Martial arts such as Karate are generally designed to teach skills to protect oneself from physical harm in the event of an attack. There are other reasons people may train, such as competition, fitness or recreation, all valid reasons for training, yet the original intent of martial arts is self-protection. Protecting yourself from harm. In the context of martial arts we think of the harm as coming from another person, but most people who train in martial arts will not actually have to use their skills. It could happen, but physical attacks are not particularly common, especially if we arm ourselves with good awareness skills. If we truly seek to protect ourselves from harm, we must broaden our vision of what this means.
This could look like self-defence against ourselves. What we think and do on a daily basis can cause us harm. A poor diet, smoking, drugs and alcohol can lead to harmful diseases. These are things we have direct control over. Forget about random attacks by strangers, people cause themselves harm on a daily basis just by our behaviours. This should be considered by those who seek to protect themselves from physical harm.
We can step back even further. Even before actions, negative thoughts can be harmful and we can protect ourselves from these. If we are attempting a difficult task we may think, “I can’t do this, I’m useless”. Over time thoughts like this can cause psychological harm. We can try to re-frame thoughts – “maybe I can do it if I keep trying”.
The information we take in can also have harmful effects. Reading negative comment threads on social media, news coverage of unfortunate events, unhealthy relationships…. there are many sources that can lead to negative thoughts. Some can be more easily avoided than others. Thoughts from within can be the hardest to protect ourselves from. Thoughts are a constant stream. It may seem like we can’t control what is in that stream. We can however learn to let the stream flow, letting go of the undesirable thoughts as they drift away. It is not an easy task, but with practice it is achievable. Meditation or mindfulness training can help to reach a more aware state of mind.
These ideas are complex, but I do feel it is worth considering more than physical attacks when we talk about self-defence.
Enso Karate 