curb and turned to face them with determination in his eyes. He told me later that he figured he was going to get beaten up again, but this time he was going to make them think twice about going after anyone else. The guys took a look at him and jumped back in the truck.
There are never any guarantees, but part of self defense is making yourself less of a target. This can be accomplished in lots of different ways, don't walk alone at night, walk with awareness of your surroundings, walk with confidence. If you take are successful with self defense ahead of time, you may never find yourself in a face to face self defense situation.
www.franklinkungfu.com
1 comment:
It sounds so simple, but it takes determination at a gut-deep level to respond in this way. Who among us, reading this, can think of a situation that would have been prevented, or eased, by facing it squarely right away? (and this doesn't have to be limited to only imminent physical danger, by the way.) I can think of a half-dozen... I sense an opportunity for change.
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