Trust Your Gut

Friday Knight News

“Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.”  Miyamoto Musashi

Being in touch with your feelings is important in the martial arts. In countless studies my sensei conducted for the state (interviewing predators at state penitentiaries), while he was writing the handbook on sexual assault, he noticed the importance of being in touch with and trusting your feelings. This was a common disconnect with victims that he also interviewed. However, this was not the case with the perpetrator as much as it was true with the victim. Many people believe that feelings are erratic biological reactions and are therefore unreliable. They believe that they cannot find truth based on something that is so emotionally based. So they construct a world view based on their perception of society and call it reality.














(Tom Manson, Sensei)

With all of the interviews that had been conducted between perpetrators and victims a common thread was that both groups could identified each other out of gut instinct. The thing was behaving properly, as society has thought us to, often left these targets vulnerable to the assault that followed. This was true even when the victim had been taken by surprise by the attacker from blind assaults. Most reported that they had a strange feeling or premonition of danger. Neither group seemed to be consciously aware of why they were chosen for an assault. But when victims were put in a photo lineup with other individuals that had not been selected as targets, other predators also selected photos of the original victim as someone they would chose to attack. Very rarely did any of the assailants have any idea as to why they chose a particular individual out of a photo lineup, but the fact remains the same people were selected consistently. 

Animal also often respond to what they perceive as a threat for various reasons. Some people believe that if their dog doesn’t trust someone that is a more reliable determination of the individual’s character. However, their dog might just be picking up on the nonverbal cues that they are reading from their master. I have found that many times people get mixed signals that they do not know how to interpret.

Campbell, JC. (2004). Danger Assessment. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://www.dangerassessment.org.

As an example, when my son was a teenager, many of his acquaintances referred to me as the scary dude. While a lot of the professors from the college where my children attended and my wife worked, also referred to me as such. Over the years many of these professors confided to me that they had these feelings until they got to know me. Afterward many of the same professors told me that I was one of the nicest people they had ever met, but they still found me to be scary. Of course, many people go through life blissfully unaware, but there are danger awareness assessments to help.

Nikola Tesla was able to operate a remote control car by his thoughts when he wore a metallic headband that amplified and directed the waves through a small antenna that protruded from his forehead. So, perhaps there is more to be studied about the electromagnetic flux that extends beyond the surface of our skin, after all, that is what is measured during an EKG. 

We are told we cannot judge the world by feelings because it doesn’t embrace the scientific method and is therefore not factual; but is this necessarily true? In order to pass the scrutiny of the scientific method we need to make observations by doing experiments. That was what led my teacher to question the victimology in sexual assault cases. He conducted surveys where both the perpetrator and the victim were shown photographs of other perpetrators and/or victims in a double-blind study. Consistently based on photographs and/or electronic recordings the responses remained consistent. So, after analyzing the data of the study, he were drawn to the conclusion that there was more than what meets the eye to judging a book by its cover. At least more than he would have normally considered.

Although there was definitely some undefinable elements involved in these selections. For example, a large muscular male prison guard and a small female prison guard from different facilities had been used as test subjects. The male prison guard had been attacked by inmates several times over the years whereas the female was routinely left alone even by troublesome inmates. In the study the muscular male prison guard was almost always selected out of the photo line-up as a potential target by the inmates. In conclusion one of the big factors seemed to be based on the fact the non-victims seemed to be not only aware of their surrounds, but of themselves as well. So, there is more to it than just the physical appearance. Trust your gut feelings about danger and pay attention. You are alive today because your ancestors did.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles." Sun Tzu 

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