February 14, 2013, Flight 3611 to Indiana
Coffee served, time to write...
Having spent most of this past month in airports and on planes I have seen and used many doors. Some say Push and some say Pull. It is very important to follow these simple directions.
If you push the lavatory door on the plane, when in fact you should be pulling, (depends on the aircraft), the result is you are going nowhere, you might hit yourself, and, you might look foolish to the other passengers and flight attendants.
This got me to thinking; it is the same with Krav Maga. With some techniques we push forward aggressively and with some techniques we pull back into a flow. Using a pull technique, when a push is required, or the other way around, can jeopardize the situation and get you into a whole lot of trouble.
All of life is in fact a question of push or pull, attack or retreat, move forward or wait. Sometimes we need to stand firm while at other times we need to bend and compromise. Life is a balance, Ying and Yang.
To always be one way defies the balance of nature; dark and light, day and night, winter and summer. Life is always an interplay of opposites, the rock and the water coming together to create the art of nature; a beautiful sculpture.
To always be soft is not good; many people will take advantage of you; you must know when to draw the line and be prepared for whatever may come your way. To always be aggressive and harsh is uncalled for and unwise. Such aggressive behavior may cause a situation to escalate and get out of control.
With Krav Maga we need to incorporate both elements. At our recent Krav Maga seminar in Michigan IKI instructor Craig Gray conducted several sessions on Conflict Management. These classes blended very well with my part, the Krav Maga classes. Sometimes a verbal response is best and sometimes a physical response is necessary.
We need to decide which approach is optimal in each situation; we need to control ourselves in order to control the situation. We cannot allow the situation to control us. The ultimate victory is to remain in control of ourselves.