The Way of the Gun

This past year of so I’ve felt like either myself or the nation was loosing it’s mind. Things seem to have gotten so out of control I found myself turning off the news and watching almost solely the Western Channel on cable tv. The hateful rhetoric being thrown about denigrating and vilifying everything I was raised to believe was/is under attack. Even my profession in law enforcement seemed fair game. I’m so used to being looked at while in uniform as “the enemy” that when someone has thanked me for doing my job it actually makes me uncomfortable. That was the reason I told myself that I dropped out of the constant stream of hate to entertainment by old movies.

 Simpler times. Or was it? I’ve said for decades that the primary problem in today’s America is that of narcissism; the act of instant gratification. With just a few clicks of a keyboard we can reach across the world to satisfy whatever desires we may harbor. Even in conversations, things we would think twice about saying just roll off our fingers across a keyboard before clicking send and calling someone a Nazi or some other vulgarity and, in some cases, even threaten physical violence. I don’t know about you, but in the time and place I was raised, if someone had said the things I have just described, it was just cause to lay hands on them and “bring them to Jesus” in a very stern way. Society had rules and norms which seem to have fallen by the wayside. Simpler times? Or was it? What has happened to those days?

A few weeks ago during an impromptu discussion at the dojo I attend, my sensei said something that hit me like a bell by putting the problem so simply and clearly into one sentence; “The gentle bigotry of low expectations.” With those six words, he said everything I’ve been saying for years in a much longer drawn out way. In those words lay the problem with the USA that have been building for over 50 years. Initially, it was directed at inner city minorities by way of public assistance which was meant to be temporary but has now become generational. As the self esteem of working for what you could earn fell away, so did the sense of worth and violence rose in those areas. The same thing also happened in the poor areas of “flyover country” in which the elites of society just wanted us to be quiet and remain in the background. The problems became expected in those areas just because it was easier to funnel a little money into them and move on to what the leaders thought were more important issues. Mankind is a flawed construct in that, as biological predators, we will only put out the minimum effort to catch our prey but, if those immediate needs are given rather than earned, why bother to hunt (work) for the bare essentials when you can focus on other needs when the society at large will not hold you responsible? After all, low expectations means lack of judgement and responsibility. When the problem became inconvenient, new laws were enacted to restrict those God given rights as enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Because violence went up; restrict the second amendment. Because protestors can become violent; restrict the first amendment. Now we have states and city councils throwing out multiple amendments like the second, fourth, and fifth in one fell swoop. Why? Because even good people can’t be trusted to run their own lives due to low expectations.  

Fortunately, there are many, many people in this country who, while not having been raised with the same hardships as our parents, still grew up to remember the old ways and traditions. I will never know what it feels like to attend a one room schoolhouse like my mother did. I will never know what it feels like to have to pick cotton in the blistering heat and humidity around a swamp like my father did and live without electricity in the house until he was in high school. I’ve had it easy but was expected to be responsible for my actions from the earliest times that I can remember. All children are born as narcissists and only by tutelage do we come to understand that the world isn’t here solely for our whim but the other way around. Therein lies the problem in that so many have grown up with the cloud of low expectations that nothing was demanded from them. Now across all spectrums of social classes in the country nothing is expected from the individual who is taught that the world owes them a life, a living, and respect. Well I’ve got some shocking news for those folks; life doesn’t owe you a damn thing and respect is EARNED not given. I think I need to take a moment to differentiate between what I’ve said and the basic respect for human life. You do have a right to live and I not only respect that right but will also fight to defend your right to exist no matter how much you spit at and curse me. That said, YOU are still responsible for what you make and earn in this life. To succumb to the low expectations granted to you means you surrender all rights to what your life looks like. Furthermore, if you can’t get what you want instantly, YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM! This country due to low expectations, has created more than one generation of a victim society. Nothing is your fault, everyone who tells you no is an evil demon against your happiness and your future. You are a misunderstood social warrior fighting the evil that won’t keep you in a lifestyle that you neither earned or deserve. Guess what? You deserve nothing other than to be alive. Think you’ve got it so bad then get a passport, hop a plane, and see how people in other countries live and what their expectations are in life.  

