Aikido Stuff Self-Protection

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

In the last edition of Black Belt Magazine there were a couple of articles that had some interesting concepts worth reading, i.e., Karate Way by Dave Lowry Sensei on "Lessons for the Junior - and the Senior." The second article is on some Aikido stuff, i.e., "go-n-sen/sen-no-sen/sen-sen-no-sen." 

As to the second article not going into what those concepts are and mean I wanted to focus on the last section titled, "Legal Concerns." I liked that section because it is few and far between when someone writes about certain Asian concepts in martial arts they don't address how those concepts could, would and do affect legal ramifications if one uses their martial skills in self-defense. 

1. Attacker clearly makes the first move;
2. Attack and Defense occur almost simultaneously;
3. Defense is triggered through the intuitive concept, i.e., you see an imminent attack so you proactively protect yourself.

You already know how that plays out when you realize how the concepts work described somewhat in the above numbered list. Remember, this is assuming all your efforts to avoid the situation failed miserably or pure bad luck resulted in the encounter. Why? Because avoidance is the best defense and protection you can achieve except in very narrow situations often about your involvement in violence disciplines, i.e., police, security, guards, bouncers, corrections officers, etc. 

I find that the best way to handle the above numbered items is through knowledge, understanding and the ability to “articulate” the why of it, i.e., like number three involving intuition that is actually your ability to read the road signs of the attackers strategies and tactics so you can proactively counter them before they cause you damage. If you can articulate the road signs, i.e., think A.O.J./J.A.M/A.O.J.P. and you can then mitigate the difficulties of the aftermath when first responders arrive on the scene. Don’t count on witnesses as that is a pure crap shoot and don’t forget many of the witnesses may be “with” the attacker in some form. Proper provable articulation that most officers are aware of is best. 

As to the article and the Aikido concepts themselves, the article is well done, informative and best trained under guidance to achieve its goals and objectives. The only add-on herein is my references to articulation. 

The numbered Items:

1. Attacker clearly makes the first move;
• assuming all efforts to avoid the conflict failed or you just had some bad luck then articulation is easier because if your actions up to the point of acting are in line with self-defense defense then articulation of that along with video’s and possibly witness statements goes a long way to your defense. 
• Even here, articulation of how you tried to avoid and deescalate the situation will enhance and support all statements, video’s and other accounts in your favor. 
2. Attack and Defense occur almost simultaneously;
• The two points in number 1 apply and know that your job of articulation along with how witnesses perceive the situation just made your job a whole lot harder. 
3. Defense is triggered through the intuitive concept, i.e., you see an imminent attack so you proactively protect yourself.
• Good luck with this one because if you didn’t have time to set things up by your efforts to avoid and deescalate then along with video and witnesses it looks like you possibly were or became the aggressor. 
• Your articulation of why you jumped in preemptively had better be really good and supported by the perceptions and experiences of witnesses, first responders like LEO’s, and various phone video’s, etc. 

This is another example as you already know that explains that even the esoteric concepts of martial arts need to be studied as to how they are applied in self-protection to include all the avoidance concepts along with the concept of articulation with words that promote your side of self-defense for proper defense on scene, at the police station and in the legal system if that is where you end up in the end. All three are the battles you will need to win if you want to survive self-defense defense. 

Don’t assume, there are so many other experts out there that will tell you pretty much the same and if you take a look at by bibliography below you will see some of those names and their sources/references. Hey, that is how I came to understand, at least academically, these concepts along with some experience and a lot of research, training and practice applying things in everyday living the life of Riley. 

For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)