Daniela Borello

Module 3: Worksheet
Spitting Out the Hook
November 3, 2022
Spitting Out the Hook

Neo’s response aligns with Aikido because he doesn’t fight back (at first), he doesn’t
engage in his opponent’s anger. At first, he doesn’t have the ability to engage, then when he
comes back to life, he is able to assess what just happened and he responses in a calm,
centered way. He doesn’t have any shows of emotion or frustration, he simply is taking the
punches as they come and pushing them away. Neo’s moves were that of Thomas Crumm’s,
from his video clip. Although it looked all too easy when Neo did it, it was almost as though, his
body knew where the others energy was, at all times, like the two bodies were one, his and his
attackers. It was hard to decipher the Aikido move in the Matrix at first, and I don’t personally
think that he demonstrated spitting out the hook the entire time. When he jumped into that
guys body I feel like that Neo was hooked. Neo showed his anger in that moment and fed into
the man attacking him. Although, every other part of the clip did demonstrate, spitting out the
hook. I do think that the Matrix was a better metaphor for the Four Steps in an Aikido Move. A
better example of spitting out the hook might have been… certain scenes of The Handmaids
Tale (if you have seen it). There were a lot of scenes where the handmaids had to find their
calmness and center and realize that they just needed to flow with the energy of the one
attacking them in that moment to survive.
I do want to say that I really enjoyed watching Thomas Crumm’s clip, I really felt it very
interesting to see how to use another’s energy to benefit you, in a sense. I have heard about
such tactics before but it was mesmerizing to watch them “dance”.