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Self Defense and the Law

© Kent Fung

In the old days, the Chinese believed that a trained martial artist should never use his skills, for fighting an untrained opponent is unfair and unethical while fighting a trained warrior will result in one fighter being killed and the survivor being maimed for life.

The Japanese warrior Yagyu Munenori writes in his "Book of Family Secrets on the Art of War" that, "Weapons are instruments of ill omen, despised by the Way of Heaven. To use them only when unavoidable is the Way of Heaven."

Every martial-arts student is obligated to consider the ethical and practical consequences involved in using his training in a combat or self defense situation. There is absolutely no excuse for not having done so. If you're skilled enough to spar in class, you should be mature and aware enough to have carefully considered the circumstances under which you'd use your training, how far you are willing to go in various situations, and the potential consequences of your decisions.

What the law says about self defense

I'm not a lawyer; just someone who has done research and reading into this subject for my own knowledge. U.S. laws regarding self defense vary from state to state, even city to city. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that your actions have to be limited by the law. Nor, since this paragraph is rapidly turning into a CYA disclaimer anyway, am I advocating that you break the law. What I'm suggesting is that you must know what you can do under the law in order to consider the potential consequences of using your hard-earned combat skills. It is entirely possible that there are circumstances in which you would decide that you are willing to pay whatever legal penalties are imposed on you for going too far. But at least you'll know as you're acting what will come next.

It should be obvious that the law is never, ever, EVER going to be on your side if you're the aggressor and you use those neat new moves you learned in Kick-Butt Jutsu class to beat the crap out of that annoying guy sitting down the bar from you. Never. No matter how much you insist he deserves it. Not even if he said nasty things about your wife, sister, and mother.

I have a friend (who shall remain nameless) who once talked himself out of being arrested after a brawl by politely and sincerely telling the officer that, in a nutshell, "he had it coming." (He did.) However, this kind of reaction is extremely rare, and even if you look like a nice, clean-cut, all-American taxpayer, it's far more likely that the cop will tell you that he's heard THAT story before and haul you in anyway. Nice guys start brawls too, and cops know it.

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