Is the world full of victims or warriors?
This may come off as controversial, but hey, that is one reason I decided to create this blog.
A month ago, I took my family back to the US for a visit and it was just as the shooting incident happened at Virginia Tech.
I was shocked to hear about the incident, just as anyone else would be, and saw it as a real tragedy. I also listened to the majority of the people around me who said “that’s why we need gun control, to stop these types of things” Well; I see it another way…
I can’t help wondering why a guy with a handgun can shoot 32 people without anyone doing something to stop him. I realize that this may sound easier that it seems, but with a handgun, you have to reload and there must have been some opportunity to take action. Or, if there was just a few people involved who had been trained in something real, may have been useful to stop him. Maybe a few lives could have been saved. I realize that there are many “what if’s” here, but I hope that maybe someday the teachings of the Bujinkan will spread to enough good people that someone trained and capable will be there next time to stop these tragedies. Maybe a perfect world, but I think Soke is right when he says we need to focus on survival more and more these days.
Think of it this way, one armed kid who is trained and responsible, could have saved 32 lives. Pardon me for thinking this way. But I choose not to be a victim.
June 12, 2007 at 10:49 am
I dont think you have to apologize for the way you feel. Maybe someone trained could have stopped it before the first shot with just realizing how troubled that young man was. Of course you can not be there for everybody all of the time to comfort them. But people too often close their eyes and keep walking just thinking everything will work out fine. I am guilty of this too.
June 12, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Doug,
It is funny that you say this, because I expressed the same feelings to many of my friends and family. There was a specialist on the news sometime after the incident had occured, and he made a very good point. He said “People need to stop thinking that these things will never happen to them. All the time people think they are safe because of where they live, or because of how they live.” The reality of it all, is that anyone of us, at anytime, can find ourselves faced with a dangerous situation. Having been a cop in the airforce, and a corrections officer, I understand the benefits of being prepared, even if it means that we have to die. This is something that many people don’t think about. We all need to be better prepared, whether it is for our job, to take an exam, or whatever. I also hope that Hatsumi Sensei’s teaching will continue to help the world.
June 12, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hi Doug,
First, thanks for making this Blog. I really enjoy it.
Secondly, I personally don’t think your taking this in a “wrong/controversial” direction. These are legitimate questions we need to ask ourselves.Sometimes it can be painful to ask these things, but they must be addressed to learn and grow from.
I train in Richmond Va. at Bujinkan Shima Dojo. We are about 3 hrs east of Va. Tech. That day was a very tragic day for everyone here in the state of Virginia as well as the US.
I agree with you about seeing it another way instead of “this is why we need gun control”. What we may need is more people waking up to the fact that personal responsibility/survival falls on themselves. Sure you can rely on local/state police, and/or government for certain things. But at the end of the day, it ultimately comes down to you. Maybe this is just how I am from serving in the Infantry for a few years. But just like we train in the dojo, we have to make our training “real” give it life.
One thing they used to do in basic training is line us up in a horizontal line and say “ look to your right, look to your left. That man may save your life one day in combat”.
I can’t help but think of a wonderful quote offered from Shidoshi Hoban’s site:
THE WARRIOR CREED
By Robert L. Humphrey
(Iwo Jima Marine)
Wherever I go,
everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.
Wherever I am,
anyone in need has a friend.
Whenever I return home,
everyone is happy I am there.
“It’s a better life!”
I too hope that the Bujinkan will spread to enough good people as well.
Kind Regards,
Jayson
June 12, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Well done.
“I can’t help wondering why a guy with a handgun can shoot 36 people without anyone doing something to stop him”
This crossed my mind as well. And the goings on afterward about “why didn’t the school notify the poor defenseless students?” and the counters from school officials that it was for their own protection.
It is understandable, because we are building a culture of self-centered, pampered victims by encouraging the tendency to blame everyone and everything else for our shortcomings, poor choices, and ineffectual lives. We don’t need gun control, we need self-control, self-responsibility, and a healthy dose of community to be instilled to battle the self-deception that we are learning to take as the norm for our existence.
“Is the world full of victims or warriors?” I am not a Bujinkan practitioner, but I am married to someone who is. There are a lot of kooky Buj people (like any art) but it is true there are also a lot of people cultivating that warrior spirit. I have a lot of respect for what Soke is trying to instill in fellow practitioners, and immense respect for those practitioners who are walking the walk.
June 12, 2007 at 9:53 pm
If the second person he tried to shoot had had a handgun and been ready fight there would have only been 1 or two deaths.
“Out of every 100 men, 10 should not be there, 80 are nothing but targets, 9 are the real fighters and we are blessed to have them, for they the battle make. Ah but one, ONE of them is a warrior, and he will bring the others home.” –Heraclitus
Which is really unfair of many of us who’ve never faced a loaded gun completely unarmed.
