subject: Learning Survival Skills That Give You Confidence And Peace [print this page] I have been a nightclub bouncer for many, many years. In my experience, I have been an observer and a participant in many violent acts. This was just a part of my job. In all the years I have done this, I have noticed 2 kinds of people: those that wish to inflict harm onto another, and those that wish to avoid harming another.
The first kind; the one that wants to hurt people, is usually a loud mouth. They take great pride in boasting of their exploits in beating people up. They are usually arrogant, aggressive, and quite often drunk. Most of the time, this type of person is not skilled in fighting, and lacks any discipline. This person wants to fight at the slightest provocation, and sometimes ignores your attempts to defuse the confrontation verbally.
The second type of person is very different. This person is confident, yet not antagonistic. When encountered with a violent attacker, this person tries to escape the situation whenever possible. When it comes down to it though, this person will inflict serious damage to an attacker. This person will bite, scratch, gouge eyes, breaks bones, and possibly even kill an attacker if it is deemed necessary. And after this attack, this kind of person will generally feel remorse, and wish to never engage in such violence again.
The second type of person has no need to have their ego stroked; whereas the first kind of person does. We want to be the second kind of person. We always assume that our attacker is bigger, stronger, faster, and extremely dangerous. If we try and fight this attacker, it may end very badly for us. However, if the fight is forced upon us, and there's no way out - we do what we need to do - attacking vital points on the body quickly and viciously; to escape the situation as fast as possible! Ego will get you killed. If you stick around in a fight, you run the risk of getting seriously hurt or
killed.
The second type of person has a respect for the sanctity of all life, and possessing the skills to remove that life from an individual is a heavy burden - yet a necessary responsibility to bear. This realization leads one to act with humility in these situations, and adds an element of spirituality to their life. One may walk in peace and with confidence because they possess these tools. However,
they are aware of the gravity of using these techniques - and so opt not to whenever possible. They become a person of much respect and humility, and much kindness.
Much of this comes from the top down; meaning that the attitude of the instructor is usually adopted and absorbed by the students. It is important to find an instructor with this mentality.
