Tai chi involves absorbing
and redirecting the
aggressor’s energyto pump. My brain wanted to
be somewhere else and, as I
stood quietly, I listened to the
‘mainframe computer’ in my
head do a ‘Spock’. It was feeding
me survival information —
primarily ‘get away’, of course.
But go where? There is nowhere
to go; my family is here, and this
is my castle.
So here I am standing
next to my car, with my wife
and daughter inside it, and
what seems to be a raving
lunatic storming towards me,
screaming. Then I really find the
space in my head where I need
to be. He is getting close now
and I feel my heart rate starting
to rise. Breathe...
He ran right up to me and
just stopped, almost like he hit an
invisible wall. He stared straight
at me and yelled, “Put your
hands up so I can knock you out!
Come on, fight!”
I raised my hands up in
front for him as if to say, okay,
although my hands were soft
and still open, no fists.
He still didn’t come any
closer, still just out of range. He
shuffled, moving side to side,
but at no stage did he take the
step I needed him to. You see,
we work off reaction being faster
than action, by sitting still with
the body relaxed, yet coiled
inside ready to explode. Our
opponent’s movement is like the
runner’s starter gun. But in my
head, I am reasoning, “Smash
him, hit him. Look how open he
is. Hit him just once and then
catch him as he falls, and lower
him to the ground.” I pictured
using our ‘tennis strike’ — an
open palm — and then catching
him. I didn’t want him falling on
the concrete.
It’s funny how the little
‘computer’ had turned.
Adrenaline was surging through
my body. I could feel the urge
to tense up make a fist, club
him, but I resisted and breathed
deeply. I could feel my chest start
to pump and the urge to let my
heart rate go through the roof
with rage. As I breathed, my eyes
were still like calm ponds — my
‘zone eyes’, with focus spread
(we use a vision method based
on peripheral vision being fasterat catching movement). The
longer he waited and mouthed,
the more the urge to look at
him grew.
This is where all those hours
of meditation paid off. It is
incredibly hard to sit and be
calm, and just wait. The golden
opportunity will often arise if
you wait.
As I waited, I could see
my daughter right up against
the back window of the car,
watching. Then I hear him say,
“Come on, come down the alley.
Come out here.”
That is the moment I knew
he had lost. He starts to walk
backwards. The further away hegets, the worse the abuse. Now
he may have convinced himself
he could have knocked this old
bloke out.
Still just standing calmly in
the same place I had first walked
to, I hear the computer in my
head turn the ego on: “Run over
there, smash him — how dare
he insult us!” I can still feel the
urge to make a fist and rage, but
soon he is in his car roaring up
the road.
I calmly walk around the car
and get back in, open the garage
door and drive in underneath the
apartment. My daughter asks,
“What was that all about? And
how come when he was running
he suddenly stopped?”
I am calm — no shaking, no
yelling. I say, “Crazy people do
crazy things.”
There was a tiny little piece
of me that was disappointed he
hadn’t attacked me. My wife was
filming the event, as everyone
does nowadays, and I remember
thinking, “Damn that would
have been a good example of
how to keep someone’s hands
off you.” That’s the name of the
self-defence program I run, and
it would have been a great ad to
put on Facebook!
I was in a happy space before
the run in with the road-rager,
enjoying the time with my family,
like most Sundays. And despite
the sudden turn, after the event
I was calm... My heart rate was
not overly raised, and I had no
shaking (an effect of lingering
adrenaline) or residual anger. I
was mildly relieved that I didn’t
have to use force in front of my
family, but I felt great.
Looking back, I’m glad that I
still train weekly, even though I
am now in my mid-fifties.
Even after 30-odd years of
training, when someone chases
you in a car, you want to shit
yourself. The little computer in
your head only pictures negative
scenarios and wants to get out
of any physical danger.
Training physically and
mentally are the key factors.
Never forget, an old guy is a little
like a young bloke but in reverse:“SO HERE I AM
STANDING NEXT TO
MY CAR, WITH MY
WIFE AND DAUGHTER
INSIDE IT, AND
WHAT SEEMS TO BE
A RAVING LUNATIC
STORMING TOWARDS
ME, SCREAMING.”MARTIAL MINDS |ƫ333ċ (%06) #ċ*!0ƫđƫ^85