From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. “Incivility as generally noted in the workplace has been defined as low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others.” Unfortunately, in the degeneration of today’s society during Cootie-19 and all the other social issues, it may start as low-intensity action on the part of the aggressor but quickly rises to physical violence.
On a daily basis we see (thanks to CCTV security cameras and the now-endemic cell phone video) the initial “insults” or “aggressive verbal attack” can quickly turn into physical “beat-downs” as street people (denizens of the sidewalk, unemployed, bored, belligerent, and sometimes with an ax to grind) take out whatever frustrations their demons might be on the targeted victim who is generally random.
Cities large and small have always had this issue as it is part of the human condition but generally if someone stayed to themselves, avoided certain areas, used polite language, didn’t stare at someone as if issuing a silent challenge, and used good manners then the conflict could fairly easily be avoided. Such is not the case in today’s environment.
How to avoid the beat-down and the conflict before it starts?
Martial arts, having originated on the battlefield, have always taught situational awareness; basically, having your head on a swivel and observing in a casual way everyone around you and making immediate value judgements on their threat level. The value judgement could be based on the look in their eyes, the clothes they wear, or their overall attitude.
For example, if walking down a sidewalk and approaching someone coming in your direction who looks marginal then crossing to the other side of the street or making all attempts to avoid getting close enough to appear as a threat to the other person has a lot to be said for it. However, as society de-evolves into a lawlessness, simple avoidance tactics become less and less effective as their internal demons express themselves as deviant behavior; with their demons essentially “having control” of the person. Their focus on intent to harm makes avoidance difficult if not impossible as the violence seems to seek you out.
What to do?
Training in martial arts has several fundamentals underlying the entire idea (of training in battlefield tactics and strategies). Some we know about as they are discussed all the time in writings about Modern Budo and by the instructors on the training floor at the dojo. Such ideas as physical fitness, improving coordination, centering and mental focus, “discovering” who you are (and who you want to become) are most certainly important parts of normal training for the civilian who seeks improvement of body, mind, and spirit. However, the “other” side of True-Budo includes the ability to step in decisively and take control of the encounter and to do so on an intuitive basis which is only garnered from your training.
One example of this learning to be decisive sticks in my mind to this day; some 50 years after the fact. My hometown was a rough place to grow up. It had a university (full of hormonal young people who were aggressive and barely out of high school), a military base (full of navy and marine personnel who were naturally trained in aggression so it only took a beer or two to set them off), ranches (full of cowboys who liked to party on Saturday night payday), and it was an oil town (with hundreds of cat skinners and rough necks who came off the rigs looking for a diversion). For the most part if you kept to yourself and did not go looking for it, trouble avoided you. On occasion however, a few found trouble and for those of us watching from the side, it could provide some brief entertainment along with a life lesson to be learned (at someone else’s expense).
One Saturday night at a burger stand a small group of military guys challenged a man to a fight. At no point do I believe that five to one is a fair fight but since the man being challenged was my Tae Kwon Do instructor who at the time was world light-heavy weight champion then everyone there who knew him and his reputation just sat back and decided to watch and enjoy. Remember that this was the late-1960’s before the advent of gloves and foot protectors and he was trained in full-contact, bare-knuckle fighting and most of his matches were won with a knock-out. He did not believe in “point sparring”.
After the first punch was thrown, my Sensei lashed out with a kick to the stomach and dropped the first to his knees. The second guy moved in and took a kick to the face and he was “one and done”. The third guy moved in and took a beautiful reverse punch to the face and he fell backwards and was out before hitting the ground. The moment was done because Sensei had dropped three guys in less time than it takes to type this paragraph and the rest of the gang, having seen how fast and decisive it was, backed off like crawdads being chased by a guy with a bucket and decided that running was the better part of not being dropped like a rock.
The lesson I learned was that if you cannot stay out the problem then taking control may work to solve the issue. Bullies and aggressors act as such only until it is proven to them that the intended target is not that easy. Being one of a group gives courage to the group, until the first aggressor (who is generally the leader) is put down and the rest begin to have second thoughts simply because the leader was the toughest in the group and suddenly, he’s not in the action any longer and everyone else is a lesser being.
People who train in martial arts learn skills that are not natural and that cannot be acquired from a book. They are learned over years on the mat and hour after hour of practice. It is true (unlike movies) that fighting 5 guys at once is not possible. Instead, the martial artist learns strategies and only fights one person at time so if you can take out one at a time, the rest can be dissuaded.
The most important thing learned in training (keiko and shugyo) is the mental calmness and self-confidence it takes to not fear the aggressor(s) and to relax and accept the flow of the action.
Don’t be lazy. Go to class and train intensely. It could one day save you from the beat-down.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
July 24, 2020
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