We have now come to the point in which young people are eating Tide pods and snorting condoms and will scream and stomp their foot if they don’t get their way. A society of victims that gives their rights away due to a moral relativism that shuns any sense and reason. Recently, an armed thug broke into the house of an old woman. The woman was also armed and stopped the thug ending his life. As a result of a rabid news media, there is now an ad hoc memorial set up in honor of the thug and are treating the old woman like she’s the criminal only due to the fact that she was also armed and defended the most basic freedom there is; her right to be alive. Some of you reading this are now going to react with left wing slogans about gun control and how the second amendment has outlived it’s time. This is because you’ve probably never read the damn thing in historical context. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The most common argument I hear against the second amendment is that it now only applies to the military. Guess what? You. Are. Wrong. Here’s a pop quiz. What was the militia’s standard term of service? What kind of rations did they get? How was the command rank laid out? How many muskets and ammunition were they supplied with? Have you written down your answers? Here’s the grading key: The militia man had no contractual term of service. They were a volunteer force who could come and go as they pleased. The militia man was expected to supply his own ammunition and weapons and also provided provided their own command structure by vote within the ranks. They had no uniform and it was by their guerrilla tactics that we won our freedom. Think that is ancient history and unnecessary to modern life? Think again. During World War II, the Japanese discussed invading mainland America. It was held off by a single voice who stated that “if we invade America, we will find a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Simpler times? I think not. 

The reason I have tuned out of mainstream media to the Western channel is due to the fact that it the times of the “wild west” wasn’t simpler times. The nation was still reeling from a civil war that put brother against brother and saw some of the highest mortality counts in battle this nation has ever seen. But under it all, they were still willing to pack up everything they had into a horse drawn wagon and travel thousands of miles for a chance at a better life on THEIR terms. Nobody was a victim. You lived or died by your own hard work and resourcefulness. To the victim generation do you think you could do the same? Try turning off your cell phone, cable, electricity and indoor plumbing for even a week and see how you fare. The questions that I keep coming back to is, How did some of us escape the delusion of moral ambiguity/relativism? How did some of us escape the indoctrination of the public schools? Why are we not in the “victim” class? I think a large part of it comes from family. The core nexus of what you become is set in the early years when you begin to travel from the natural narcissistic view of a child and become aware that there are other people around you with their own needs and wants. Stamping your foot is beginning to be less effective. That’s followed up by chores/work around the house that you are expected to perform. Then school and interactions with other children. You were taught that in life sometimes you might actually loose. There were no “participation” trophies when I was a child and, if you acted a fool, you likely got into a fight which meant you might feel pain and if you escaped that, you expected it when you got home and your little sister ratted you out to your parents. You were expected to behave yourself and knew the consequences if you didn’t. None of those things seem to exist anymore. Not even in our education system. Now children seem to be taught that the world owes them everything up to and including protection which I will provide.  

Earlier this year, I finally opted to join the National Rifle Association because they seemed to be the only ones in the conversation with any grasp of what the term “god given rights” even meant. Even that organization is under assault by way of slander and having it’s members called everything up to and including terrorists. The days of logic and responsibility are against the ropes. Perhaps it’s time to change the rules a little. Instead of calling ourselves freedom fighters, we should refer to ourselves as artists. After all, the Japanese developed a martial art called Hojutsu for shooting arts. Hojutsu, The Way of the Gun.

