Manuel was referred to me by Mescaline Franklin, who I thank for the opportunity to gain a glimpse of a distant man’s troubled stand.
“It’s been difficult here with the increasing social decline in my area. Just the other day a 50-year-old man was set upon by three other men, attacked and murdered for no reason. As he lay dying he was robbed by passersby. This happened less than a hundred yards away, at the side of the houses where I live. I found out about it the following morning when I saw the adjoining road cordoned off with police tape. I haven’t been able to concentrate on my work the past couple months and have been increasing my home security. I’m getting jumpy and can’t relax. I’m unable to move right now due to financial constraints. As soon as I find regular work I will.”
"There are areas worse than mine. But the one I am in is dire. Recently I was driving home one evening on a quarter-mile stretch of the road—the same road this man was attacked on—approaching where I turn onto my street. I noticed a group of men drinking who looked to be in their mid-twenties. They had the liquor badness and my ‘spider sense’ started tingling. One of the saw me look at him as I was slowing to approach my turn. I’ve never seen as much venom and rage appear on someone’s face before. Immediately, bottle in hand, he started sprinting toward the car. Luckily there was a junction on the other side of the road, (turning right, my home was left) and I made the turn with this psychopath in pursuit at full sprint. Fortunately eh slipped and crashed to the ground and I continued. It was like being in the film 28 Days Later. I had three options: run him over, stop and fight or get away. Whether I could have beat him physically was irrelevant, living only four houses away I didn’t want to give him or them any indication of where I lived. After I drove around the block for a while and returned there there were a couple police cars parked where they were. This is why I feel so vulnerable (No matter how strong I am or if I can fight or not if they got wind of where I live) with these types of scum a fight is never just a fight and comebacks for a victor or his property are more common than not.
"When I worked in corrections, one of the inmates who had recently been released found out where a colleague lived, he was simply getting out of his car at the time and this thing happened to be walking past. The colleague was a martial arts instructor and was powerless to do anything about the harassment that followed. The police weren’t interested and simply advised him to move. Speaking about the police, at the end of the street an old guy’s house was burglarized about three weeks ago. He phoned the police and they finally arrived three days later.
"My granddad on my mother’s side was a coal miner and was tough as teak. My dad’s father was a POW in World War II and survived being shot. Neither of them took any shit, and single-handedly sorted out riffraff on the rare occasions the need arose. But this was in the 1960s and times were different then. I know there were nasty, vermin-like characters at that time but don’t believe they were as prevalent as they are today. Nowadays being nice and polite is often perceived as weakness and I’ve noticed a selfish, even predatory mindset almost everywhere I go; even at the supermarket. When I was young between the ages of seven and twelve I was bullied mercilessly.
"Childhood infirmities culminated in me becoming introverted, a loner and finally seeing red one day and pulverizing the ring leader of a group of bullies. After this incident I decided to build myself up and saved my pocket money to buy a second hand Bullworker [a tension strength training apparatus] and began my lifelong love affair with isometrics. [1]
"One of the problems I have with the situation is mental. In my five years at the prison I was assaulted and restraining violent teens almost every day. Even on the bi-yearly restraint courses, due to my strength I was the only person who could not be restrained in any hold; even by both instructors at the same time while lying face down with one on my upper body holding my arms and head and the other pinning my legs. Tice the year they came back with new ‘unbreakable’ holds that I proved didn’t work. I know any decent grappler could likely do the same but I could hold my own purely on strength. I tell this story, not to blow my own trumpet, but to give a background that will hopefully offer some insight. For some reason, in real life, physical confrontation knocks me [uses a term similar to loopy]. [2]
"A short while ago I was in the back yard when someone tried to kick the gate in. I went outside and there were two juicers in vests accusing me of slashing their car tires that was parked at the side of the house. They were both prowling around me, mouthing off and threatening. I managed to deescalate the situation (using the experience gained at the prison) but I still can’t shake the feeling that I should have sorted them out physically, like my grandfathers would have. I’ll be honest, even though the outcome resulted I no violence, I felt emasculated by the experience and far less confident in my physical ability. [3]
"This event was the first in an entire episode of negative things that have been going on. What you said about the social situation being part of a scheme to oppress decent folk makes sense. I never thought about it like that. Even self-defense in this country is full of pitfalls for the law abiding man and there are many cases when an assaulted person ends up with a criminal record or worse for defending himself. I just had a thought regarding this. In the area I live there are no beat police and rarely ay police presence at all. The only time you see a police car is when it has its sirens on going to a job. [4]
"This has allowed the undesirable elements to flourish and keep the good guys indoors or outside and anxious. It would be interesting to hear more of your views on the subject when you have the time. [5]
“I hope you are well and life is good to you.
"Take care,"
-Manuel
James’ Notes
1. Milo of Kroton, greatest wrestler in history, used isometric training methods, which is the use of the bars and other strong objects to press against and even bend.
2. It is common for extremely strong men to suffer instant and extreme fatigue when under stress, even when participating in combat sports they are trained and experienced in. Training to enter a rhythmic state—a fighting trace, essentially tantric, based on certain common cues, like raised voices or taking a punch—is a reliable method of minimizing such instant fatigue or stress bouts.
