Are You A Band-Aid Or A Trauma Surgeon?

Should you punch someone in the face if they shove you? Should you choke someone unconscious if they grab your wrist? If someone tries to punch you in the face, should you put them in a wrist lock? If somebody grabs your lapel, should you call 911? If someone is trying to rape you, should you put your keys in between your fingers and punch them in the face?  The word self-defense means a lot of different things to a lot of people. Some people believe self-defense is mainly about being aware of your surroundings at all times. Some people believe self-defense is calling 911. Some kids are taught self-defense is after you get the shit kicked out of you. Go tell a teacher.  The definition of legal self-defense in our country is on paper, you have the right to stop an imminent physical threat against you, and you are legally allowed to stop that physical threat that endangers your life or limb.  With that said, and reading that definition, Where would a wrist lock come to play? Where would calling 911 come into play?

I admit that my self-defense doesn't cover all of the bases. I like to think of Hawaiian Kempo more like a trauma surgeon than a general practitioner. I think if you're teaching wrist locks, unless you are Steven Seagal, you are putting a Band-Aid on a massive bullet wound to the chest.  Because an hour martial arts system, if you are putting your hands on anyone, you are trying to stop the threat, and in my definition that means separating them from their consciousness, not trying to take them to the principal's office. While I agree. Having the ability to take someone to the principal's office is a very useful and necessary skill, it's not what Hawaiian Kempo is.  And while I agree with checking your surroundings, when you're getting out of a car, or walking towards your car, especially at night, I agree with facing the door when you're In some type of building, such as a restaurant or coffee house. That's about as far of what we cover in our system. Some people even teach extensive de-escalation techniques as part of their martial arts or self-defense system. Again, I feel like that is a great Band-Aid, and Band-Aids are very important, because they can help keep your scratch from becoming infected, but like I said, our consider our martial art more like a trauma surgeon than a Band-Aid. We do not advocate, yelling, and trying to get people riled up, but if getting attacked in the street, I would be much more concerned with trying to de-escalate their level of consciousness more than I would be their mood.  If I feel like my, or my family's life are in imminent danger, trying to put the attacker into a peaceful mood would not be on the top of my list. I would much rather myself, and my family be peaceful and alive, and the only way to make that happen is to stop the threat.

And, like I said, before, and I'll always believe that, avoidance of putting myself into a threatening position, whether that means avoiding a certain area or place, or leaving an area if I feel any danger, I both very good preemptive actions. I also believe very strongly, that not yelling, screaming, and behaving in a threatening manner is not a good strategy and self-defense, or in life for that matter. I believe those are more common sense than self-defense. I think people with common sense, avoid known bad areas, know not to stop if they see a very dangerous person, trying to pull them over, or have enough common sense to not go into deadly areas at night.  Common sense is a very good precursor to self-defense, and in many cases, it can prevent you from having to use self-defense. And with that said, and knowing that, yes, you should be aware of your surroundings, and you should not want to escalate peoples violent behavior. 

Everywhere you go, sometimes being aware of your surroundings, and being able to de-escalate your drunk cousin, will do you absolutely no good evil violent predators have made you their mark.  You could be very well aware of your surroundings when you're walking out of your local Walmart parking lot at 9 PM when some evil criminal has made you their mark, and he's hiding behind his car in the parking lot, and then jumps out grabs your collar, and his fist is pulled back, ready to punch you in the face. Now you were aware of your surroundings, and you still got grabbed, now with the punch, cocked and ready you have a nanosecond to try to de-escalate this attacker before that fist goes crashing into your face rendering you unconscious. With all of the being aware of your surroundings, or de-escalation skills in the world, neither would help you in a situation like this. That's when you need to forget the Band-Aid and use the trauma surgeon. Your striking first, you striking powerfully, and you having the skills to stop that threat immediately is the only real skill you wanna have right that second. So my point is simple. If you needed a doctor for an emergency, would you rather have a doctor that has trained extensively and has the skills of a trauma surgeon, or would you rather have a doctor that is well rounded and has trained extensively in Band-Aid, putting on, blood pressure taking, I'm being able to give a good tetanus shot. Well, those skills are very important and could keep you safe throughout your life, when you're in an emergency situation, you want the doctor that has spent all of his time and energy training and building skills and being able to stop in arterial bleed, perform trauma surgery for gunshot and stab victims, and keep someone breathing, and their heart beating. Most people say, just like when teaching KATA in a martial arts school that they teach both.  Since time is so finite, and pretty scarce for busy people, if you didn't have time to learn drill, and become very proficient at a very limited amount of techniques, would you rather spend your time on putting on Band-Aids, or stopping the bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest?