Caveat: Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.
This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.)
First, if you are a karate-ka then you already know or are at least aware of “There is no first attack in karate.” If you are also studying self-defense along with your karate you also know that depending on circumstances you may have to make a move, not necessarily a first move but move that comes at an appropriate juncture in the self-defense road.
I say road because a leading proponent of the self-defense world uses the highway as an analogy that has a start point, many points along the way with signs indicating that conflict is happening as well as when those signs and highway changes, lanes, off ramps, etc., turn into the accident called violence.
Except in what the professionals say is a rare instance almost all the violence you may encounter will have signs and signals all along the road all the way up to the point the first blow is thrown. This means that for a karate-ka there are many chances to avoid completely the need to use any skills in a physical violent manner. The first move should always come from the other guy and in almost every case they will let you know that they are threatening that first blow so then you can act appropriately be it simply walking away (Avoidance) to using verbal self-defense (Deescalation) or some other way to not strike at all.
Even in predatory resource instances such as robberies you still have a road you will go down that allows you to perceive an immanent attack and you can once again take appropriate actions that do not involve karate or martial skills except in awareness, see it coming from recognition, etc., avoidance, move off and away or simply pass the interview (failure means the attack or robbery is on) or run like hell. If you are actually accosted then your best choice is to follow the robber’s script and go home alive. Note: this is just one example and there are more side roads you can take other than a road of violence.
Once you apply just one physical technique of karate skill you are locked into the world of violence and as many other references indicate then you are locked in to handling that violence then all the violence that will follow from others such as police, prosecutors, attorneys, and so on.
There is no first attack even if you went with the literal mistaken belief that you had to get in that first shot to survive with self-defense. Lets just say you failed miserably in your karate and find yourself in a situation where you need to foil an attackers attack by attacking first. First, you lost because you failed to live up to what a karate-ka must live up to in your practice and training. Second, if you preemptively take action it will look like you are the aggressor UNLESS you can articulate and prove that your attacker was going to apply some violence by pre-attack indicators, etc., making your actions legal and righteous. If you can’t you are the aggressor and the first responders are going to be looking at you very, very closely.
As a karate-ka if you are not aware of and knowledgable of that road to violence and you don’t take the appropriate actions to avoid then you have failed as a karate-ka. If you have to resort to attacking first, you have failed as a karate-ka. If you do take the first preemptive action, not attack, by avoidance by leaving or running away then you have failed as a karate-ka. If your level of force after everything else has failed exceeds what is necessary to stop the threat then you have failed in self-defense and therefore failed as a karate-ka.
There is literally no first strike or first attack in karate and these are just a few of the reasons why this is true. If you have studied and practiced the true, complete and reality based regimen and syllabus of a karate dojo then you will never strike or attack first because you will not let anyone gain that type of advantage over you. You will not allow your monkey brain ego pride emotional drive to take over the bus and pull a “Speed” drive down the highway and across the abyss from the missing overpass into the crash of conflict, violence and violent conflict. You got that far, you failed as a karate-ka.
There are way to many signs, lane changes, off ramps and speed restrictions that if you just follow the right road-way or path you will drive around conflict, around violence, around the need for physical violence and around violent conflicts thereby living up to the expectations you put upon yourself and are a true karate-ka. The use of your karate skills are always a last resort of one who failed to see the signs and follow the right road-way. Be a karate-ka, stay the path, follow the road and signs and avoid, like a karate-ka would, should and can.
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