Violence vs Non-Violence
“Anyone who has truly mastered the art of karate will take care not to venture into dangerous places or situations where he or she may force to put herself into a position where he or she may be forced to put the art to use.”
Fitness is an essential component of martial arts.
An easy way to determine a persons’ maturity level is to ask them about what they would do if faced with a potential attacker. A childish person would boast about not being concerned, as they would fight off any mugger who dares to challenge them. Sadly, it is not just actual adolescents who take this view but grown adults (especially men). Such attitudes are the result of personal immaturity, a lack of worldliness, and fear. This type of fear stems from concerns of the ego – the concern with being perceived as being a wimp. It is this same fear that keeps emergency rooms and morgues regularly stocked with avoidable casualties.
Most people initially come to study martial arts out of a sense of fear. Fear of physical assault from bullies, muggers, abusers, and common ruffians. Many of these would-be attackers are legitimate concerns. Martial arts training can indeed provide tools that can help in self-defense. However, martial arts proficiency is never a guarantee of success in a fight – it is all a game of probabilities. Most of the people who would press an unprovoked fight are not paragons of mercy or restraint. In a real fight, such an attacker will have little regard for your (or their) life or consequences. This immensely escalates the stakes of a street fight and is why non-engagement is the first rule of self-defense.
For students who delve deeper into the martial arts, they will discover further harsh truths about interpersonal combat. Most sobering is the realization that the human body is immensely delicate. It takes shockingly little effort to physically harm people. Any damage you might be able to inflict on another person can also be delivered unto you. Mature martial artists understand this and take it to heart. To grasp the somber consequences of violence ultimately makes them less eager to engage in a real fight. The stakes of interpersonal combat are understood for what they are, and so mature martial artists will only engage if there is no other reasonable option.
One of the marks of true expertise (or perhaps mastery) of the martial arts is a distinct lack of appetite for combat. They understand the stark realities of what is at stake in a fight. In addition, with their expertise, they realize the great destructive power they possess. Out of deference for martial arts and its power, they regard it with the same respect one would a weapon. This is an expression of the moral core of the martial arts – an essence of the Martial Way.
Unfortunately, many martial artists never reach this level of maturity, and continue to be controlled by their ego and pride. These individuals are often obsessed with face and looking “tough” for all to see. To this end, they will exhibit behavior that they believe communicates “strength”. This is all in service of their deep-seated fears. This fear is not aberrant – it is an expression innate concern we all have about being physically harmed by others. However, such individuals are immature, and let their feelings of not looking strong harm them immensely. It is worth it for them to escalate potentially violent encounters as a counterpoise to such feelings of inadequacy. This results in bluster, machismo, and bullying. In many cases, this leads to unnecessary and avoidable violence. Even more dangerous are such individuals who have dedicated significant time to martial arts study – making them simultaneously more capable of seriously harming others while increasing their odds of being harmed themselves in avoidable fights.
Such individuals might command great proficiency at fighting, but they are ultimately little more than immature martial artists. They are at the mercy of their ego, and thus out of their own control. The martial arts are specifically about control – control of oneself. Thus, they effectively lock themselves out of the higher dimensions of the martial arts. True expertise only emerges once a practitioner has taken control of themselves.
The Martial Way is a powerful and rewarding way of living derived from the martial arts. To learn more about the history, development, cultivation, and application of the Martial Way, check out my book NOBLE ECHOES: Gifts from the Martial Arts for Modern Life. Available in paperback or Kinde e-book.