Hmmm.... =/

I have been in a situation where there was a knife involved- I would not risk my life directly unless I had competent back up (3:1, standard operating procedure), but I'll pick up a phone and call in ALL the details.

Wescli Wardest wrote: I have another question to add to this discussion.

Seriously, and meditate on it first, don’t just answer with a gut reaction… if you were at work and saw something like this happening, would you risk or sacrifice your life to stop the individual?

Yes.

I would hope like hell that the training I've done would help prevent it from being a sacrifice, but yes.

Yes, as former military, and a person who is going through the hiring process for the Police Department, yes, I would. If there was a credible threat, were authorized force was called for and justified, yes. Regardless if it could cost me my life or not. Anytime there is an engagement your life is always in danger. You never know what the other person may have concealed, or even going out on routine patrols, you never know what will happen. However, someone has to do it, that was the reason for our training. We do things others cannot. If indeed one day it will cost me my life and become one with the force, then I shall accept that. At least I know during my life I have made a difference, and served my country and community honorably.

Well, I stepped in to assist a man who was being bullied by three people. One man pulled a knife. I told him he had just escalated my rules of engagement and asked him to put it away. He was full of bravado and struck at me with the knife, intending to pierce my rib cage. I used my training and attempted a block and disarm technique I had been using in practice for years.

I took the knife in the arm, not my intent, but did manage the disarm. I followed it up with a blow that knocked him out and took the fight out of the other two who ran.

I gained a knife, a friend, and a desire to learn another technique to help with disarming and started Aikido. Always remember that no matter how much we think we know, the odds are you are going to get stabbed. The best advice I can give in a situation like this is commit to whatever decision you choose.

Edan wrote: I often wonder if people like that would have done something terrible anyway, just under a different banner or for a different purpose, or whether there really is a 'tipping point' they're pushed to specifically by religion or politics. Hard to know.

You got it. This guy wasn't ISIL. He was just someone who had problems and found an outlet in ISIL's message. You have to think of ISIL like a street gang. People join them because they're already disadvantaged and ISIL gives them something to hold on to just as a street gang gives young adults a way of earning money by selling drugs or engaging in violence. That's why people like this guy find some sense of solidarity with them. Their propaganda paints them as crusaders for a righteous path and advocates violence to get your voice heard. So when someone like this guy feels that he's being kept down and sees them making gains with their tactics, he follows in kind. It's unfortunate and indicative of a larger problem looming. We are far beyond what is considered the tipping point in psychology when it comes to "crowd behavior" for dangerous ideologies.