I once took 35 stitches for stopping an assault on a bus in San Francisco - by grabbing the perp, immobilizing them in a half-Nelson, and stopping the incident. But I got hit on the forehead with a whiskey bottle in the melee. The medical bills cost me $3,000 and my credit rating. Id do it again - but Im 30 years older, and the only moves I can still do are not the ones that subdue without harm; age and arthritis leave me only the lethal strikes. This is not macho bragging - I studied martial arts seriously, and I know that anger and display behaviors are the way to loose. Watch any boxing match- the first one to get angry looses. Still, sometimes, you have to fight. In 1966, I - and the woman who later became my first wife - were attacked by muggers in Chicago. In less than a microsecond, I learned, incontravertibly, that while I could hold to non-violent, non-resistance for myself, I was unable to accept remaining inactive when others were attacked in my presence. After learning that, I had to be very careful about attending demonstrations. I know that if someone is attacked by a cop, in my presence, I am morally bound - and obliged by decades of intense, iron-palm level practice - to neutralize that cop. After US Marine Corps training, and a long period of intensive martial arts study, I have to take that very seriously... I spent about 6 or 7 years in San Francisco when I heated my apartment, cooked my meals, and even baked croissants every morning, for years, with a wood-burning stove, using wood that I cut up using my hands and feet. It takes weeks or months to calm down after a serious physical threat - if youre lucky. For many people, it takes years - decades. PTSD is real. I never had that problem - but I recognize that many of my brothers do have it. My own experience is unusual. I dont feel compelled to anger, by my experiences getting shot at by the KKK in Virginia when I was in grammar school in the 1950s, by getting attacked by neo-Nazis in high school in the 1960s. Im not compelled to anger - but Im adamantly opposed to them. I recognize my mortal enemy, and I will never compromise with them, or their successors. NEVER!!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 05:25:41 +0000
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