“As he said these last words I winced: it was another “aggressive” act that, while understandable, could serve no useful purpose. Implicit in this remark was a lack of confidence in the ranger – a crticism of his conduct. Indeed, the ranger’s immediate response was to rush up, almost nose-to-nose, in a highly aggressive manner. “All right then,” he spat out, “what’s your name?”. Then he pulled out a notebook (as if he was going to give the elderly man a ticket!). The fact that he had no basis upon which to exercise his “power” to require a name and address appalled me, but I could see that there was no point taking him to task about this. He would use whatever powers he had – lawfully or unlawfully – in answer to the gentleman.”
Brian Kagen is an avid web researcher with a particular interest in martial arts. His training background includes both judo and aikido. He has contributed hundreds of article links over the years for AJ readers.
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…you don’t have to agree with the analysis, but this gives some practical situations…
Well said. Lots of interesting points. With your elevated conception of agression, you’ve either transcended to the angelic stage of aikido or, at the very least, are ready for a sainthood nomination, leaving the rest of us terrestrial aikido well in your wake. You are definitely a role model for me. I’m being serious in a humorous way. Only thing I really wondered about was whether your last remark about Mel Gibson was “aggressive.”
Thanks Brian for “picking” my blog and thanks to all for reading it and for your comments.
Brett – I don’t know about “angelic stages” or “sainthood nominations”! Wu-wei is an amoral doctrine: it is based on pragmatism – “not having to do anything, yet having everything done”. It is like irimi; you go with the flow and use it to your advantage. I am nowhere near mastering irimi in form, or in daily discourse.
For those who are interested, I have written a follow up article to address many of the email queries I’ve had since writing the above article. See: http://dandjurdjevic.blogspot.com/2010/03/wu-wei-vs-pacifism-and-appeasement.html.
As to my “aggressive” remark about Mel Gibson; you’re right. It is a kind of “aggression”. Any critique has this potential.
However I see my blog as (at least partly) a social commentary. I think such commentaries are necessary in society. To the extent that it might offend Mr Gibson, I feel this is a “regrettable necessity” with low risks to me (Mr Gibson is unlikely to “send the boys around to break my fingers”
).
By the way, I referred to Mr Gibson’s latest movie as a “revenge fantasy”, however this is not a term I have coined; movie critics here often use that expression to refer to what has become a genre (think of the late Charles Bronson’s vigilante movies). I see this genre as pandering to a mindset that is diametrically opposed to wu-wei, and I won’t shy away from making this observation.
Thanks again to all.
Dan