Within the discipline Aikido you would never purposely start a fight or place yourself in the situation where people are likely to start fighting you. I am afraid you failed at the first hurdle, Daylia. I am not saying this fram a nasty or hurtful point of view. I hope you take it as constructive critisism. Feel free to defend yourself on the principles suggested but it is a bit silly to quote Aikido principles in a pre-emptive attack.

And yes, I have studied Aikido in a small way. Didn't suit me but none of the Japanese arts ever have. Too rigid for my liking:-( If you realy want to apply martial principles to discourse try one of the internal arts instead. Tai Chi is a good start but Ba Gua and Xing-Yi will help deepen your understanding. As a fist step however I would recommend skipping the martial side and going for Qi Gung. A good bit of deep breathing and Qi (Chi) stengthening will help to rid you of the need to fight in the first place:-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome
(Not quite Sifu but hoping to get there eventualy...)