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The falcon and the art of war; the falcon and self-protection; the falcon and martial disciplines...the falcon is used as a symbol and referenced in commentary on Sun Tzu's Art of War.
I quote (emphasis underlines mine), "Applying the definition to the falcon, it seems to me to denote that instinct of self-restraint which keeps the bird from swooping on its quarry until the right moment, together with the power of judging when the right moment has arrived. The analogous quality in combatants is the highly important one of being able to reserve their skills until the very instant at which it will be most effective." - Sun Tzu Commentary
Although the falcon is a predatory and this type of skill is about survival of the falcon, i.e., hunting for food the actions and skills do translate with some minor attitude changes to adjust from predator to self-protection mind-set is necessary. Instinct is rather a neat symbolic way to convey an idea and reality is very little is actually instinctual so I use concepts, we will create a concept(s) that will be trained to trigger from certain stimuli and then we make that concept strong by how we practice and train.
Self-restraint is a concept and that skill is one that is used a lot in life so the triggers used and trained become critical. It is likened to principles, those that are base cornerstones that apply regardless, i.e., self-restraint is a principle concept we use across many situations so we must differentiate what triggers self-restraint accordingly such as self-protection training that encompasses all aspects of self-defense defense, social realities and personal perceptions and stimulus. If we do this than we can achieve a “instinct-like” concept that with ongoing relevant and appropriate training and practice will be there when we need it most. That brings us to the falcon’s self-restraint to hole back its predatory skills “until the right moment.”
The falcon does not hunt all the time and those skills are then held in abeyance until food is needed at the next meal. The only other time the falcon uses those predatory skills is when the falcon faces a greater threat, a predator of falcons. This is the mode where the falcon is attacked by a threat, the falcon’s predator, and performs in the same manner with self-restraint until the moment of need, when attacked. I also believe, from research, that a good part of the falcons skill-set is its observation skills thereby in any environment and situation sees, hears and perceives a predatory threat and thereby avoids it or escapes and evades the attack.
Much like the falcon, we as martial practitioners who use our skills for self-protection must learn self-restraint and know and understand “the right moment” to apply avoidance skills; escape and evasion skills; deescalation/verbal skills to end the conflict; OR as last resort, the very physical skills necessary for defense/protection, security, and safety.
This brings us the the falcon’s ability to make appropriate judgements to find the moment, the right one that is, to apply what ever skills are required by the moment, situation and environment. When that moment arises, trigger the concepts, and act must be tempered with good knowledgable experienced judgements.
The falcon uses only those skills necessary to get ‘r’ done. No more and definitely no less. It is about another recent article on energy, conservation and reserves and use to maximize its abilities and keep in reserve as much energy as possible. In our world of humans social reality says, as you probably already know and can imagine, we can only do that level of protection to stop an attack and its imminent dangers and going beyond is a waste of energy as well as taking it beyond what is effective to a place that makes a protection action a predatory illegal one.
So, as you can probably see in this article, symbolic representations such as the falcon in the art of war provide a solid, effective and interesting way to convey lessons that must be included in all combative efforts for safety and security… after all, it’s a dangerous world out there so … be safe!
Note: remember about timing as well for the falcon reserves his energy, skills and efforts to achieve maximum results while conserving energy and skills in case of attacks and to continue the hunt if what is first caught is insufficient to meet the falcon’s fuel requirements. See how it goes on and symbolizes many myriad things?
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