Preventive Measures

You can spend a lifetime studying the martial arts. And yet your sensei preaches that you should only use your skills as a last resort. Violence always begets violence, we're told. Carl Jung wrote, "Every victory contains the germ of future defeat", meaning that there is always someone who can take you on, no matter how much success you've had in your ability to handle yourself in the past.

Regardless of how many years you've spent in the dojo, the possibility always exists that you'll encounter something you've never seen before in your training. So how do you avoid this ugly scene before it happens? Believe it or not, this starts by how you present yourself to the world. If you appear arrogant and look for trouble, there's no doubt you'll find it. However, if you perceive yourself as a victim or a loser, you'll end up for sure as someone's target practice. The key is to combine equal amounts of humility and confidence that you have developed from your training into your daily life. Humility and confidence are the yin and yang of the martial artist's persona. The great swordsman/strategist Miyamoto Musashi once said, "The warrior must make his warrior's walk his everyday walk". This is a quality of living that can't be faked, and its essence can be felt even by strangers. I've read accounts of how martial artists should carry themselves in public; exuding grace, good posture and so on, but I believe that there's an ineffability to the martial artist that goes beyond the physical.

The main difference between the martial arts and competitive martial sport is one of focus. A muay thai kickboxer has an innate sense of what it is to be a fighter; fighting comes naturally to this individual. In my experience, the majority of people who gravitate towards traditional martial arts do so out of a desire to simply protect themselves, not necessarily to engage in contests. The martial arts adept has hard earned fighting skills and can fight, but would rather live to see another day if at all possible. If it's true that fighting is really the final refuge for the martial artist, then measures should be considered to offset this possibility ahead of time.

Awareness is imperative in the martial arts. The eyes must see all ways, the ears must listen in all directions are Okinawan karate precepts, but we have more at our disposal than ordinary sensory perception. The human nervous system is hardwired to detect danger, even if there is no apparent threat. Having a "gut feeling" is not really a metaphor, but the response of neurons in the abdominal region that interprets something as wrong. Intuition (kan) is real and operates best when we're in a state of bare-minded attention. Simply put, be aware of your surroundings.

If you do find yourself in a pre-violent altercation, try to remain calm. Convey the idea that while your intentions are peaceful you're still able to hold your ground. Do not assume any kind of a fighting posture or brandish your fists as this will signal the prelude to a full blown assault.

As much as ethics and philosophy are a part of the martial ways (budo), at its core they are first and foremost concerned with actual combat (bujutsu). We train for the worst case scenario, but always hope for the best.