The coins edge

 A few days ago, a friend posted a video on a social media account asking for input. I’d seen the video a few weeks before but, like a train wreck landing in my lap, I stopped and partook of my share of gawkers block. In the video, an officer responds to a disturbance at a McDonalds and when the cell phone video starts, she (the officer) already has her taser drawn on the subject meaning that the suspect has already shown physical resistance prior to the beginning of the bystanders video. That said, she is far too close to keep a reactionary gap with the suspect who by this point is ignoring her verbal commands. I will not pretend to know what possessed her to holster her intermediate force weapon (the taser), but the moment she does so, he strikes her. Fortunately for the officer, she is able to redeploy her taser and utilize it to subdue the subject and call for backup. This brings up a point about officers on their own that I will touch on later. The following night while waiting for one of the schools my dojo shares space with to finish their class, I got to watch an advanced student from that school perform a kata. I use the word perform because that’s exactly what the student was doing; going through the motions with a jo with no knowledge of just what the movements are intended to do to an opponent, all the while counting the steps in their head. It reminded me of the police officer video from the night before. In both instances, each person fell into a sort of myopic tunnel like vision due to stress. Each one facing a confronter if you will; one physical and one mental. At least that’s what I thought in the beginning until it dawned on me they they were each facing the same opponent for the same reason; themselves and lack of training. When you go into any situation of stress, be it the spotlight of demonstration or physicality, the natural fight or flight instinct kicks in and you are forced to act or react. Therein lies the problem.

This next statement will annoy many of my brothers and sisters in blue but it is the honest fact that I see across the country which is that your respective department/ agency CARES MORE ABOUT THE LAWSUIT THAN THE OFFICER. All across the United States I hear usually one or two things. Either that going to training is a “pain” and a waste of time or that it’s a “vacation” day. Both answers are wrong. Just to give an example of what I’m talking about, a few years ago I was diagnosed with a medical condition that put me on light duty for a few months. When it came time to qualify to get my gun back, it took me three attempts until I achieved a passing score. At that time I was ashamed and embarrassed. The only thing going through my head was “who the hell would want me as backup with my pitiful skills?” The answer was obvious, I bit the bullet, applied for and got a card which the state I live in requires you to have in order to purchase a firearm or ammunition, and started going to the range on my own. Before long, I was shooting better and more accurately and the firearms staff have been great in helping me out. I still have the aforementioned medical

 condition but, if I have the opportunity, I go to class at my dojo even if only to watch to learn by osmosis until I can take the floor (9 times out of 10 even when I say I’m only going to observe I usually train even if only for a few minutes).

This brings me to another point. To those of you in law enforcement, do you honestly think that a couple days a year of firearms and defensive tactics are sufficient to make you effective? Do you think you are being trained to do the job you swore to do or are you being trained for legal liability? Over the last few years, the news media is replete with stories of officers who have engaged in conflict, been legally cleared, only to be sued in civil court with their respective department. Training, and more of it, even if it’s outside of work, is the only thing I can see as an answer because we are called on not only to protect our own lives, but the lives of others, including those we are in conflict with if possible which is why the choice of training is paramount to success. Sometimes we have to lay hands on a suspect to protect and preserve the peace. We have to be able to ready, respond, and answer why in an ethical way as to our actions. I am aware that in many instances the lawsuit will still come but until we are able to articulate what we did and did it in the most humane way we could until deadly force is necessary, we will continue to be victims of both sides of the coin because we walk the edge of that coin even day. Go back to the video I mentioned in the beginning, what if the suspect had had a knife or other type of weapon? The outcome could have been very, very different and I don’t know about you, but I’ve already been to too many funerals with folded flags.

To strive

So it’s two days after the election and here i sit in a dive hotel outside D.C that looks like a slightly more modern version of “The Shining”; bloodstained carpet and all.  I couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve turned off my phone.  I can’t take reading the vitriol on both sides; “friends” calling each other racists, nazis, and every other insult imaginable.  Yes I voted before coming to D.C. and anyone who knows me can well guess who I cast my ballot for. Nonetheless, I am tired of reading the fracturing of relationships so off went the phone and I turned on the television and scrolled until I came across a PBS marathon of Inspector Morse.  In one of the episodes, a part of a poem was recited; one I used to know but has slipped into the either of my mind. So now here I sit at my computer smoking an e-cigarette and trying to put into words something thats been rolling around in my head for over a month trying to find cohesion. A few weeks ago, I got to witness the Chicago Marathon and with what I saw, a few terms have been rolling around in my head since; 

Hero

Heroism

Heroic

We use these terms on an everyday basis but what do they really mean?  The answer, is often elusive due to the perceived subjectivity of the terms.  I’d like to give my definition based on what I saw that day by way of three examples plus one from a man I have been honored to know in this life.

