The founder of Shotokan Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, is well known for brining his martial art into the modern age. He is also famous for saying "Karate ni sente nashi,” or “In karate, there is no first attack." Many karate practioners over the years have taken this term literally and have imposed a kind of rule, more or less, that because someone is trained, he or she has the responsibility to wait until the attack comes before reacting.
There is a similar concept initiated by the Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, where an aikidoka (one who trains in aikido) does not have the right to cause injury to an opponent. Rather, the aggressor will bring injury to himself through his misguided intentions. In other words, you can defend yourself without hurting the person who wants to hurt you.
I think these concepts are often misinterpreted by well-meaning, albeit slightly naive individuals who desperately believe in the concept of utopia on earth, and that all people are generally good if given a chance.
Gross miscalculation. But before I explain why, let’s talk for a moment about what made these two masters famous. In a word, experience. Both of these men survived brutal martial arts training and had their fair share of challengers. And you don’t get famous in martial arts by employing the strategy of staying safe and retreating.
Kind of like waiting for a disease to just go away, but I digress.
The problem, as I alluded to earlier, is the idea that once you have some training and techniques under your belt, you can easily fend off the average, ill-intentioned thug, in many cases without causing serious injury. In my opinion, the people who purport such an idea have never been in a real fight or situation where they were actually in danger of being beaten up or worse. Add this to the false sense of security and, more often than not, the ego that accompanies a black belt and your have the reason why today’s fighters don’t take traditional martial arts seriously.
Let’s look at another martial art with a different perspective. Kendo, “the way of the sword” is the modern form of Kenjutsu, Japanese sword fighting. As in the art of Judo, kendo players are taught to seize an opportunity when it arises and attack. You don’t always want to wait until somebody makes the first move. If your opponent displays any momentary weakness, attack. Take it. Some times retreat is necessary, but only to gain tactical advantage.
You don’t win a war by waiting until the enemy is literally at your back door. Just ask France.
You also won’t survive a deadly encounter with the notion that all you have to do is put an assailant in an arm-bar and wait for the cops to show up. Nice theory, but an aggressive person who means to do you harm is not going to be as compliant as your training partner. They are not going to avoid hitting you in the face or groin and nobody is going to be wearing pads. There will not be a preliminary and respectful “bow,” no referee and no rules. Certianly, no etiquette.
Want to know the life lesson? There’s always a life lesson. Carpe Diem…”Seize The Day.” Take your moment. You have a goal, you want to make a change…then go after it. You want to go back to school, open a business, take a motorcycle trip across country, then do it. Have a strategy, but do it. Don’t wait. And don’t let people malign you for your willingness to take a chance and attack first. People often judge your actions and intentions because they lack the testicular fortitude to do it themselves. They find comfort by blaming others or life circumstances for their own lack of courage, tenacity and faith.
But this kind of attitude comes with a cost. You can easily lose everything if you attack first. You have to understand the risks. D-Day planners knew that they were going to lose 10,000 men in one day. Aerial strategists knew that for every ten B17 bombers they put up at the beginning of WWII, few would return.
What would have happened if we weren’t willing to take the risk, attack first or cause serious injury to the enemy? Well, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, that’s for sure.
This may be a dramatic view, but to me, life is war. Wars are won by a series of battles and engagements and every day presents a new one. You can either let fear, grief, laziness and a host of other things pull you down, or you can take the risk and attack first. Nobody sits back at the end of an easy day and says, “Whew, glad I made it through that one.” No, you work hard, you train hard and fight hard. That's how you earn the easy days.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7.
Something my wife taught me.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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