Martial Arts emphasise being defensive.

A response by a martial artist to aggression often fails because of the misinterpretation of statements from traditional martial arts’ wisdom’. There is a famous saying attributed to the founder of Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, which in many publications states that there is:

 “no first attack in Karate”

This statement has been interpreted so that nowadays, martial artists are taught to respond only to an attack when it is physically launched, not before. The resulting response is too late to be effective – remember:

Action beats Reaction!

The statement should be interpreted* to mean the ‘intention‘ to attack, so it still imparts the non-aggressive nature of Karate but still allows an effective response. Therefore, if someone moves to attack you or you feel threatened because you believe a physical attack is about to happen, you should react and not wait to see what is coming. It’s not a test of skill. You do not want to wait and see what the attacker has to offer before responding.

If someone lays their hands on you, then the usual martial art response is to try to remove their hand, pull the limb away that is laid on you or make a move involving joint manipulation. In these scenarios, the responses are defensive moves. Martial artists do not focus on neutralising the attacker but worry about what the attacker is doing. In these scenarios you are most likely to succumb to the aggressor’s next attack.

You should treat manipulation techniques (locks) and throws as ‘gifts’, so if the attacker allows you to use one, then you should take it—do not look for these as a primary response. Usually, it would be best to have distracted or disabled an attacker with strikes before attempting a lock, throw, or restraint.

*In his book ‘Karate-do Kyohan’ Gichin Funakoshi wrote:

“When there are no avenues of escape, or one is caught before any attempt to escape, then for the first time, the use of self-defence techniques should be considered. At that time, attack him and in the moment of surprise, escape and seek shelter and help”. 

This passage seems to have been ignored in the overall interpretation to create the quote ‘no first attack in Karate.’