Hero. A person who exemplifies the other two words.  Like Aurelius wrote; “Of each particular thing, ask what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does it do?  A hero is a hero because there is no other state he can exist in. To be otherwise would violate their very being.  I have been privileged to know one person in this life who fits that model; we’ll call him Doc for lack of a better term.  When being a combat Marine wasn’t enough of a challenge for him, he became a Navy Corpsman saving lives on the battlefield.  While driving home one night, he saw a car on fire and, although still recovering from an injury, pulled over to make sure the driver and passengers had gotten out of the vehicle (they hadn’t) so he got them out.  When the call to service came again, he volunteered for Iraq with his law enforcement department  and was severely injured in the process.  Doc is the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back if asked and MAY think to ask why you needed it after it had already been given. Doc is a hero indeed, dedicating his life to the protection of others even if it means taking life to do so.

Heroism. An act of selflessness  with an emphasis on action which I will come back to momentarily.  

Heroic. A state of being, however transitory or permanent, to face adversity to achieve a goal for a selfless reason even at personal risk.  

The three examples of the words Heroism and Heroic are what I observed during this years Chicago Marathon that have been bouncing around in my head that I’d like to share. During the Chicago Marathon in 2015, an old man who was running had a heart attack on the course. While other runners literally ran past him, one woman, a total stranger, stopped and began performing CPR keeping him alive until the paramedics arrived and saved his life. In 2016, they ran the marathon together.  Without her, he wouldn’t be here and despite his prior experience, the old man refused to let that be the last word and ran (and finished) the following year.  I got to meet both and walk with them to their starting gate amazed at the determination.  Many of us would and probably are saying “I would have done that (CPR) too but MANY did not when they had the opportunity to do so. The last is also a woman who, due to the diagnosis of a loved one, put herself to the task of not only running the Chicago Marathon (and this woman HATES running). She did it with a charity team and pledged to raise money that provides funds for research and support for persons affected by a disease that literally robs you of yourself; brain cancer.  She doesn’t see a penny of the money she raised but did it anyway as a way to do anything that might make the life of those diagnosed and their families a little better.  During her training, she developed medical issues of her own. Around mile 18 on her training runs, her foot began to swell and caused intense pain.  She thought she could make the last eight miles with the pain. On the day of the race, however, the foot began to swell and the pain began by mile one. By mile eleven, she was in tears and told me she wanted to quit; I stayed silent, I would have supported her either way but she had to make the decision.I watched her take a deep breath, wipe her tears, and continue on for another fourteen miles. I couldn’t have been prouder of her if she had placed in the top finish times when she showed a warrior spirit and left me with the medical bag by the side of the road. 

So in the end, what do we have to show for the three words listed above? 

An immutable way of being

A refusal to stand down and face his fears of prior experience 

A selfless act and a promise to look after someone previously helped

A promise kept to herself and those who supported her despite the pain

So while writing posts in social media, please remember that you are writing about people who you know and, for whatever reason, wanted in your life in one way or another. As I look at the clock I also see that the day has changed and it’s now Veterans Day so please take a moment even if only in silent prayer for those who have served and continue to serve our nation regardless of who’s elected. 

The quote that got me going on all this? 

“ That which we are, we are

   One equal temper of heroic heart made weak by time and fate but strong in will

   To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” 

