The world needs a hero

One of the bullet points for the Violence Dynamics mission statement is :

- Build strong people

As altruistic as that may seem, it is actually very self interested.  Strong people are fun to be around.  If we can't find can't find strong folks to play with, we will have to help develop them.

- Build strong people is a bit of a misnomer.  Humans are the apex predator on the planet.  People are already strong.  However, strong people can be scary.  Especially to those who seek to control others.  So some forms of social conditioning have developed to put limits and governors on that strength.

-Build strong people, is more accurate as, help people overcome social conditioning.(But that might put us on a watch list)

You may be asking, why is this necessary?  Why is this so important that it is part of the mission statement.  

Take a look at this article from the news.
I cut and paste the report here so you don't have to leave the Budo Blog

No heroes allowed: 
Calgary student, 13, reprimanded for defending his classmate against a knife-wielding bully
After Briar MacLean instinctively pushed a knife-wielding bully away, his mother was told her son had decided to ‘play hero’ and the school did not 'condone heroics'

Briar MacLean was sitting in class during a study period Tuesday, the teacher was on the other side of the room and, as Grade 7 bullies are wont to do, one kid started harassing another.

“I was in between two desks and he was poking and prodding the guy,” Briar, 13, said at the kitchen table of his Calgary home Friday.

“He put him in a headlock, and I saw that.”

He added he didn’t see the knife, but “I heard the flick, and I heard them say there was a knife.”

I heard the flick, and I heard them say there was a knife
The rest was just instinct. Briar stepped up to defend his classmate, pushing the knife-wielding bully away.

The teacher took notice, the principal was summoned and Briar went about his day. It wasn’t until fourth period everything went haywire.

“I got called to the office and I wasn’t able to leave until the end of the day,” he said.

That’s when Leah O’Donnell, Briar’s mother, received a call from the vice-principal.

“They phoned me and said, ‘Briar was involved in an incident today,’” she said. “That he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in.”

Ms. O’Donnell was politely informed the school did not “condone heroics,” she said. Instead, Briar should have found a teacher to handle the situation.

“I asked: ‘In the time it would have taken him to go get a teacher, could that kid’s throat have been slit?’ She said yes, but that’s beside the point. That we ‘don’t condone heroics in this school.’ ”

Instead of getting a pat on the back for his bravery, Briar was made to feel as if he had done something terribly wrong. The police were called, the teen filed a statement and his locker was searched.

Calgary Police Service confirmed there was an incident at Sir John A. Macdonald junior high school Tuesday: a third student intervened in a fight between two others and a knife was involved.

The incident is being investigated and no one has been charged.

Ms. O’Donnell said the bully had since been suspended.

Sitting in their northwest Calgary home as Briar’s younger brother played with Buzz Lightyear action figures, Ms. O’Donnell said this isn’t the first time her child had been in trouble for confronting bullies, either.

She teaches her son to stand up for others, and for himself. His heroics were featured on the front page of Friday’s Calgary Sun. His mother had obtained several copies she stacked on her coffee table.

“We used to get phone calls home from the elementary school saying Briar’s been in a fight, but he was always defending someone,” she said.

“He stuck up for himself with a bully one time and they actually gave him heck for that, too. He had a friend stick up for him in that situation and I’m taking the two of them to Disneyland in two weeks. Because if you stick up for my kid, I’m going to treat you right.”

The mother says she understands the school’s desire to keep students from getting hurt, but fears it is teaching the wrong lesson.

What are we going to do if there are no heroes in the world?
Running away, tattling usually just make things worse. Students need to learn how to handle bullies on their own and how to help each other.

“What are they teaching them? That when you go out into the workforce and someone is not being very nice to you, you have to tattle to your boss? You’re not going to get promoted that way,” she said.

Most of the time bullies back down when confronted, she added.

“What are we going to do if there are no heroes in the world? There would be no police, no fire, no armed forces. If a guy gets mugged on the street, everyone is going to run away and be scared or cower in the corner. It’s not right.”

The Calgary Board of Education did not respond to a request for comment.

National Post

• Email: jgerson@nationalpost |

Big government has no need for brave, independent, free thinkers.

More and more often, government run schools vilify these traits.  Putting even stronger social conditioning on the human animal.

There has to be a way to counter this.

That is why pursuing ways to maximize human potential will always be a driving motivation for Violence Dynamics.

I have faith.  I know it is possible.  I have had the good fortune to attend the USMAA National Training camp for the last 6 years. 

It has been neat opportunity because I get to observe the growth of the youth in Omar Ahmad's program one year at a time.  In that time I have seen dramatic change.  Young men and women not only developing into champions, but also, and more importantly quality human beings. 

Strong people.

Unfortunately not everyone has opportunities to participate in things like Omar's Katamedo Jujitsu Click HERE for more information.

Or things like Randy's new youth program at KPC
Click HERE for more information.

Some people may reach adulthood without ever having a positive outlet to break free of that social conditioning.


There has to be a way to counter this.
What are we going to do if there are no heroes in the world?

That is why there is ODIN

At Violence Dynamics the concept of learning through play is highly valued.
People are wired to learn through play.  As we get older we get “too cool” to play anymore and learning becomes a chore.  Exercise stops being fun and becomes work.

One aspect of ODIN is to give adults an opportunity to play again.  Giving themselves permission to be special agents. 

Because, of course, ODIN is also the code name for the world's daring, highly trained special mission force.  An independent international intelligence service
ODIN’s purpose: to develop human potential.  Recruiting and training operatives to use their inherent abilities to defend human freedom.

ODIN is a fun way to develop yourself, and help others.  It is in no way an actual independent international inelegance service hiding as a training program or a game.  Because that would be ridiculous.  Nothing to see here, NSA, Move along.

The world will always need heroes.

Where are they going to come from?

Be the hero that you once needed.

Hopefully if you click on the image above you can see a larger version and read text.  That panel comes from "Batman: I am Suicide"

It is a retelling of the pledge Bruce Wayne made at his parents grave.  The difference being, 10 year old Bruce was going to kill himself.  He prayed for someone to save his parents and on one answered.  He prayed for someone to stop his suicide attempt, to save him, and no one answered.  So Bruce pledged to become the thing that answers the desperate prayers of others.

The world will always need heroes.

Those who seek to control others vilify heroic traits.

So, where are these heroes going to come from?

You may not be the hero the world deserves, but you can help develop the heroes the world needs.

Train Hard, Train Smart, Be Safe - Be BOLD!