Re: Just how real is violence? And where does Aikido stands in all of this?
I guess, from one perspective, you've been lucky in that you have not be confronted with a situation that could not be avoided. On the other hand, you may not really don't know how you'd react in a situation where your life may well depend upon your response to an imminent threat. If you ever happen to get into a physical altercation (and I hope you don't) where you have to rely on your training, it will probably not look like anything you've practiced on a mat. Yes, one can often avoid the obviously agitated and vocal crazy who's announcing their intentions. Yes, sometimes one's awareness is operating at a high level that causes them to anticipate a bad situation and cross the street, etc., so as to avoid that possible bad situation. But, sometimes, once in a while, you just don't see it coming. That's why I train. Just the other day in Manhattan, some poor guy got pushed from a subway platform into an oncoming train and was killed. Could he have escaped the situation, maybe, maybe not. That's why I train.
Your example seriously irked me. I've lived in the Bronx for the past 22 years and have often walked alone here at midnight without any incident. I don't believe I've got anything coming to me because I get home late one night. For what it's worth, the two negative encounters I've experienced, physical altercations where I needed to rely on martial arts training, have occurred in Manhattan and on Long Island in "good", "safe" neighborhoods. Both altercations were totally unforeseen, unannounced and for a moment or two, inescapable. Only two incidents and I'm 48 years old. Pretty good numbers, I'd say.