Ulysses

Alfred Lord Tennyson 

Sent from my iPhone

The Brand

   The other day while talking to a co-worker, the subject of martial arts came up and he said something to the effect that “I could never do that; I’m not into karate and stuff plus I just don’t have the time.” When I told him that he already did practice, he replied “I’m not a martial artist like you;”  almost as if I was wearing a band.  It got me to thinking about just what the hell “martial arts” means in the modern age.  Centuries ago, the term encompassed all methods of combat techniques from hand to hand fighting to the gun martial art of Hojutsu, archery, swordplay, etc. We tell ourselves that we now live in a more civilized time but a five minute review of the headlines of any news app proves just how fallacious that assumption to be.  Musashi, reputedly one of the best swordsmen in history with 60+ duels in his life and undefeated was quoted as saying “you can only fight the way you practice.”  This is utter nonsense.  For him to fight duels to the death with scores of people, how many of you would want to be his practice partner?  Everywhere you look, dojos claim to teach techniques that will work o the street.  By the very nature of training to fight, you CANNOT train for combat; a fluid moving situation, in a dojo, training hall, etc using techniques alone.  That’s not to say that fundamentals aren’t important and the groundwork for how you react; they certainly are, but to rely on the technique alone will often get you or someone else killed.  How many combat vets reading this can tell me that they knew enough to get by after boot, MOS, etc or did you have a severe learning curve from the seasoned vets in your unit who looked out for you and showed you the ropes?

    A personal example I can give is through two separate law enforcement academies, we were instructed in handcuffing technique.  What struck me is that in both a municipal and federal class, the instructor used the EXACT same line at the end of class!  During the instruction, we were taught to come up on the subject being arrested all tactical and shit with the person leaning forward and their hands splayed out straight behind them and to be ready for resistance/attack the moment they feel the first cuff go on (as if they didn’t know they’re getting arrested by this point).  After the class and certification in the use of the handcuffs, both instructors said; “well that’s the technique, but in reality, how the cuffs go on is however they go on.”… REALLY??  So are you telling me that you’re teaching something that you have to but know isn’t going to work in reality?  By relying on techniques alone, you do yourself and your co-workers a disservice because you don’t have the requisite skill set to handle the situation (hence the need for FTO’s and seasoned vets to look out for the rookies). 

    With all the dojos and styles purporting to be able to make you a “master” using technique alone without understanding the underlying fundamentals of how the technique came about and how to adapt it, you are practicing a sport.  That’s not to say that a person well versed in Taekwondo, Krav, etc., can’t be effective in a fight, a quick look at social media videos will show you just how good a person can be and you need to find a style that works for you and your body and that’s fine for the average civilian, but if you are in a position that requires you to use violence to keep the peace, achieve an objective, protect yourself and others and have any kind of training to do so, then you are not do martial art/sport.  You practice and engage in a warrior art.  Perhaps that’s whet’s needed in this day and age; a rebrand to separate those of us i just mentioned to distinguish those who stand the wall (civilians with the right mindset fall into this as well and I don’t want to make it sound that this is exclusionary to them as I can name several persons who rise to the occasion when needed).  Perhaps in this day of PC a new brand that distinguishes those I just mentioned from the “Cobra Kai’s and McDojos” of the world; a rebrand from calling ourselves martial artists to practitioners of warrior arts. Both brands are necessary for a society because each of us is looking for something different but we need to keep in mind just what that is and what we are using it for. 

What Would Musashi Do?

What I’m about to say in the next few paragraphs will be considered by some to be blasphemous but understand that I’m not trying to offend anyone here. This is simply the opinion of a practitioner of low dan rank who may or may not ever gain another promotion but what I DO have is real- world-street experience in using martial arts to protect myself and others.  To say that I learned the hard way that technique alone was (and is) wholly inadequate to dealing with one or more attackers is an understatement. I was able to walk away from the fights which is more than the attackers could say but I only won in the sense that I didn’t get killed.

