STICKS AND STONES...

 by Phillip Starr

Many years ago, one of my students asked me what I'd do if someone attacked me with a knife while I was enjoying a beer at a local tavern. I fear that I broke his heart.

“I don't drink”, I answered.

He wasn't having any of that. “But what if you were just having a soft drink, then...” he replied. “What then?”

“I'd run away”, I said.

Not to be dissuaded, he pressed on just as I knew he would. “But what if you couldn't run?”

I answered, “I'd probably throw my drink at him and grab the nearest barstool or chair and hit him with it!”

He couldn't hide the surprise from his face as he asked, “You wouldn't use gong-fu?”

I surprised him again. “That IS gong-fu”, I said. “But a lot less risky than engaging him with my hands. Works really well, too.”

He walked off, looking disheartened and confused. The point I was trying to make was that gong-fu is more than a collection of punches and kicks; it is a state of mind...a mindset. It values simplicity and practicality. It is direct. In so far as self-defense is concerned, what matters is that you DON'T LOSE. You survive. Looking good and doing some really nifty-looking techniques is NOT gong-fu.

Of course, the preferred method is to avoid a fight altogether; steer clear of places and situations that may bring violence to you. The next best option is to run away. However, if you cannot or should not run (i.e., defending your loved ones), then you do what is necessary. That doesn't always mean that you jump into the fray with fists and feet. Is talking; diffusing the situation with words, a possibility? If not (and that should be immediately clear), then you must use your physical skills.

I have never thought highly of the “Saturday night – get drunk and get into a fight, and then make up and drink with our bloodied buddies – idea of self-entertainment. If and when I must fight, I have only two modes: Either my opponent will spend some quality time in a hospital, or...I put an end to his life here. I don't believe in fighting for fun. And I have been most fortunate, especially as I worked in law enforcement (largely in undercover drug operations), in never having had to go into my second mode.

Martial arts are to be used in self-defense only as an absolute last resort.