There is no first attack in Karate

The founder of Shotokan Karate Gichin Funakoshi wrote twenty guiding principles of Karate.

These principles are essential reading for all karate students regardless of style trained.

 

Unfortunately, not all of these principles are interpreted the same way by everyone who reads them.

 

Let’s look at the principle of: “There is no first attack in karate”.

 

What does this principle mean to you?

 

Back in the 80’s when I first started Shotokan in my high school hall, this principal meant that I could never attack first. I could never be the one to use physical force first. We were told many times by our Sensei, “that’s why our kata’s start with a block”.

 

I agree with the principle that the karateka should not be the one who attacks first. Karate should only be used for self defence.

 

But that does not mean that we must not be the one to use physical force first.

 

For example, it is late at night and I am walking from a function to my car. As I approach my car, three guys approach me, one of them moves into my personal space and states, “Give me your car keys, wallet and phone before we beat the hell out of you”. (Put aside the argument of well its only property, do you or do you not just hand it over).

 

If I form the belief that I am going to be assaulted by these three guys, and can not talk them down or walk away to safety, I can and will launch an attack, rather than wait to be attacked by the three men. In my mind, it is better to take out the closest guy to me, before the three of them attack me at once.

 

In this scenario, I would not have been the one who actually made the first attack. The first attack was made by the three men who approached me and threatened me with violence. Karate was used for self defence.

 

This to me is the real meaning of:

“There is no first attack in karate”.

 

As karateka, we should never assault another person, but that does not mean that we cannot strike out first in order to save ourselves if assault is imminent and we have no other means of defending ourselves.

 

The guiding principle of “There is no first attack in karate” is a sound one when viewed from this perspective.

 

Kancho Mark Szalajko