Then again if you’re wandering around completely unarmed (say, a can of pepper spray and a steel bodied ink pen?) you’ve already given up.
June 13, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I agree with you Doug.
A well trained and capable person could help.
The matter is, mainly here in Brazil, that people are afraid to help and don’t do anything to help.
I have heard many cases of boys that attack old people on bus stations when they are entering the buses.
And the people standing on the bus station don’t do anything to avoid the attack.
I don’t say that people should attack the attacker, just take some action.
That’s all!
Have a nice week!!
Manassés de Freitas Corradi - Belo Horizonte - MG - Brasil.
June 14, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Good article. I think the question needs to be asked. I also think that this can serve as a wake-up call for these kind of events. Much like after 9-11. I feel sorry for anyone that now stands up on a plane and says, “this is a hijaaaaa”.
I always recall a story from jack in these situations. 10 people on the street can here gun shots. Half will run away from the shots. 3 or 4 will instantly hide. 1, maybe 2 will run towards the gunshots to do something. They don’t think about why or what may happen they just do it.
Some of the students were lucky enough to have that 1 as there professor that day. Liviu Librescu, a Holocast survivor, blocked and held the door to his classroom as his students escaped. He died saving their lives. That’s a Warrior!
June 14, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Good article. I think the question needs to be asked. I also think that this can serve as a wake-up call for these kind of events. Much like after 9-11. I feel sorry for anyone that now stands up on a plane and says, “this is a hijaaaaa”.
I always recall a story from Jack in these situations. 10 people on the street can here gun shots. Half will run away from the shots. 3 or 4 will instantly hide. 1, maybe 2, will run towards the gunshots to do something. They don’t think about why or what may happen they just do it.
Some of the students were lucky enough to have that 1 as their professor that day. Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, blocked and held the door to his classroom as his students escaped. He died saving their lives. That’s a Warrior!
June 14, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Hello friends, May I respectfully interject something that may also be viewed as controversial…maybe someone did step up to protect his fellows and got killed with the rest of them. I think that it is important in our training to let go of the illusion that any amount of training might make us invincible (Doug, I am not saying you believe this, but it is a notion that often underlies this type of discussion). We should, I believe, take action to ease suffering, even in the face of overwhelming odds or great danger, but though training may improve our chances of success, it does not guarantee it. Maybe we should devote more of our training effort to taking the actions that prevent such violence from ever developing: working to ease poverty, protecting clean air, water, food, making good medical care available to all, etc. These actions may not end violence in the world, but they may help end the violence in our own hearts so that we may see the world more clearly and live life more fully. With this clarity of spirit we may act most appropriately if ever the gun is pointed at us.
June 20, 2007 at 6:36 pm
A friend whose father was shot at the VA Tech shootings (luckily only grazed in the arm as he ran away) made it clear that people DID try to stop the shooter. From his description, the shooter simply gave no one a chance to play the hero.
Apparently one of the issues is that there had been construction going on in the building, so most people thought the noise was from construction. One person who went to investigate knocked on the closed door where the noise was coming from. The shooter opened the door and promptly shot him in the head before any words were exchanged.
It may very well be that a well trained person could have made a difference that day. But dealing with an armed assailant who is prepared to instantly kill without question is not the same as dealing with someone who is making demands of his victims.
Of course I wonder if I had been there whether I could have made a difference, or simply been shot down like the others. The thread between life and death here is very thin, indeed. Inspiration for us all to train harder.
August 9, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I understand what you are saying. I agree we need to be more courageous in our everyday life.
I’ve been in some seriuos situation in my day through work, so I believe I have some real life experience. If not trained as a police- or military officer doing something against guns is very complicated and dangerous, life is not a dojo.
I think there is a point to be made with the godan-test. We avoid the blade, we do not catch it, disarming Soke. We avoid, survive and live to fight another day. Karl H. and Jeff christian wrote interesting comments above as did many others.
But then again, he who dares, wins.
Respectfully.
March 22, 2008 at 5:10 pm
hi i,m new to this site and find it very interesting i agree that maybe some body who knew something (e.g martial arts, police etc.) could have helped but at the end if he failed then what, fact is most people don’t know how defend themselves and as so we need a balance between gun control and the ability to defend our selfs a urge everyone to learn some form of self defense and do their bit to contribute to the lessening of gun crimes. life as far as i know (i feel very awkward saying something philosophical on a site full sayings from the soke, Masaaki Hatsumi) is balance, very hot water is bad for you and so is very cold water, the best water is balanced water not too hot not too cold just perfect, and so is life in almost every manner.