By its violent nature, war inflames our emotions. As humans, we have reactions that are in part biological as well as deeply ingrained through our cultures, and the naked confrontation which leads to war as well as the violence embodied in it trigger those emotions.<\/p>\n
bq. “I have often preached that the proper antidote to fear is anger, and I see no reason to change my opinion on this. However, there is another mental condition that serves as well or possibly better, and that is concentration. I have discussed this matter at great length with people who are in a position to know, and I am not without experience of my own, and I can state positively that when you find yourself facing deadly danger, your ability to concentrate every mental faculty upon doing what needs to be done to save yourself leaves no room for fear.”<\/i> — Col. Jeff Cooper<\/p>\n
bq. “In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different than normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased… Do not let your spirit be influenced by your body, or your body be influenced by your spirit. Be neither insufficiently spirited nor overspirited. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.”<\/i> — Miyamoto Musashi<\/p>\n
Much martial arts training, and much military training (as I understand it) is about learning to manage those emotional reactions. But note that ‘managing’ them is not to completely deny them…Because, in truth, they serve as an engine for the human reluctance to confront or to risk and commit violence.<\/p>\n
When faced with confrontation, hatred, or violence, part of our human nature is to withdraw, to look away, to act like prey – not predator. Another part reacts aggressively. <\/p>\n
The question in any instance is which is the appropriate reaction?<\/p>\n
In this case, we’re taking about the anger in response to the events in Falluja – and let’s make one thing clear; the events are not simply the attack on and killing of the civilian guards. That’s tragic, but in most of our worlds would have been a blip. It was the brutal treatment of their bodies once they were helplessly dead, in defiance of Islam, which like most religions, requires a certain respect for the dead. <\/p>\n
So we’re angry. And to an extent, it’s important that we have some anger, because otherwise we would be helpless.<\/p>\n
And to that extent, when we see things like suicide bombings, when we remember the images of 9\/11, anger’s not a bad thing. It is, as Cooper says, far better than fear.<\/p>\n
But in the actual conflict, in the actual decision to fight and fighting, I’ll take Cooper’s ‘concentration’ and Musashi’s ‘settled yet unbiased’ spirit. Showing anger – standing in front of the enemy or potential enemy, and frothing at the mouth in rage – does two bad things. First, it helps create a fight where it might have been possible to avoid one. And second, if your enemy is at all strong, it shows weakness.<\/p>\n
One of the things that the Arab media shows me, with their constant displays of rage, is how weak the Arab world really is.<\/p>\n
That doesn’t mean we have nothing to fear from them, and it’s not a suggestion that we ignore them.<\/p>\n
Because, as I’ve noted, an eleven-year old with a shotgun still warrants your attention and reaction.<\/p>\n
But if we want to win – which I’ll define as coming out on top without turning the Arab world into rubble – we’ll do it in the spirit of Jeff Cooper and Musashi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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