Intervention

Discussion in 'Kenpo' started by Colin Linz, Mar 30, 2006.

  1. Colin Linz

    Colin Linz Valued Member

    In a post I recently made I explained that part of Shorinji Kempo philosophy is that we should make a stand in society and actually do something regarding any wrongs we come across. This is a recent example of this from someone that used to frequent this forum. Some of you may remember Kimpatsu, he is hard to forget. He has just been awarded an Upholding of Justice Award in Japan. Earlier this year he saved a young Japanese girl from being raped. I think that deserves a big thumbs up, and I thought that those that remember him might be interested in the news.
     
  2. dbmasters

    dbmasters Valued Member

    I have no idea who that is but big ups none the less.
     
  3. Omicron

    Omicron is around.

    Hard to forget indeed. This is the thread that I remember most from his short-lived membership here at MAP:

    http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13750&page=1&pp=15

    I always wonder to myself, just how far should we go with "intervention"? Obviousy what Tony did was noble and brave, and I hope that I'd act the same way in his place. But what if, say, it had been two men arguing and fighting in the street? Are we obliged to step in and "defend peace"? What if one was obviously winnning the fight, and seriously harming the other, possibly even to the extent of killing him? Or what if it were just two people yelling at each other? Should we act then, and stop things from escalating, or is it none of our business as random passersby? At what point should we step in and try to help or diffuse the situation?
     
  4. Colin Linz

    Colin Linz Valued Member

    Seeing that budo means to stop conflict or restore peace the simple answer is to intervene. In saying that I recognise nothing in this world is often simple and that there are a range of concerns that should be addressed.

    My simplistic way of judgment is that if someone looked like they would be hurt, then the situation could warrant intervention. If it was a simple argument and no one is in danger then it is not really a concern of mine, unless they are disturbing me then I might ask them to take their discussion elsewhere.

    What should be understood is that it is not always necessary to engage in physical intervention. It might be just caring enough to alert the authorities, or cause a “state of change” by shouting to “stop” or “here come the cops”. There are strategies that can be used that don’t require you to risk a physical confrontation, but sometimes there may be no other option and you have to make your own decision based on the individual circumstances at the time. I think Doshin So’s saying “Live half for yourself and half for others” may have some implication in any decision to intervene.
     
  5. Colin Linz

    Colin Linz Valued Member

  6. dbmasters

    dbmasters Valued Member

    I remember years ago jumping on a dude that was just going to assault the girl he was walking down the street with, fortunately, somebody else must have seen/heard the problem and called the cops cuz I no more than got him down long enough for the girl to start the other direction then the cops showed up and took it from there.

    Real rush, but feels good to do the right thing.
     
  7. Colin Linz

    Colin Linz Valued Member

    Some years ago I was involved in an incident where I detained a guy high on drugs of some sort. It was not a choice I voluntarily made, rather a choice by accident. I saw a girl accompanied by a man that looked like he had his arm around her shoulder for support and she was bleeding badly around the face. I approached them to see if I could assist in some way, and when I got closer realised the guy had here by the back of the neck. She then saw an opportunity to escape and put me between here and the guy. I tried for some time to try and reason with the guy, who was very agitated and foaming around his lips. I tried to position ourselves so the lady could enter a toilet and lock herself in, but the guy realised what I was doing and tried to attack her. It was at this stage that I was forced into physical intervention. The end result was that I had him pinned in ura gatame for about 20 minutes until the local cops came.

    It did make me feel good that I had been able to help to a small extant, although I was also concerned about some form of pay back from his family, they were well known criminals in my area. What I also took from this was that It may not have been necessary for me to do anything if their neighbours had done something earlier. He had been beating her up and holding her captive for most of the night. She had fractured cheekbones, nose, split lips, facial cuts and bruising around here throat. Surely this didn’t happen in silence. He had been out of gaol for two weeks and was unhappy about her being pregnant, this action had been brewing for some time before it happened but friends and neighbours had been “minding their own business”.

    What I took from this is that the techniques I had learned worked quite well, even against someone high and of powerful build (it took three cops, one either side and one behind with a baton across his throat to get him in their van). I could throw him because the techniques work not only on pain but also balance and that I could pin him, even though he didn’t immediately didn’t feel the pain he could not escape and the pain did penetrate within a short time.

    Ura gatame
    [​IMG]
     
  8. GenghisK

    GenghisK Jiu Jitsu Kempoka

    Firstly particular congratulations to Colin Lintz for what you did - a difficult situation that you seem to have handled well.

    Interestingly I think that I can claim to have saved a few people from death or injury, but to date none where any martial arts skill came into play.

    On one occasion I was training on a river (I used to compete in slalom kayak) and by lucky (!?) chance came across somebody who had fallen in, been pinned against a rope and was (my guess) within about a minute of being sucked with her head underwater and drowning. Prior training meant that I was able to get her safely out of the water.

    More recently I was amusing myself by a solo ascent of a largish mountain in Wales (I've about 20 years mountain climbing experience, but also stay within my own limits) and was bemused to find a youth group from Birmingham has "gone for a walk", somehow found their way to the top - had no idea where they were, how to get down, and were pretty much destined to spend the night up there alone, which given their lack of any safety equipment could have been fatal. I quizzed them, guessed (correctly it turned out) where they'd parked their minibus, changed my own plans, and got them back. I confess that I then took their leader aside and delivered something of a lecture on responsibilities and common-sense, but that was afterwards.


    To date, I've yet to use any martial skill save breakfalling outside the dojo environment (and largely hope I'll never need to), but I'm just making a point that the spirit of budo doesn't stop at the application of martial skill. I think that Colin is to a large extent making that point by his implied (and imho, justified) criticism of his "uke"'s friends and neighbours for not stepping in before he went over the edge.

    G
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2006
  9. kempojosh

    kempojosh Valued Member

    Good job guys-all of you! it's nice to hear about people helping others.

    i have a story myself. i saw these two guys get into a fight. it was a one on one fight until someone jumped in and made it a two on one fight. i wasn't going to let them get away with that. besides, the guy being ganged up on had helped me out before. so i jumped in. some stuff happened and then i was on the ground having 5 guys kick the crap out of me. so i decided it was time to bail. i took off and found some friends. i told the friends what happended and they went to join the fight. it was ludicrous.

    what i'm trying to get at is if you're going to try and help someone make sure that the risks are worth it. that day if i had known what was going to happen then i would have handled things differently.
     

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