Paranoia: The Reception Line Drill
Jul. 24th, 2007 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanju"Congratulations, you've just been elected Mayor. You're attending your inaugural ball and working the reception line. Lots of hands to shake and shoulders to clasp. Lots of deep pocketed contributors to thank. Unfortunately, your security squad tells you that someone may try to kill you.
"Good luck."
And with that the hapless Mayor stands in the middle of the room and meets his adoring public. Sure enough, one of them tries to knife him. It was me, as a matter of fact, and I managed to get in seven stabs or slashes before we stopped. Then it was someone else's turn to be the Mayor and someone else's turn to be the assassin.
After my assault on the first Mayor the next few Mayors were jumpy, skittish, paranoid. Their eyes darted everywhere; they edged away from each person, and watched them closely; they very obviously patted down each person as they hugged them. It was amusing as hell, frankly. Sometimes the assassin struck before shaking hands. Sometimes during. Sometimes after. Once there was no assassin at all and the Mayor's paranoia was even funnier.
Afterwards, our instructor pointed out several important things about this drill: First, we performed it in the middle of the dojo. There are large mirrors along one whole wall--nobody used them. Second, nobody yelled "He's got a knife!" or "Assassin!" None of the intended victims yelled "Help!" Third, nobody grabbed one of the many weapons lying around either to defend himself (as Mayor) or to defend the Mayor.
"But...it's just a drill. We're in a dojo."
Which was, of course, exactly the point. None of those things was forbidden. In fact, the instructions at the beginning of this post were the sum total of the instructions to the Mayor. The instructions to the "assassin" were to hand him the knife and tell him to use it whenever he liked. But despite this openness, we all placed limits on our behavior based on the context. It was a training drill in a dojo.
And thus the point--a great many of the "limits" on your behavior, whether in everyday life or a life-and-death struggle--are limits you imposed on yourself. Accepting the wrong limits, or clinging to them when they're getting in your way, is counterproductive--and potentially deadly. A corollary to this point: training never truly mirrors reality. No matter how realistic your training, you are doing something wrong so that nobody really gets hurt. If you don't think about that fact, if you don't consciously recognize how your drill is unrealistic and consider how that will affect you when and if you ever use your skills for real, you're going to be in a world of hurt.
The instructor is a friend of mine. I've heard about his use of the reception line drill before but I'd never seen it--or participated in it--before. It was very instructive.
"Good luck."
And with that the hapless Mayor stands in the middle of the room and meets his adoring public. Sure enough, one of them tries to knife him. It was me, as a matter of fact, and I managed to get in seven stabs or slashes before we stopped. Then it was someone else's turn to be the Mayor and someone else's turn to be the assassin.
After my assault on the first Mayor the next few Mayors were jumpy, skittish, paranoid. Their eyes darted everywhere; they edged away from each person, and watched them closely; they very obviously patted down each person as they hugged them. It was amusing as hell, frankly. Sometimes the assassin struck before shaking hands. Sometimes during. Sometimes after. Once there was no assassin at all and the Mayor's paranoia was even funnier.
Afterwards, our instructor pointed out several important things about this drill: First, we performed it in the middle of the dojo. There are large mirrors along one whole wall--nobody used them. Second, nobody yelled "He's got a knife!" or "Assassin!" None of the intended victims yelled "Help!" Third, nobody grabbed one of the many weapons lying around either to defend himself (as Mayor) or to defend the Mayor.
"But...it's just a drill. We're in a dojo."
Which was, of course, exactly the point. None of those things was forbidden. In fact, the instructions at the beginning of this post were the sum total of the instructions to the Mayor. The instructions to the "assassin" were to hand him the knife and tell him to use it whenever he liked. But despite this openness, we all placed limits on our behavior based on the context. It was a training drill in a dojo.
And thus the point--a great many of the "limits" on your behavior, whether in everyday life or a life-and-death struggle--are limits you imposed on yourself. Accepting the wrong limits, or clinging to them when they're getting in your way, is counterproductive--and potentially deadly. A corollary to this point: training never truly mirrors reality. No matter how realistic your training, you are doing something wrong so that nobody really gets hurt. If you don't think about that fact, if you don't consciously recognize how your drill is unrealistic and consider how that will affect you when and if you ever use your skills for real, you're going to be in a world of hurt.
The instructor is a friend of mine. I've heard about his use of the reception line drill before but I'd never seen it--or participated in it--before. It was very instructive.
