As a martial artist and an expert in behavioral modification, I see a lot of illegal behaviors reinforced by citizens. It is easy to reinforce the behavior of a criminal, give him or her your wallet, make it easy for him or her to break into your house, do not call the police, always assume it will happen to the other person and not you. By making it easy for the criminal to get your money, jewelry, body, or whatever he or she is after, we positively reinforce their negative behavior by allowing the criminal to have instant gratification of his or her actions without any consequences to the negative behavior.
As martial artists, we have even more responsibility. The very act of taking martial arts lessons, implies that we are aware that crime may happen to us or our loved ones. As martial artists, we should have taken steps to decrease the chances of crime, making criminals "work" harder for their "reward". Reward here is being defined as a positive reinforcement of a behavior whether that action is a positive or negative behavior in the eyes of our society. Unfortunately in most cases, if the criminal finds bars on the window he or she just goes to the next house. That small amount of time, however, could be the determining factor as to whether or not that criminal is caught.
Obviously, criminals have peers and friends, some of these may also be criminals. If you are in a classroom of first graders and one of the first graders has ice-cream, what question is more than likely going to be asked by every first grader there who doesn't have ice-cream? Need I say it? At this point who is the center of attention and being rewarded by the attention of his peers for having ice-cream? Yes, the first grader with the ice-cream is being rewarded with attention for having the ice-cream. The first grader will brag about how he or she got the ice-cream and the other students will do the same thing to acquire ice-cream as well.
Too simple of an example? "I mean come on we're talking about responsible adults here not children. That's different right?" No, it's not. As adults, we still receive positive and negative reinforcements, many of us enjoy being the center of attention, belonging to a group, and being recognized for our work. Oddly enough the same behavioral modification techniques used on children also work on adults.
By allowing criminals to receive their rewards for their negative behaviors we are positively reinforcing their criminal behavior and motivating others to follow the same behavioral pattern since others do not see any consequences of the original criminals actions, only a chance for immediate gratification.
Just because a criminal robbed someone with a knife and did not stab the victim this time, does not mean the criminal will not stab the victim the next time. The odds of any criminal killing someone while threatening the victim with deadly aggression increases the more crimes the criminal commits. By giving that criminal your wallet and not calling the police, by not reporting that you have been raped, by not pressing charges when you have been attacked, reinforces that criminal behavior and that criminal will strike again. More importantly, without consequences for the criminal's negative behavior, this behavior will be copied by others and you will be responsible for not helping to stop that criminal, an increase in crime, and for the next string of victims.
This has a direct effect on our children, both in keeping our children safe, from an ever growing population of criminals due to our own lackadaisicalness and negligence, and in raising our children to be good men and women surrounded by a people and media which expresses and stresses the negative actions of our society. No do not blame society or the media. Have you attempted to do anything about crime yourself? We have to decide, if the trouble of calling the police, reporting a break-in, a mugging, a rape, or anything suspicious is worth the safety of our own children and our children's children.
As martial artists we have another decision to make. Do we stand by and allow another person or ourselves to be mugged or raped, or do we help that person, at the risk of our own lives. The first way, we may make society safer for our children, but then our children may never see us again. The second way, we allow another human being to be injured or killed and aid in corrupting our future. Even a shout, yelling that someone called the police or the police are on there way is better than doing nothing.
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DO ALL THE GOOD YOU CAN:
God has a way of allowing us to be in the right place at the right time. I was walking down a dimly lit street late one evening when I heard muffled screams coming from behind a clump of bushes. Alarmed, I slowed down to listen and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing was the unmistakable sounds of a struggle: heavy grunting, frantic scuffling and tearing of fabric.
Only yards from where I stood, a woman was being attacked. Should I get involved? I was frightened for my own safety and cursed myself for having suddenly decided to take a new route home that night.
What if I became another statistic? Shouldn't I just run to the nearest phone and call the police? Although it seemed an eternity, the deliberations in my head had taken only seconds, but already the cries were growing weaker. I knew I had to act fast. How could I walk away from this? No, I finally resolved, I could not turn my back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking my own life!
I am not a brave man, nor am I athletic, I do not want to get involved. Will my Martial Arts training I had years ago help even though I have never used it. I don't know where I found the moral courage and physical strength---but once I had finally resolved to help the girl, I became strangely transformed.
I ran behind the bushes and pulled the assailant off the woman. Grappling, we fell to the ground, where we wrestled for a few minutes until the attacker jumped up and escaped. Panting hard, I scrambled upright and approached the girl, who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing. In the darkness, I could barely see her outline, but I could certainly sense her trembling shock. Not wanting to frighten her further, I at first spoke to her from a distance. "It's OK," I said soothingly. "The man ran away. You're safe now." There was a long pause and then I heard the words, uttered in wonder, in amazement.
"Daddy, is that you?" And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest daughter, Katherine! Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.
I cannot stress this enough, our actions, will have a direct effect on our children's safety and our grandchildren's safety. We are the one's who decide what type of society, crime-ridden or crime-free our children are going to live in. When someone is attacked or robbed and does nothing about it, that has an effect on your child.
Perhaps the best way to remember this long message to you is in this quote, Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
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J. Richard Kirkham graduated from Eastern Illinois University as a dual certified teacher. He currently resides in Honolulu with his wife Jan and son Rylan.
Mr. Kirkham has recently authored several .00 books for the busy martial artist and self-defense practitioner who wants to get past the hype directly into the drills and techniques. Those who want even more detail should read his two martial arts books Solo Martial Arts Dills and Bringing The Martial Artist Out from Within http://kirkhamsebooks.com/MartialArts/
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