A little while ago, I was changing after class and as I walked into the dressing room, students from another school were also changing and I happened to hear a little of their conversation.  “If you have a gun, you are limited but if you have a sword and dagger, you have a lot more options.”  I held my tongue when I heard this to not be disrespectful but it also got me thinking about the statement and the fact that, 20 + years ago, you very well might have heard the same kind of thing come out of my mouth. When I was younger my training partners and I where all, more or less, influenced by various movies that led us to a dojo to study, and if we continued, to various books that we could get our hands on to seek the roots and techniques of the style.  That eventually led to the “classics” of martial arts like the Hagakure (Yamamoto Tsunetomo)Demons Sermon on Martial Arts (Chozan Niwa), and of course The Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi). I can remember those days as a kid/young teenager practicing in the dojo for “real life” scenarios which would lead to a debate of what would work and what wouldn’t; almost along the lines of; “What would Musashi (or insert your favorite historical martial artist) Do?’  Most of us who have grown up in the martial and budo arts I think have all gone through a type of progression in which we try to learn every technique we can get our hands on, study and practice the shit out of it, then walk around convinced that we are “Billy Bad Ass” on the street just waiting for someone to test us and our skills with the opinion that they are roughly about 1,000% better than they actually are.  Unfortunately for some of us, that test came and we found out just what the “techniques” were worth in real confrontation.   

Part of the problem I think goes toward the introduction of eastern arts to the western mindset which is kind of like putting the cart before the horse.  In the west, the idea of A to B to C is as ingrained into our psyche and literally taught that way in schools and universities during courses on logic, etc. The techniques of our various warrior arts are looked at in the west as the whole in breadth and width of the form; that and nothing else.  We concentrate so much on the “technique” that we completely miss the fact that it’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg which is to say about 10% and the other 90% remains unknown and even unnoticed to many of us. A couple of good examples that I can give is when I found the Bujinkan, it took a long time to even begin to unlearn what I had relied on and focus on the underlying principles of the movement itself that the technique came from. It took OVER A YEAR before I even noticed my sensei’s feet moving and recently I just noticed that I’ve probably been doing ukemi wrong as well.  In most dojo’s in the western world, technique has supplanted principle to the point that it has become a thing in and of itself and, because little or no thought is given to the underlying principles and ethics, the art of combat has fallen by the wayside and supplanted by a sport. It’s more often about “now you do this if they do that” rather than asking why you are in that position in the first place.  Often because of this attitude, you see practitioners gravitate toward “favorite” weapons and techniques and this attitude has even begun to enter the budo arts and attitudes practiced in the east. A good example of this is, several years ago, the Soke of the Bujinkan was being interviewed and during the question/answer section, the reporter asked; “so what’s your favorite technique.” Now many reading this involuntarily answered the question in their own mind.  The difference between a practitioner in the warrior arts and a sport is perfectly summed up by the Soke when he answered; “Why? Are you going to send someone to try and kill me?” That unwillingness to transmit even a small amount of information and learn how to move through all situations dependent on the circumstances/terrain/what’s available/and the environment.  If you walk down a city street in most parts of the world carrying a sword, even in Japan, I can guarantee you will quickly find out just how much you are NOT in a Tarantino next installment of Kill Bill and guys with guns will quickly become your foreground, background, and flanks.   

In Musashi’s day, the sword was the penultimate weapon of the nobility and he threw himself into the study of its’ workings to the point that, by the end of his life, not only was he undefeated in all his duels, but had moved beyond the sword and met his opponents with a bokken in hand; wood against steel; and still carried the day. Musashi went on to found a school of thought as an esoteric monk laying out his thoughts in the Book of Five Rings but was even then still constricted by the norm of his class utilizing the sword to exclusion of other weapons.  That said, if you go back and read his book again, what he keeps referring to is NOT the way of the sword, but the way of strategy which, to me, means not only learning how to move, but how to use whatever is at hand including a gun, knife, sword, brick, hands and feet, and the fundamentals of each items strengths and weaknesses. So in closing we come back to the question, “What would Musashi do?” The answer is simple; who cares?; dude lived around five hundred years ago but I will leave you with one of his more popular sayings; “Pay your respects to the Gods and Buddha but do not rely on them for help.”  

The Notebook of Habits

Habits:

We all have them. Some good, some bad, and like pages of a notebook we add and subtract them as we travel through life never asking the most fundamental of questions; “How did I come by this habit? What purpose does this habit serve? Why am I holding onto it if it doesn’t do anything (good) for me?”

