Sometimes Your Best Defense Is Avoiding An Attack.

Here’s one fact about about my experience in martial arts. I have never said, “Back off… I know karate.”  There are two reasons for this: first, if someone is planning an aggressive action, telling them that I know karate won’t stop them. In a dangerous situation, it is extremely rare for karate experts to announce that they know karate. Second, karate teaches a high level of awareness that helps you avoid dangerous situations, or diffuse them before trouble erupts.

One story that illustrates this point for me happened when I was in the ninth grade. I had been training for several years, but with the exception of a few close friends, most people didn’t know I studied martial arts. In my high school there was a large football player who had fun tackling unsuspecting freshman in the halls between classes. It was a humiliating experience for the freshman, but it created a lot of laughs for the football player, and whoever was around to share in his conquest. 

I was a very young looking 14-year-old, and one day I came into the sights of this high school behemoth. I observed him from a distance, and knew that I was in his range. As he made his move towards me I stood calmly talking to a friend. When his tackle was eminent, I stepped back towards my friend, leaving only empty space for him to tackle. He flew past me and made an ungainly skid down the linoleum corridor.  Of course, a loud chorus of laughter erupted, but this time it wasn’t aimed at an unwitting ninth grader, it was at the comical sight of a somewhat confused would-be tackler sprawled out on the floor. It was his last hallway tackle.

Now I know this isn’t the typical karate story, where one little guy flattens a whole room of attackers, but that’s not what karate is all about. Karate is about being aware of your surroundings, and having the knowledge, power and agility to take care of yourself. Karate is a good life-skill.