Faith Fighters For Christ

Christian Martial Arts Ministry

Life Preservation or Self-defense

The martial arts have done much to build character in the lives of so many people, but the general public has the impression of martial arts as being violent and dangerous. This image is supported by most of the depictions of martial arts in movies and television. We have also noticed this same image at many of the tournaments in which we have competed or judged. The tools of self-defense for many of the martial artists seem to include primarily lethal and crippling techniques. The impression is that martial arts deal in an all or nothing world when it comes to self-defense. Each style of martial arts should consider what image it desires to project to the general public.

There are a couple of things to consider when teaching students self-defense techniques and concepts. Beyond teaching the techniques that a specific system may have as belt rank requirements for a martial arts system, we as instructors should consider the philosophy of self-defense we teach and the legal aspects for a trained martial artist. The philosophy of self-defense should drive the artist in decisions on appropriate techniques to use in response to a specific situation. The legal aspects should also be shared with our students, so they are prepared for the possible consequences for the use of many of the techniques.

There are many possible philosophical bases that may be used to found a self-defense system. Some that are rooted in vastly different cultures or religions, may have similar core values that guide the self-defense philosophy. Then there may be drastically different philosophies that arise from the same or similar cultures. Every martial artist will develop their own philosophy, but the main concepts are usually acquired from their instructor.

Some martial artists hold to a non-religious philosophy for their self-defense. When this is done there are wide variations among the philosophies and often there is not a defined philosophy presented with the techniques taught. Within this group, the primary value is personal protection without any balancing consideration for the attacker. In the United States systems there is more emphasis on the independence and personal rights and privileges. This is not unexpected considering the prevailing culture is that of self-promotion and excessiveness coupled with a rugged individualism. Using these philosophical concepts there is little restraint in the level of damage the martial artist would inflict on the attacker in self-defense. These schools often would use disabling and lethal techniques from their arsenal early in the threat stage of confrontation. Personally, I was appalled when I heard a martial artist on national television express their philosophy of self-defense as, "the one left breathing wins."

Other martial artists utilize moral codes drawn from culture or religious beliefs. These moral codes often develop balance within the response in a conflict situation. The moral codes vary drastically from cultures and religions that give rise to these codes. There are two prominent values that appear in most of the moral codes that govern martial artists. The first concept is personal protection, that may not extend to material belongings. The second concept is the value of human life, which acts as a moderator for the first concept. With these two concepts working in concert, the martial artist will probably be less likely to use highly damaging techniques or lethal techniques early in an encounter. Most of these moral codes place personal protection as a priority over the life of an attacker. Many place a graduated value system on human life that make it more acceptable to take the life of some people groups than others. One martial artist described the philosophy as being respectful of all life, but there is a point at which they must protect the good they are yet to do in the world against the damage that an attacker would continue to do.

We have based our system on the Judeo-Christian morality and value system. There are several concepts that we have used in developing our self-defense system. We see tremendous value in human life since a major theme of the Bible deals with the value of human life. With this as a primary value, we refer to our system as life preservation rather than self-defense because we focus on life rather than self. Our first consideration is to maintain the greatest amount of human life as possible. The command not to murder / kill raises the responsibility for us in evaluating techniques that are available. We have determined to limit our arsenal to techniques that are not intentionally lethal. We understand that any strike has the potential to be lethal under certain circumstances or when executed with greater force than intended. We do teach strikes that are intended to stun, distract, discourage, or disable the attacker. Another concept, that we have drawn from the Bible, is that all humans are sinful and sinful actions are not pleasing to God. This concept drives our desire to defend, since it is not pleasing to God to allow a person, the attacker, to continue in a sinful act unopposed. Our defense is further moderated by the Biblical teaching that vengeance is God's, so we defend only to stop the attack and not to exact punishment on the attacker.

We, as instructors, should consider the philosophy of self-defense that we teach rather than leaving it for the student to guess. Once we have developed our philosophy, then the techniques and damage levels will flow from the values in our philosophy. A philosophy based purely on individual protection will generate different defenses then one based on value of human life. As situations arise the highest valued item will be maintained from the philosophy taught. The philosophy will determine the validity and effectiveness of a technique.

The violent and often superhuman image that is held by the general public affects how martial artists are viewed by the legal system. With the legal system in the United States, the enforcement and interpretation of the laws vary from state to state and even from locality to locality. Every jury and judge have their own understanding of what a martial artist is capable of in the area of self-defense. At this point I would like to recommend Carl Brown's The Law and Martial Arts, this book does an excellent job of discussing these points for considering possible legal ramifications for using martial arts in self-defense. There are two aspects of the legal considerations, the attacker's side and the martial artist's side.

It may seem strange to think that there are legal ramifications of being a martial artist when the attacker is charged with a crime. Chuck Norris in his biography, The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story, tells about being called as an expert witness in a murder trial for the defense. He relates the story of a black belt having been caught in bed with another man's wife and was shot by the man. The man pled self-defense even though he shot the martial artist from across the room, because he was afraid of the martial arts skills. The defense attorney asked Norris to demonstrate whether an expert martial artist could disarm the man from such a distance, which Norris proceeded to do quickly. The man was acquitted by the jury, who evidently agreed that the man had a valid fear.

Martial artists like any other person by law are permitted to use equivalent force in self-defense. The superhuman image of the martial artists raises the expectations of the general public when it comes to self-defense. If a martial artist is attacked and in the course of defending causes damage to the attacker without incurring similar injuries, the martial artist could be the one investigated for assault. Martial artists may be expected to disclose their training when a confrontation could result in an attack or be considered to have used a concealed weapon. The martial artist is expected to use measures that are less extreme than those that are available to the general public. It is likely that a martial artist could not use self-defense as a legal defense if the attacker died in the encounter unless the attacker was using a weapon.

We as martial artists need to educate the general public about the realities of martial arts. As long as we support the media depictions of martial artists as aggressive superhuman weapons, the legal system will continue to treat martial artists as dangerous. We need to consider if we want to continue to promote this image, if not, then we need to review our public demonstrations and see if we do that with our self-promotion.

As martial arts instructors, we should consider the image the general public has of martial arts. We should focus on what drives our self-defense system, what is the philosophy or moral foundation to guide our students in using the techniques we teach. Our students need to be made aware of the legal possibilities from using the techniques that they have learned. It is also good for us as instructors to review our philosophy and to check into the legal climate of our area.

As Christians, our witness for Christ is affected by our actions. If we are required to defend ourselves, the techniques we use and the amount of damage we cause will influence the way bystanders, police, the attacker and the court understand or interpret what we believe. We represent Christ in the world and our responses in self-defense will reflect on Christ and His Church.

copyrighted 2000 Donald Engelhardt all rights reserved