 

The answers to those questions, like life, are both easy and hard at the same time. I think to figure out the answers you have to first go to the basics and define the issue or problem. Dictionary.com lists habit as; “an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.”  Three words in that definition stood out to me immediately,acquired, and almost involuntary with emphasis on almost. When we acquire a habit, by definition it usually serves at least one purpose if not more but over time we all change and those habits may not continue to serve us as originally intended. An example that comes readily to mind is when I began working as an undercover law enforcement officer with a prior department.  Very quickly, I habituated myself into an almost hyperactive state during which seconds after walking into a room, I could pick out who was probably carrying, potential physical weaknesses of those there, tactical advantage space to get to if shit broke bad, exit routes, and the number of people in the room including those behind me.  While developing this habit kept me alive, when you keep that hyper-vigilant state going, it becomes harder and harder to turn it off and begins to carry over to your “off duty” life and you find yourself doing things you didn’t previously do; you develop “moving target syndrome” (never stay or go to the same place too many times to make it harder to hit you), lack of sleep because you can’t shut down, more prone to violence when not in “cover” mode, the leeching of the two sides/personas together, the list goes on and on.  I think the reason for many of us who find these things happening are not only the complete immersion in the “role” we are supposed to be playing but quite simply, we don’t want to get dead. By that standard, the habits we acquired worked for the need that arose but, the human body being what it is, can only take so much before a crash shows on the horizon. The trick, I think, is to make sure you have someone you trust to keep an eye on you and bring you back down; violently even if necessary, but it’s our decision to listen and adjust which is much harder than it sound (remember the almost involuntary part?).

The most important part of the equation seems to be the process ofhow we develop the habit and how we allow it to be expressed. A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow student on this topic that he had initially asked our Shidoshi regarding how to always be aware and ready to defend ourselves and others; a few of the phrases he used took me back over the years to when I almost crashed and burned developing those habits and we talked for a couple of minutes.  The most important thing I could tell him? RELAX! Instead of putting the idea in the forefront of your mind which causes you to tense up (which actually makes it harder to react/respond by the way), keep the possibility of something bad happening in the back of your mind and flow with the principles that go with it like keeping tactical space, moving with the attacker but dictating the action based on what attack he/she uses and leading them from there but most important, STAY IN YOUR OWN SKIN! To understand that concept, try walking around in a “pissed off I’m the badest SOB on the block” state for an hour radiating menace and see how you exhausted you feel afterward. If you stay in a relaxed but ready state, it’s much easier to maintain but a harder habit to acquire.  An easy way to spot this attitude is to look at new vs. veteran police officers or some soldiers who have already been through combat.  In the latter, you will find prime examples of both states unfortunately due to the lack of care for these hero’s returning home but that’s a subject for another time.   Ultimately, this entire post was expressed much more elegantly to me last week which I’ll try and close with.  In the last year and a half, I’ve had 4 head surgeries (two brain, one craniotomy, one cranioplasty) which sidelined me from the dojo for a couple months; with few exceptions I attended but only observed to learn/osmose what I could until last week I went back into class as a participant, scar from right ear to left eye, stitches and all.  At the end of class we pay our fee and write our name in the attendance book.  When it came time for me to write my name, I had a very un-Zen like moment and wrote my name big and bold, proud of myself for continuing to train and being “back.”  A few hours later, I told my Shidoshi this and his response is what I will leave you with; “The book is there for you to write in whenever you want.”     

Is Zat you Santa Claus?

