Greeting – Xue Sheng , thank you for continuing the conversation,
Let us keep in mind that this thread is about what we teach and do not teach.
I also had a violent past, Unlike you perhaps I was hunted by my
Adversaries just as I hunted them, I will not go into this except to
Say, most violence begins after the initial confrontation,
People shot and stabbed repeatedly, beaten for long periods of time
And purposely made to suffer for as long as possible,
I lost some very good friends to street violence, and had the
Unpleasant experience of seeing some injured very badly
This is actually why I started training a MA, to control my violence.
I joined a Dojo which was started in 1962, by a US marine recruiter,
The majority of the early students were military men, some
Very disillusioned with Vietnam, The white students tended to be
Bikers and the outlaw type, the blacks tended to be on the radical
Side, they managed to co-exist in a very racially divided city and time,
Purely as a result of what was taught to them as karate.
(respect, tolerance, brotherhood)
We did not need to be taught to be violent, we needed to be taught
how to NOT be violent , how to respect each other , and put our
difference behind us, most of the members became close
regardless of background, those who harbored resentments and
had attitudes toward others tended to leave.
I did not graduate Highschool I was involved in Racial Riots and violence
When bussing began, My first and most important Sensei was however
A black man, who I grew to respect and admire.
He taught me a lot about tolerance , and intolerance,
And also the futility of undirected violence fueled by hate or emotion.
I did learn to avoid the use of violence and I would say that if
You have used violence 100 times, and it is not as a function of your
Job , or work in law enforcement or security that you are in fact
Addicted to it. ( If you are speaking of matches with other
MA, I distinguish this from street violence ).
Even with this our dojo had its failures
We had one man snap, he killed his wife, 3 children and himself,
Another member who liked to fight (a biker) was imprisoned for 23 years.
I started teaching after my sensei died and I inherited the dojo,
Some of the older members still come and train but I do most of the teaching ,
I also had my failures , one of my students , a veteran on medication became
Distraught because his x-wife was using his medical condition to gain sole custody
Of their only child, The VA hospital was totally unsupportive, and my student
Snapped , he drove over to the VA hospital , shot and stabbed several people
In a attempted to kill his case worker, he then hanged himself while
In custody.
I also recently got the news that one of my young former students, must be 21-22 now
is in prison for cutting someone with a knife during a altercation.
Prison is the worst most unpredictable place on the planet, Violence is
Rampant, and you can die for what might seem to us minor incidences .
You might sit at the wrong table, in the wrong chair, take the last donut ,
Or just refuse to be extorted .
When you look at the above, (which I grant is only a small sample )
I feel that my teaching and how I teach is curving the violence of my students,
For instance, as a military veteran and someone I trained in karate and weapons
Arts, the man who attacked the VA hospital , did know how to kill,
But read this article, he deliberately avoided it,
http://www.usmedicine.com/article.cfm?articleID=253&issueID=30
The same with the young man in prision, he cut his opponent over his heart,
The man knows how to use a knife, this was a warning , had he intended to
Kill his opponent he would be dead, but , use a knife in a fight, and you
will likely see prision .
Before I moved the dojo to its current location , it was on the fringe of a very
bad section of our city, since we have left the area, 2 teenagers were shot dead across The street from where the dojo was, within 2 blocks 4 other teens were
Killed within a short time, some just innocent by standers, Kids 13 yrs old,
This is violence raging out of control and consuming all around it.
And they all somehow feel justified in doing this, and are callous to the
Suffering they cause.
I have experienced this type of thing happen amongst those I know,
Been to the funerals and vigils, I wrote my letters to those in prison,
Visited them in rehab, and tried to help them as best I could, but in the
End, if they chose violence there is nothing to be done, I can not help.
I had the best man at my wedding call me in the middle of the night
A few years ago, to tell me he had been stabbed in the chest and
Was dying , I asked him if he had dialed 911, and he told me NO,
I’m not sure I want to live, I told him when he figured it out to call me
Back, (I had tried to help him before to no avail) , he laid bleeding
For several hours before his live in girl friend called an ambulance,
And he did almost die. Since then he has died , it was inevitable
Due to his choices in life, he had chosen death long before his
Final day, when he died alone.
There are choices in life that lead To continued life, to being a
Productive member of society , and allowing you to enjoy
This existence despite hardship,
and there are choices
That lead to death, to suffering and needless hardship,
Violence is a part of all of this needless suffering and death,
In a civil context it can almost always Be avoided,
It is seldom worth the cost in terms of your own life,
And almost always resolvable in a different manner.
There are of course exceptions, and depending on where
You live they may be more or less likely to occur,
But, with good training and precautions, it is possible
To avoid most of these.
Sometimes it might mean , that we must walk away from insult,
We may need to drive on and not stop to confront someone who
Flipped us the bird, it might mean getting a description of ,
Or following a thief , and later prosecuting them , rather then
Confronting them with violence .
There are many choices in most cases, and if we can choose ,
The choice should not be violence, Violence should only
Be used when we are given NO other Choice,
There will then be NO regrets, and we will be able to
Live with the consequences regardless of what they might be.
If we teach otherwise, if we teach violence,
We create human suffering, and I for one , do not wish to
Be responsible for that, so do take care , what and who I teach,
And I KNOW I am right in doing this.
Romney^..^
