Element of Air and Fighting

Open - Air is also referred to in ancient classics as the void. The void is professed to be many things yet one such thing is a reference to knowledge. Knowledge is critical to all things martial.

One - Knowledge is knowing the enemy; knowing the system they are expert in; knowing what the threat knows and importantly what the threat does not know. This is achieved by mastering your system with influences from familiarity of other systems of fighting. Regardless, knowledge of the fundamental principles of martial systems can teach you how all systems are applied regardless of the particulars particular to any one system. Familiarity speaks to knowing what that system knows and does along side what that system does not know and does not do.

Two - Air is void and the void in the instance of knowledge is the space used between what is known and what is not known. It is the one thing, the void between, that one knows to take advantage of in fighting - it is an advantage, one of many.

Three - By training hard and leaning of other martial systems one finds void, that which resides between light and dark. If you know what to do then your not in the dark. If a practitioner polishes the two mental components of shin, the mind, and i, the will, and then becomes accomplished in two eyes of kan, observing, and ken, seeing, they reach a place where nothing is clouded, the distractions are cleared away like cobwebs, and then the karate-ka will know what the true void is.

Closing - Look at the Way as void or air where proper breathing allows us to achieve that way. All of karate-do hinges on breathing and applying those principles such as knowledge of critical things martial. The void is the way, the way is the air we breathe.

p.s. think of the void for self defense being the space between the physical knowledge used in defensive situations and the knowledge of those physical defensive tactics; the void is actually "recognizing what violence is and avoiding it." This is knowledge that resides within, between the spaces of self defense that truly equate to communications, avoidance, deescalation, and awareness.