Uncle Jim pointed to a recent article in Science discussing Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011). I gave the book a quick read and found it a simple gloss on the benefits of global integration; hopeful homilies of an academician sheltered from the possibilities of violence. Pinker’s general thesis isContinue reading “Better Angels”
Tag Archives: katsujinken
MENTAL COMBAT
The real target always was, has been, and will be the mind of the opponent. And so now we get to the crux of the matter – how do we control the mind of another? Leading the spirit, capturing ki, are just poor descriptors for what is now better labeled psychological operations (psyops)[1] or better still,Continue reading “MENTAL COMBAT”
NECESSARY VIOLENCE
In Aikido we use weapons as a basis of understanding or a metaphor for action – “shomen is like an overhead strike” – and yet we often change the way we execute any given technique when a weapon is actually involved. Aikido does at least make the pretext of keeping the principles the same – meaningContinue reading “NECESSARY VIOLENCE”