Bill Hazelton, PhD from University of Melbourne (1992)
There was a martial arts expert from the US who told a story on this topic, many years ago.
He had worked a lot in a couple of the major martial arts disciplines, and had even spent some time in Japan to study with the world’s best. A collection of black belts were at home, so he was not a person to trifle with!
One day he was on a fairly crowded train in Japan, and a large and somewhat belligerent drunk guy got on and started being obnoxious. He was shoving people around a bit as he moved through the crowd and it looked like he might get seriously violent. The American martial arts expert started to prepare himself for having to restrain this guy quickly if it turned nasty.
As the drunk was pushing through the carriage, he came level with a small older man sitting in the seat. The old man greeted the drunk (whom he apparently did not know) cheerfully, along the lines of “Hello, have you been drinking sake? I like sake, too! Where do you get your sake?” and continued along those lines. The drunk stopped and within a matter of minutes, the drunk was on his knees before the old man, with his head on the old man’s knees, crying his eyes out and telling his tale of woe. The old man was stroking the drunk’s head and calming and comforting him.
The old man had done nothing more than talk to the drunk in a friendly way. The American martial arts expert realized that he was in the presence of a true master, who could reduce a potential opponent to a harmless child without anything more than his words. Further, he could get to the core of the drunk’s problems. It was a humbling experience, to say the least.
Fonte: Quora.com
Vocabulary Help
- black belt – faixa preta
- child – criança
- crowd – multidão
- crying his eyes out – chorar compulsivamente
- drunk guy – sujeito bêbado
- fairly crowded – razoavelmente lotado
- get to the core – chegar ao âmago
- greet – cumprimentar
- harmless – inofensivo
- he was not a person to trifle with – ele não era uma pessoa com quem se podia brindar
- humbling experience – experiência de humildade
- knee – joelho
- martial arts – artes marciais
- obnoxious – desagradável
- realize – compreender, entender
- restrain – conter, impedir
- shove – empurrar
- spend (spend, spent, spent) – passar, viver por um período
- tale of woe – história triste
- talk in a friendly way – conversar de uma forma amigável
- to say the least – no mínimo
- true master – verdadeiro mestre
- turned nasty – se tornar inconveniente, perigoso
- within a matter of minutes – em alguns minutos
- world’s best – melhores do mundo