Is It Fair To Strike The First Blow In Self Defense - Health

Traditional martial arts may appear to be purely self defense techniques but there are times they teach is to attack first.

Let me be clear - the best self defense techniques are simply avoid and evade. Avoid potential violent situations in the first place and if that can't be done evade your attackers. In the real world and when it comes to street fight situations there are situations when striking the first blow is appropriate.

If drink or drugs are involved in particular you may simply may not be able to reason and negotiate to avoid a fight. In these situations the longer you wait to act the worse the situation can become. Friends of your aggressor may come to join the situation increasing the threat. You may find yourself literally gradually being backed into a corner, step by step. An aggressor may even consciously be 'sizing you up' to assess how things will turn out of they attack you. On these rare occasions I believe it's right to strike the first blow.

There is an old Chinese proverb which states "He who strikes the first blow admits he has lost the argument.Striking first may put you on the wrong side of the law and this is why some people stall to act. There is an old saying from the world of karate - "karate ni sente nashi" which translates to 'there is no first strike in karate.' This last statement is often misunderstood and I interpret it to mean we do not go looking for trouble or to use our martial art skills.

The world of aikido can also teach us some valuable lesons here. The term 'uke' which refers to the person defending means 'to receive' not to block. There are aikido sword drills where we stand face to face and as the person raises his sword in preparation to strike we move in with a shorter, faster and more effective cut. Technically we have struck first - we are not blocking the strike we are countering it before it's made.

I believe we should end any violent situation situation as quickly as possible and if it can't be avoided we should be pre-emptive and finish it swiftly. That's not so say we should cause serious harm to anyone. It may be enough to shock an attacker with a simple self defense technique such as a punch or palm strike to the nose or side of the head. Palm strikes with the heal of the hand can be very powerful and reduce possible injury to the knuckles. This should win you some escape time and may be the ideal way to end the sitution.

We also have to consider the intent of an attacker or aggressor. If we wait for them to strike first and simply block them they are unlikely to stop there and leave us alone! Again we could make the situation worse in doing so and by making a stand and showing we are capable of assertion and dealing with a threat we may very well reduce it.

Self defense techniques from martial arts like aikido and judo are regarded by some as 'soft' compared to the likes of krav maga but that is often lack of understanding. Every established art can teach us something.

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