Re: virus:Re: Buddhism and memetics

Martz (martz@martz.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 14 Mar 1997 20:57:46 +0000


On Thu, 13 Mar 1997, "Corey A. Cook" <cookcore@esuvm.emporia.edu> wrote:
>Eva-Lise Carlstrom wrote:
>> Aikido Story #1:
>>
>> I knew a guy who was taking aikido classes; he was just starting. He was
>> walking home late at night from aikido class, when two guys jumped him,
>> one of them with a knife, and demanded his money. He immediately thought
>> of what he'd learned in aikido. The first thing to do was, "Relax, and
>> breathe." He didn't know the next thing, because he'd only had two
>> classes. But he took a breath, let it out with all the tension, and
>> relaxed.
>>
>> And they ran away.
>Good story. The closest I've studied to zen is zenarchy (the zen version of
>discordians) and Tao as explained by Winnie the Pooh. I do have one
>question. The last line seems to be a typo. This story would make more
>sense if it read: "And then ran away." Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think it makes sense either way. Conflict is a highly dynamic system
and tiny cues from either side can trigger reactions. The attackers
would have been expecting a fight or flight reaction. When it didn't
arrive they were denied the stimulus required to prompt their next
action. I have seen this in action and it's marvellous to witness
(especially when you're having your ass extracted from the proverbial by
someone armed with nothing more than a cool head).

For educational observations in conflict watch how two male cats behave
when they happen across each other in their territorial wanderings.

-- 
Martz
martz@martz.demon.co.uk

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