Common Sense

Common sense, what is this exactly and what has it to do with martial arts - karate and self-defense. Common sense is often thought of as a type of human perception based on a situation or facts also based on sound and prudent judgment. One can be educated but that must be balanced out with what is termed common sense. 

Common sense is knowledge, experience and a moral compass that leads one to follow the common sense over sometimes overwhelming emotional influences. It is what helps us live in a reasonable and safe way. It is what allows us to overcome our monkey brain emotional tribal influences that result in conflicts and violence. 

It is a practical knowledge and judgement that is very hard to define. We say sometimes that a person is very smart but lacks common sense. This may be like knowing some piece of knowledge and following it with disastrous results while a more common sense approach intuitively tells that person that what they know may not be prudent so they adjust to get to the right and moral and correct results. 

Aristotle believed that common sense was an actual power of inner sensation whereby the various objects of external sense are united into one whole holistic form and then judged. It is a form of rationality. 

Common sense knows that a glowing piece of metal may be hot, causing bad burns, so you avoid it. A lack of common sense would mean you get burned. Common sense using the senses are also subject to a dominant sense whereby that sense dominates when fear or anger or other strong emotions are triggered in our environment. It is a matter of how a person receives sensations outside of a belief system that promotes survival and good judgment, etc. 

Common sense could be a tacit sense and collection of instinctual and spontaneous judgements that permits one to discern good from evil. Common sense would be that which triggers your survival instincts allowing you to avoid conflict and violence. 

Like other terms used in martial arts like chinkuchi, zanshin, mushin and others are difficult to explain in words both spoken and written but common sense is a trait that allows higher functionality in humans fundamentally for survival. It benefits all aspects of life even tho still a survival instinct. Survival comes in many forms in modern times and not just survival of being eaten by a lion, tiger or bear. 

Common sense means when a large, ugly and mean person is charging at you brandishing a large club you should run like hell, a lack of common sense would mean when a large, ugly and mean person is charging at you brandishing a large club you should just stand there and get your brains splattered all over the end of said large club. Yes? No? Maybe?