Admittedly, it’s been a rough couple of years for law enforcement. I’ve watched over the course of that time, civilians who I interact with on a daily basis go from smiling when I approach and extend a greeting to a reaction of almost open hostility at just speaking with me and these are NOT field interviews or anyone I have ever been anything other than polite and pleasant to, all due to the national media diatribe promoting (usually, but not always, falsely) a perspective that just isn’t born out by the facts.  I could go on with statistics that would fill the page with how the overall findings of the “cases” of abuse either don’t show the whole encounter, have been doctored by the media or interested groups, or flat out covered up by politicians in order to gain re-election.  Those of you who have taken the time to read my past posts know the importance I place on interpersonal reactions with the public and how law enforcement should strive to not be so insular in their personal relationships to not only be more balanced in themselves but the standing of respect in the community.  Lately, however, in addition to the aforementioned problems, other instances have arisen that seems to put a greater divide between the general public and law enforcement including instances of police officers food being poisoned by fast food workers who have never interacted with the particular officer but did it just because they “hate the police.”  Almost every officer I know now feels like they are working with the sword of Damocles over their head and are in a no win situation no matter what action they take.  As I said before, there are documented instances in which an officer has broken the law and should be punished for it; but I would propose that, excluding the military, those in most other professions abuse their positions/jobs more than sworn officers or armed forces.  Yes, training should be revamped  and there are those working very hard across the nation to do just that including mentoring and the concepts of being an ethical protector.  That said, I think a societal paradigm shift that has occurred in the last few decades needs to be addressed. Simply put (to all), respect is a two way street and you do NOT get to do whatever you feel like doing! Today we see young people old enough to shoulder a weapon and stand a post complain about needing a “safe space” when in generations past your safe space was beside your comrade watching your flank while going through fire.  If you can’t handle words that “offend” you, how the hell are you going to take any type of critique that may make you a better person!? To compound matters, several websites and groups have put out advice for when being stopped by law enforcement that is not only flat out wrong, but almost guaranteed to compound the problem; for law enforcement, again further training to see the subject as an actual person and not a potential threat ONLY (which, due to the current climate, is becoming more and more common out of FEAR of action).  BOTH sides need to look beyond a uniform or preconceived idea of the person standing before them.

A few examples of what I’m talking about happened a year or so ago that I think illustrate the point.  The first happened while attending a party during which I stepped outside for a smoke and was joined by another person who, while acquainted with, I didn’t know particularly well. during the course of our conversation (mostly complaining about our jobs) she asked what I did for a living and I told her that I was a cop.  The reaction she had was one of shock and disbelief. I literally had to show her my badge before she believed me.  She went on from there to tell me how all cops were bad and that she hated all police; except present company because of perceived abuse of the community.  Now had I been the man I was ten years ago, I might have lost it and went off on how the statistics just don’t hold up to that view but instead, I took a step back and two thoughts went through my head; 

1; If I’m going to practice what I preach, I kind of succeeded already with this person because her reaction of finding out that the person she was standing there talking to was so far removed from her preconception of law enforcement that she literally couldn’t believe I did what I do for a living.

2;  How jacked up is it for a person to say that they HATE everyone in a chosen profession “except present company”?  Just because they exclude you, does that make the statement any less wrong?  Think of it this way if having trouble following; instead of a profession, substitute any ethnic group or race into that statement and see how it reads. 

The next, and last example, of this I during the last Christmas season my girlfriend and I were shopping in a downtown retail district and she stepped into a running store and I took the time to grab a cigarette.  Next to the running store is an ice cream shop.  While standing there, an elderly couple approached the ice cream store; the man waling while the woman was confined to a wheelchair.  When I was about to get the door for the couple, she stated that since it was so warm for the time of year, she wanted to stay outside while her husband went in to order.  While I continued my cigarette, I watched several dozen people walk around and past this frail elderly woman without so much as a glance or a word; then someone approached her.  The person who walked up to her was another officer (off duty and in plain clothes) in my department walking with his son of about 10. He stopped and asked the old woman if she needed any help.  She told him no and  that she was waiting for her husband who was inside.  My fellow officer said ok and to have a Merry Christmas and went on his way never knowing that I was there and had observed the whole encounter and the example he had set for his son (and me) that day.  A few days later I spoke to the officer mentioning that I had seen him on a particular day but not the details and he told me offhandedly that he was on his way to dress up as Santa Claus for a group of underprivileged children to help compile a list of wished for presents.  I became proud to be a cop again.  

If we adults are beyond hope, perhaps the only way out of this morass is to try and do a better job setting an example for the next generations; it may be our only shot.  Also, the next time you see an act of kindness or concern for another person, stop and think that that person might be one of those you “hate” if wearing a different outfit…