Face, Honor and Dignity

We as humans and particularly westerners are accustomed to reading faces from infancy. Face-to-face encounters usually involve situations that are perceived as important. We depend on face-reading, mostly at an unconscious level, for fundamentally all of our personal or interpersonal relations.

Westerners don't tend to subtle facial expressions to display emotional intent. Often our facial expressions will trump any words we may speak. Often the fact will display truth when the tongue wages falsehoods.

There are some who can hide true feelings behind faces that display pleasantness, happiness and understanding but underneath may be ugly, unhappy and totally lost in understanding. How does a martial artist tell? A most difficult question that warrants a lot of answers and none of them are simple or easy.

To read a face takes great skill and a martial artist who is not involved with a profession that requires such things can only achieve a modicum of success learning about this difficult ability - reading faces. The complexities involve not only race and creed but also cultures, beliefs, perceptions, environments, etc. where a lack of knowledge in any or all areas leads to misunderstandings and maybe result in conflict - even violent conflict.

Then there is the face you present to others. This becomes important in a conflict. If the other guy perceives something they don't like or care for in your facial expressions then the fight could be on. Its a bit like the guy who says he does not want to fight who walks away, hears an expletive and just has to turn his head and get the last word in ... ops, your either shot or running from a group intent on stomping your face into the pavement. Before walking away you give this guy an shitty look  that says "asshole" and the same thing can happen.

Face, read also "Faces: The Many Faces of Fu-Manchu"