thread: 2005-05-16 : Violence
On 2005-05-17, anon. wrote:
Hi Ben,
Respectfully, I am not.
Courage is what we call an action within the context of the circumstances around the action.
The action itself is—aggressive.
When I am training in class, we practice moves designed to bring aggressive energy to the nose, eyes, whatever of our practice attacker.
The latin root of "aggressive" is "to move toward."
We practice "move toward" energy.
It's aggressive.
The fact that the word makes many people uncomfortable doesn't change the fact that I find it perfectly accurate.
There are many people who don't mind being aggressive—in business, on the street, in sports, in a meeting between a producer and a screenwriter. Fists may not be thrown, but the aggressive energy is there.
What's most interesting about this is, since allowing myself to feel more comfortable with aggressive energy ("move toward energy") things just go smoother. People don't feel the need to test me with their aggressive energy to see if I'll collapse when things get tough. They just assume I can handle myself (I can), and we get down to business.
The practice of aggressive energy can allow for couragous acts—and brutally useless acts.
To develop my aggressive energy (ie, the times I've followed screams into alleys or courtyards of apartment buildings to drive muggers away) is to be able to use that energy fully for whatever purpose I wish. But that's seperate than issues of courage or uselss brutality.
Christopher
