Attack vs. Defense

It was once said somewhere that I cannot remember that, “Attacking is easy, defense is hard.” I agree but maybe not in the sense this quote was given, i.e., during a karate practice explaining blocks and counterattacks under the philosophical belief that in karate one does not attack first. 

For my perspective in this one post it comes to the difficulties of remaining in the self-defense circle. When you really and truly start to understand the complexities of SD in the modern world you can truly see just how difficult self-defense (defense) is when applying it under the pressures of violence and the requirements of society that include the law along with perceptions of violence and so on. 

Attacking someone is very, very easy. So easy that our Monkey’s mind has no real problem with jumping into an attack be it verbal aggression to the monkey dance and all the way up to that moment when the fist flies haymaker style toward the offending monkey. 

Maybe this is why the MA Karate training observed was inferring that attacks are easier than defense, i.e. blocking and deflecting before countering. Our instincts when confronted with violence and conflict tend toward applying the physical over the more cerebral avoidance we could apply if we could just rein in the Monkey. This doesn’t even consider other violences such as predatory, etc. that are handled differently but that is part of the complexities of knowing the full spectrum of Self-defense or defense. 

These are some of the questions and thoughts I try to consider when training and practicing. I often wonder just how many dojo or SD courses out there even consider such aspects toward how they train and how their students practice and learn. Hmmmm …..