What About Mere Boors?

If someone is behaving rather badly, but not initiating force, then aikido is pretty useless, to be effective, it needs the opponent's force.  If someone is just being boorish, insulting and picking a fight, you can simply use spoken aikido, embrace and extend, redirect: agree with the insult (your are right to criticize the way I am dressed, I never had any sense of style, tell me, how might I improve my look?)  Give them three chances to lighten up, and then say "Now I think you go to far with that statement.  By then there is usually enough people on your side to inhibit the boor from escalating.  If not, aikido game on.

A great scene in literature is exactly this in Brothers Karamazov when the odious father is abusing the old holy priest in front of his sons.  Check it out.

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