Confrontation: Did Aikido Help?

This morning was the first time since I've started studying the self-defense art of Aikido that I faced a confrontation where I might have to physically defend myself. So, did studying Aikido help?

The situation: I pulled my car up to the air pump at the local gas station to check my tires. Just as I'm getting out of my car, a guy in a lowrider car, covered in prison tattoos, suddenly appears about 25 feet behind me, swearing at me: "F---ing asshole!", over and over again.

He backs his car up, gunning his engine and screeching his tires, and darts in alongside my car. It's hard to understand what he's yelling, but it sounds like he's chastising me for using the air pump without buying gas. (I hadn't bought any gas, that day, but I buy gas there all the time.)

Here's where I think Aikido helped. First of all, no, I didn't even consider doing some awesome technique on him; that would have gotten my ass kicked. Instead, with that blend of instinct and conscious thought that we try to develop in our training, I just made sure I kept a safe distance from him. I was aware that the car behind me could trap my escape, so I backed towards the back end of my car. Most importantly, I remained calm. I didn't get a big adrenaline rush, just the same relaxed posture with loose shoulders I've been working on lately.

But I'd only give myself a B on how I handled the situation because I did one thing that could have provoked him. I wasn't quite sure if I he was angry because I had cut him off while he was driving up to the air pump (I'm pretty sure I hadn't) or I had just happened to wander into the path of an angry man. I said to him, "Go ahead. You can go first." on the not-too-well-thought-out theory that it might disarm his anger a little. The problem was that I couldn't keep my eyes from squinting, just a little, in "you are a crazy-ass person" mockery. The smart move would have been to say absolutely nothing and show absolutely nothing.

I got in my car and drove away. This left me exposed to an attack while I was getting in the car. I did wait until he was occupied with unscrewing the cover on his valve stem before I approached my car door, and I kept my eyes on him. I'd like to say I timed it that way intentionally, but I hadn't. Perhaps the smarter thing would have been to walk over to the gas station office where a bunch of other people were standing.

Besides actual training in the dojo, it helped that I've been reading the Aikido Journal blog. They've had more than one article, some written by macho guys like former Army Rangers, pointing out exactly why it is dumb, very dumb to get involved in a fight that you can avoid -- you can get badly hurt. It's not worth it. In this case, about three minutes later, the guy was gone, my tires were checked, and I was peacefully getting on with my life.

Good Caltrain Cop / Bad Caltrain Cop?

I was perplexed when I read Caltrain board member, Jim Hartnett's response, in a Daily Post article about Caltrain budget problems, to the supposed problem of high ridership demand from bicycle commuters:

Caltrain board member Jim Hartnett said yesterday that the agency should consider banning bikes after a bicycle advocate called on the agency to continue making more room for riders.

"I am concerned that we are never going to meet (the demand)," said Hartnett, a Redwood City council member. "We have to consider whether or not we should continue to provide that service."

You have scads of loyal customers who want to make daily use of a product you're providing, so instead of ramping up and accommodating them, you threaten to stop providing the product? Good thing there are more sensible views among the board members:

Later in the meeting, Executive Director Michael Scanlon said that the board should consider charging a fee for bikes to board Caltrain.

Well, at least sensible to a heartless capitalist like me. Scanlon will no doubt get a lot of flak for suggesting the fee -- which made me think -- maybe Hartnett was playing the part of bad cop, setting up an unthinkable scenario to make the fee idea look a little better. It would fit right in with another drastic scenario floated at the meeting: to not just reduce, but eliminate, weekend Caltrain service.

P.S. If you're not familiar with the Daily Post, it's a free newspaper that started showing up in local coffee shops about a year ago. It looks eerily similar to the Palo Alto Daily News, and it turns out it looks similar because it was started by the same folks after they had sold the Daily News. Normally, I'd link to the Daily Post story online, but, against all expectations, Silicon Valley's newest newspaper prints its stories on paper only. The publishers say they aren't going to put their stories online unless they can make money off of it. I begrudgingly respect that.