How do you feel about using self-defense?

It sounds like you were trying to do the right thing. It's really unfortunate that the law seems to protect the criminals and blame those just trying to defend themselves. I have also found that many schools for Martial Arts/self-defense do not talk very much about how the legalities involved, and this only makes things worse. I strongly feel that this should be discussed more throughouly in the class/dojo to help prepare practitioners to defend themselves in a courtroom. Thanks for your input!

Laws are necessary for society to function well and even to prevent some misguided martial artists from becoming little more than street thugs, but there seem to be too many difficult areas when it comes to using self-defense, and too few people who seem willing to try and explain these areas of the law. Believe it or not, the president of the Martial Arts academy in which I recieved my black belt was a police officer and we still never really talked about the legal issues involved. I really don't understand why this isn't addressed more throughouly or why the legal system seems to protect the instigator but blame the defender. I don't mean to be redundant, but that's something of a pet peeve for me.

Ok, this is getting really annoying. I go to post when I get off work and even though at the top it states I'm signed in as me "Awen", it posts as you. I've tried dumping the cookies, clearing out, etc. Does anyone else whose spouse uses their computer have any ideas? This is getting really annoying!

There is a lot of truth to the saying, "the best defense is not to be there!" Even many of the best martial artists in the world did their best to avoid confrontations. It seems that the self-confidence and situational awareness that come from learning self-defense or martial arts is enough to avoid such situations. Physically defending oneself should always be the last option, but when it is, it's often the only option.

Thanks for the response!

It's because there's always the element of chance. No matter how good you are, there will always be some times that you can't defend yourself perfectly. Gone are the days of hand to hand combat and our environment now is much more dangerous than before, bad elements are now carrying weapons along with them which makes it much harder to defend one's self. Aside from that, they also come in groups.

I strongly agree with you that one should avoid such situations whenever possible. However, if/when one must try to defend oneself in difficult situations, self-defense becomes necessary as the only option, and can enable oneself enough time to escape and run away.

I think everyone should learn at least a little self-defense, but I suppose I'm sort-of biased, lol!

It sounds like your daughter's enjoying her karate classes so far, I'd hate to take her from a teacher she's already comfortable with. Younger kids can be kind of particular about things like that sometimes.

It is true that by definition the martial arts are intended for combat and can indeed be deadly. Certain "hard" styles don't allow their students to enter competition because their art is so lethal. In my opinion, however, a true master has enough self control to use only the amount of force necessary if/when they ever find themselves in a self-defense situation. A true master should also have enough situational awareness and self-confidence to be able to avoid such situations in the first place, and fight only as a last resort.