3. This was not a non-violent outcome but an assault. Menacing with words, body proximity and “prowling” behavior is a threat, stage one violence and it does adrenal damage to your nervous system. The use of the term violence to indicate only dynamic physical contact with the intent to do bodily harm is one reason why I switched from using the term violence to employing the more accurate term aggression. In most municipalities of the U.S. you would have been justified in a first strike. However, you must damage both men so that the cops will know they were both involved by the marks on them, so that one may not claim to have been the witness who watched you attack the other.
4. Since the 2015 Purge/Riot Event in Baltimore this has also been the case.
5. Targeting vice crime, such as “The War on Drugs” is one method of removing beat cops and police deterrence and minimizing community-police cooperation in order to bring about the terrorizing of the decent people. Nations on the rise have leaders that weld factions together. Nations in decline need leaders that will divide the people along factional lines in order to maintain control. In nations on the rise the lower class seek to emulate the upper class. In a nation in decline the upper class seeks to emulate the lower class and fawns upon criminals. These factors drive the separation of productive citizens from the nation. Likewise the family and neighborhoods are weakened as men are forced to work away from home instead of running a family business and women are sent away as well, leaving children and teens in a feral state. When a man is forced into such a state he must either join or form some kind of tribal entity for mutual support or become the dread of the scum that prowl about. If he becomes the second loner type he must make alliances with cops, or criminals or the few good people with enough backbone to stand.
One final note, the side of or end of row of a brown stone block, or the side of the last single home on a street are the most common places to be attacked in residential settings.
Manuel, your nation has placed you in a nasty pickle. However, you have unusual strength and very relevant experience in your prison work. Your instincts are very good, such as veering off to avoid people learning your address. Using these strengths as the foundation for your own unique Counter-Aggression Doctrine should help cultivate the peace-of-mind the scum of the earth has been sapping from your life. You will be your own best coach. Any specific behavioral, tactical or combat training and applications questions you have simply address to my via email at ϳаmeslаfond.com at gmаil.com
And hopefully I will be able to assist you.
Good luck, Manuel.
Thriving in Bad Places
Dear James,
thanks for taking the time to read my story and provide useful insights from your experience.
Regarding your comments (1+2),
I learned first hand that day that my body stopped functioning the way I needed it to. Even with the experience I gained first hand in the prison (de-escalating aggression and participating in violent restraints), in this situation I became almost instantly powerless, weak and exhausted. I've never felt anything like it before and the strength I possess I certainly didn't have it in that moment. The feeling of vulnerability was all encompassing...and horrible. I'm glad that you wrote that it happens to others. I thought it was a weakness within me and have replayed the event numerous times in my mind, trying to understand what happened to me. I'll try to address this as you advised, by working on creating a mindset or altered state of consciousness that I can utilise if I find myself in a similar situation. I find it ironic that a man of peace has to live, or even think, like this, but I know firsthand that a peaceful life isn't always possible.
(3)
I never thought about it like that, but after reading what you wrote I understand now it was an assault. During the first moments I expected an immediate attack and rushed out ready to defend myself, However, this didn't transpire and the exhaustion kicked in almost immediately. Conscious thoughts of repercussions and comebacks started going through my brain (as it was outside my house). I prefer the term you used; aggression, to describe such encounters and realise now I would have been justified in ending the situation far more quickly (if my body would have enabled me to do so).
(4+5)
From reading your posts I understand that you reside under similar difficult circumstances. Thank you for writing about your experiences and insight on this. I'm sure that a great many people find strength in your words.
Drugs are rife here and the lack of policing has allowed undesirable elements to flourish. From speaking to the police personally about the situation in the area, I've found out that they know a great deal about what is going on, but turn a blind eye. They said they do this so that they can contain it somewhat within the area. I was told this is because if they busted it all open, the criminals would simply do the same somewhere else. It doesn't help the law-abiding peaceful folk who live here though.
It is difficult not to be a loner here and due to the decline, aggression, fear of repercussions etc, I haven't met many people here who would intervene on someone else's behalf.
It seems that no one wants to get involved for a neighbour anymore.
It is a decline indeed.
(6)
Sadly, the end of row house I own, that at one time gave me the luxury of having a noisy neighbour on one side only, now has placed me in a position of vulnerability.
Perhaps it always did, but as an inexperienced first time buyer moving to a once pleasant area, I regret not having the wisdom to look far enough ahead.
Thank you so much for the insights you've provided. I learned a lot and appreciate it greatly. Thanks also for the kind offer of writing to you personally. It is very good of you.
Kind Regards,
Manuel
Manuel,
I am so glad that something in this article helped.
What you discussed with the two criminals prowling around you was an adrenalin dump, a classic case. This can be managed. the fact that you keyed up for action right off and then they wanted to take their time building aggression, means that they were used to make people eat their own adrenalin. This is how illegal debt collectors work. They probably faded away rather then continuing to crank things up because you demonstrated heroism, which is hanging in there after your base instinct has been spent. This still may not have kept them off of you if you had not built your body up so much.
You are doing what you can and that is what men do.
Good luck.