The Karate Creed

"I come to you with only Karate  - empty hands, I have no weapons; but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor; should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons – Karate, my empty hands.” - Ed Parker, Grandmaster American Kenpo Karate

I have spent some time contemplating this creed and when I bring it into the self-defense arena I wonder just how relevant this creed is to a person subject to the legal and moral systems of today's societies. 

We first have to define what we mean by "should I be forced." That by itself may mean many things and when you think of self-defense you must first know and understand self-defense laws. Even the learned attorneys of your area may have some difficulty defining what that truly means other than to the letter of the written law. 

Then you follow that with "myself, my principles, or my honor," we are then getting into what the individual perceives as their honor and/or principles. Are they based on something like law or are they based on things derived from movies, television or even your own ego and pride. When you speak of ego and pride you tend to side with what some call the "monkey brain." This in and of itself may be considered the line between fighting and self-defense, i.e. one is illegal and one is not - proving self-defense is a difficult process and costly in a variety of ways. 

When I speak of honor it is not those traits written in books, displayed in movies and often preached by those who feel they are professionals but rather another venue of egoistic prideful driven stuff best left for fiction. 

As to "life or death," or "right or wrong," the individual once again must understand what is considered allowable in society as either right or wrong. It is not just your idea of what that is but rather one that is acceptable to society and acceptable as a defense for self-defense law. 

Last is "then here are my weapons," where I have issues using the term weapons. Presenting the idea that your body parts are weapons over simply tools you use in life to get things done in a physical world may leave the impression that they are acceptable and required for defense. In my mind one should first avoid violence as best they can and if they are left no other options then they should deal with said violence with anything they can use to allow for a path of escape and sometimes that is use of some other object that distances you from force, etc. The goal here is avoidance and to leave a threat so as to achieve safety and security. 

In a nutshell, this quote is merely another sound bite to sell a product to the masses. It leaves out the possibility that something else besides karate or any martial art can achieve defense of self, principles, honor, right or wrong or a matter of life and death. Most of this actually goes to those who put themselves into harms way, i.e. either someone making stupid mistakes or those who are professionals be they security up to military in the defense of our society. 

In the end this simply conveys that these things are complex and difficult. It is best to leave such things to those who are professionals and leave the rest to a sport oriented endeavor leaving self-defense out of the equation. Then again, what do I know, right!