Art of Avoidance

Kaihi no geijutsu [回避の芸術] translate to English as “art of avoidance” or the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver.

Bruce Lee is quoted, Be like water making its way through cracks. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. Be water, my friend.

His quotation is derived from the study of the Tao Te Ching which is written, “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. (Wu-Wei: effortless action).

Water seeks balance; it forms to any shape; it can destroy granite; it moves mountains; water seeks a path of least resistance.

Avoidance is likened to water, be like water my padawan. 

Evade, dodge, turn away, escape, duck, sidestep, put off, hedge, circumvent, go around, short-circuit, bypass, get around, ward off, avert, avoid, stave off, deflect, head off, fend off, forfend, debar, obviate, forefend, and you begin to form a feeling for this art. An art that must prerequisite the arts of violence like karate, etc.

All these are descriptive of the action of concept one should look to in order to avoid dangerous and potentially violent encounters. If you have done your homework, you will have developed the means to go-around all situations that expose you to violence.

Start with yourself by performing an analysis of your attitude and lifestyle so you can label those beliefs, perceptions and attitudes that often trigger social violence. As to predatory violence, understanding that concept goes a long way to distancing you from that encounter.

Once you have thoroughly trained, practiced, understood and experienced the art of avoidance; then allow yourself to train in that very rare instance you have to flip that switch and act, act faster than your attacker to survive.

Remember, avoidance is about before, during and especially after such encounters. The further ahead of violence you avoid, the better.

The after requires special attention because it can be more dangerous than the act of self defense. You have to really understand and master te art of after, i.e., social, legal, and financial consequences and repercussions.

Financial ruin; social OSTRACISM; legal be it jail and/or civil consequences OR both; a visit to the ER; ending in the morgue; social friends and co-workers ending their relationship and associations an so on…

Learning the mechanics of karate is really cool 😎, but using it outside the dojo in self defense is far from cool 😎, it’s a minefield and it will be YOU against THEM.

• you;
• your adversary;
• the LEO;
• the prosecutor;
• your defense attorney;
• the social media keyboard commandos;
• the self righteous;
• the entire legal system;
• the civil legal system;
• friends and family;
• …

Kaihi no geijutsu, the art of avoidance … don’t neglect it in your dojo!