Bullies
Page 10 of 16
Dealing with bullying
The worst thing you can do to a bully is be a successful, productive, respected member of your community, be it your school, neighborhood, or work place. Then they have failed to bring you down to their level.
- Bullies always take the easy way. It is easier to intimidate the weak than to fight the strong. In the 1958 Marlon Brando movie The Young Lions, Montgomery Clift plays a young, quiet, and slight Jewish G.I. who, while in camp, gets beaten up repeatedly by the platoon bully. The bully is all bravado when picking on a little guy, but later when it comes time to fight in France, it is Clift who is the hero and the bully who is the coward.
- Bullies only fight when they think they will easily win, so they only chose fights with the seemly weak. When dealing with a bully, do not back down. This means they won, so they will be back to bully you again. Do not confront the bully but do not let them dictate what you are doing.
- Do not challenge a bully, unless you have the ability to backup your challenge and are willing to accept that the bully will probably be back with reinforcements at a later time. To not deliver ultimatums unless you are willing to carry them out. If you say, "Get out of my way!" and the bully does not move, then you have many other options. If you say, "Get out of my way or I will move you!" and the bully does not move, then your only options are to either attempt to move the bully or to back down and let the bully win.
- Be confident. To deal with a bully, exude quiet self-confidence and do not let them draw you into their liar. Do not act superior or snobbish, just action in rational, calm, unemotional, professional manner. Taekwondo teaches you to act this way. With Taekwondo training, your posture, mannerisms, and demeanor project a confident person that is ready to handle anything. It is not a conscious thing; it is just the way you act even when not aware of it. You project the image of a person who can handle anything. Bullies do not want to deal with this type of person; they deal with the weak. Bullies will soon move on to weaker opponents.