There is no first strike in karate.

An important precept to engender is “There is no first strike in karate.” 

These are words to live by.  If you live a peaceable, sane and non-confrontational manner, you may never even think about violating this precept.  If you don’t deliver the first strike, in most cases you are absolved of responsibility for the following damage.  If it is self defense then the court looks on your actions differently.  If you strike first then that leaves you open to all kinds of liablity not to mention revenge and pay back!

In this day and age of all kinds of creeps lawyering up as soon as something happens even if it is their fault, it’s a bad idea to even think about striking first.  If you want trouble it will find you.  I’d rather train for fun, recreaction, fitness and the social interaction that helps make all activities more fun. 

If you train properly then there is no need to strike first.  Why? Because:

1. You should be able to spot trouble brewing and stop it
2. You should be able to protect yourself well enough that the other person can not surprise you. 

Often the winner of a fight is the one who recognized that things were not going well and stuck out first.  Hmmmm?  That goes counter to the precept that I’m talking about.  Why?  Training.  A well trained person can block and counter without thinking.  A response that is conditioned is much quicker than one you have to think about.  You want to train till the proper response is automatic.

Training is the key.  People that get sucker punched often have the following common traits. 

1.  They talk themselves into trouble.
2. They didn’t know when to stop talking.
3. They didn’t have enough training to handle the situation that their mouth got them into.

 Henceforth train and be quiet and respectful and don’t say bad things about the steelers and you won’t get into trouble around here.

Again a true karate student should not strike first.  They should not feel the need to!

Written by:

Perry Culver 6th Dan Shotokan Karate – Chief Instructor at Culver Karate Club

Connellsville, PA