When Does Self-Defense Begin

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People will start right off by assuming that self-defense begins the moment a person is faces by a threat that will cause bodily harm or death, is this true? Most who participate in karate for self-protection imagine that upon being attacked they have the privilege to respond with skills attained in the dojo, is this true? 

In my mind, self-defense defense starts way before anyone even remotely begins sizing someone up for attack be it as a process or as a source for some resource. Self-defense begins in the mind and it is about learning and applying appropriate coping skills of a human who is a member of a society with a culture and belief system consummate to the needs of the society. 

You have to ask yourself, "Who is the potential enemy you may face?" This triggers an immediate response of an attacker who may be someone using social violence to get something they want or an attacker using asocial violence, process or resource. In truth, the greatest threat to each person is the threat of society itself. Societies beliefs and perceptions on aggression and violence along with what that society will accept and deem as lawful and appropriate actions one can use to defend themselves against the various forms of dangers, aggressions and violence that will cause harm or death. 

Even when the law defines in detail the appropriate violence allowed go protect and defend against another person using aggression and violence against you depends not just on that law, it depends on the very legal system that enforces those laws and critically important is the societies perceptions, concepts and beliefs, regardless of the law and legal system, that make them feel safe and secure they will accept as bonafide and appropriate self-protection/defense against you from others who insist on doing harm to others. 

Yes, society and group dynamics are about protecting the group and society and those rules imposed on its members can be dictated by laws and the legal system and yet the most harmful mandates of that group or society can be more dangerous than the law, the legal system and the professionals that work within those boundaries. 

Your very life, freedom and status, both economic and group oriented can depend heavily on the whims of the other members often not driven by laws, rules or requirements. It can shift on the winds and whims of every day feelings and emotions dependent on how the group or society feel at any given moment and situation regardless of laws, legal systems, rules and requirements set by the society. This is where one’s true regard is to self-protection and defense as you can probably imagine at this moment sits even when a person has literally used appropriate legal acceptable measures to defend and protect simply because one or one small portion of a social construct or group decides by emotions of an arbitrary nature to disagree and decide what you did is just not acceptable in that moment and situation sending you off to jail and literally ruining your economic ability to survive. 

Learning, studying, training, practicing and applying self-defense is a moving leaf on the wind blowing hither and yon landing who knows where and this is what we need to learn, study, train, practice and apply to survive. This is why professionals speak, teach and believe that everyone must focus on avoidance and escape and evasion to win this battle of protection and defense. 

You can’t do that without first understanding how society works, what it expects and how it will react to your efforts to protect and defend when threats, aggressions and violence rear their ugly heads, can you imagine it? 

Coping Skills; Social Reality Obstacles; The Law; The Legal System; The Self-Defense Defense; The Ramifications of Violence; The Ramifications of the Law; The Ramifications of the Legal System.

The competitive aspect, symbolized by sport of football, in the Legal System? 

Football:

Home Team: The prosecutor.

Away Team: The Defense.

Cheer Squad: The Jurors.

Referee: The Judge.

You: The Football. 

In my humble opinion the legal system is NOT about justice, it is about winning just like each team in football winning the game. The legal system is a game and the law is merely a set of rules to govern and contain how each team plays the game. The cheer squad cheers dependent on who takes the lead, prosecutor vs. defense. The judge makes sure to referee both the prosecutor and the defense to ensure they don’t step too far out of bounds. 

Now, YOU, the DEFENDANT/FOOTBALL like the football have very little say, unless you exert yourself with the defense attorney that you should do, and you will get tossed, kicked and carried around willy-nilly according to who has you in their control, prosecutor or defense. 

One side goalposts lead to jail, the other to freedom. Your experience, especially if you fell out of the self-defense square (Thanks, Mr. MacYoung) is going to be confusing, stressful to the ninth-degree and expensive while you still flip the coin as to freedom vs. prison. 

As you can imagine by the time all is done and played that the winner has nothing to do with you and how the game is played. It is about the prosecutor, whose wins ensure reelection and a status of law enforcement while the defense attorney builds a reputation of getting clients off and you are just another football he or she has to deal with. Each of them will use what tools they can to convince the cheer squad to cheer loudest for their efforts so they can win. They both will stretch the rules, the law, as far as they can to achieve their, PERSONAL, goals and objectives for their own self-serving wins vs. losses. You are just the football at the moment that provides them a means to achieve their personal and professional objectives, to WIN. 

Me, as you can probably imagine, my objective is to keep my life within my control as much as social reality allows. The only dealings to have with the law and the legal system is serving as a juror and the rest remains in someone else’s field. 

So, “when does self-defense begin?” It starts through social conditioning of coping skills ranging from how to handle emotions all the way up to how to handle bullies and the monkey dance and finally how to deal with life’s aggressive and violent nature. Ignoring or avoiding or dislike or discomfort are just excuses to avoid uncomfortable subjects and yet they are necessary subjects that should be taught throughout, at minimum, the educational span of humans. 

Like “Math” and “Science” and the “Multiplication Tables” and “Gym Class” coping skills should be addressed not as a substitute to the responsibilities families have, especially parents and uncles/aunts, etc., to teach proper and appropriate coping skills. It should be to address skills enhancements families today may not have an understanding in passing it forward to family members. 

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