Legal & Social Justice System

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

We in the martial arts and karate communities tend to train, directly and often times indirectly, for self-defense and that is often without realizing that self-defense means more than what one thinks. We sometimes lean toward the exciting and gratifying effort in action through technical physical skills while the more cerebral academic side gets spotty incomplete consideration and time. 

One of my recent posting brought to mind how often I refer to the legal system as another great battle one has to win to remain safe and secure after applying self-protection and self-defense. I change that to, “legal & social justice systems” because both are now high obstacles to achieving true legal and social validation when we are forced to apply physical skills against an attack and attacker. 

If you actually teach avoidance skills and you have mastered them to the degree possible in training and practice and application and that failed through no real fault of your own then applying those martial skills does one of two things for you as once written by a professional violence expert, “they work or they don’t work!” Regardless, once you trigger your skills that opens the flood gates from BOTH our legal system from the first responder to the prosecutor to the courts and then to both the criminal and civil venues often, depending on its coverage in media, leading to the social justice systems triggered due to the wide spread social ability to reach the masses. 

Social justice is “social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality, and can be defined as "the way in which human rights are manifested in the everyday lives of people at every level of society"

In another way social justice “in modern practice, revolves around favoring or punishing different groups of the population, regardless of any given individual's choices or actions, based on value judgements regarding historical events, current conditions, and group relations.” In many cases due to social media the value judgements are emotionally driven by the person or parties who take homage against a perceived rather than valid factual and legal judgement. In short, “I don’t like what you did so I am going to convict and sentence you in the court of media rather than in a court of law following proper, effective, valid and justified legal reasoning, etc.

When we fact these two distinct and dangerous systems we have compounded our dangers resulting in a need, critical needs, too ensure we have all the skills necessary to way battle and achieve success along with all the resulting costs that presents. In short, even when justified and satisfied in the legal system that still costs tens of thousands of dollars the social justice system can trigger the second legal system venue of civil actions also costing tens of thousands of dollars. 

Think also that in social justice that involve group relations (Group Survival Dynamics) the effects of emotions and moods, being strong negative emotions and moods in addition to applied compliance and influence principles, are the driving force over and above and beyond legal laws and mandates that win and induce greater psychological and economical costs to you even if you were legally justified in self-defense defense. 

So, the legal and social justice systems are another hard core aspect and critical requirement to teach if you are providing self-defense and self-protection training because in the end, “IT MATTERS and IT COSTS!” 

Add that to your overall costs of training and practice, the hidden costs when you apply your skills regardless of whether they work or don’t work. Either way, it is there…

For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)