Supermarket Self Defence

There is a very thin veneer between living our lives in a community that is based on civility, good manners and being good law abiding citizens and people that live outside the bell curve of what we consider good.  Evil is sometimes only a breath away and within a blink of an eye you can be thrust into someone else’s darkness. I encountered that darkness in a super market on Sunday morning.

I was in a great mood, happy to be having a day off, slowly pushing the trolley though the fruit and veg section. I turned a corner into a narrow aisle and standing directly in front of me was an average looking man, clean and well dressed. As I was obviously blocking his way I smiled and was just about to start moving the trolley out of his way, when he suddenly stopped, blocked my way and looked me up and down.

Darkness oozed from this man. I had, out of the blue stumbled across the path of a man that was for some reason sizing me up as a target. My demeanour changed immediately from a happy, smiling inoffensive Joe average to being a man that has spent his life training in martial arts. My look could have frozen water and I was present and completely ready to defend myself and fight for my life in the aisle of a super market.That’s how serious this felt.

He stared deeply into my eyes and I was unmoved and he knew it. He backed off very quickly as he realised that he had stumbled across someone’s path that lives a peaceful life but keeps a very big stick in his back pocket. I did not raise a fist, I was not angry and was not aggressive in any way. I had nothing against this man whatsoever. I was simply taping in to the deeper side of my martial arts training that projects my intention from my core. It is very primal and develops over many years of internal and external martial arts training. It is the hidden gem as it enables you win without fighting. Which is perfect for me as I am a man of peace. I continued to have a great day. The moment it was over I let it go completely.