Hi Robert,

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading the article you wrote for the August QLK newsletter. A little dose of reality is always good (I myself might try it someday!).

So much of the garbage I see written on the internet MA chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc… has so little to do with the aforementioned reality. They all seem to think that they are untouchable, the baddest thing going, that they can walk anywhere whenever they want to, any dark alley is no threat at all.

A few do claim to be men/women of peace but most don’t seem to consider the option of just trying to avoid the damn conflict in the first place, or that there might be someone who is, as you wrote, “more skilled or more lucky and they may survive and you may NOT”.

I’ve found that a kind word, a joke or just walking away solves most of life’s conflicts. It is what kept my skin intact for the 39 years prior to my starting any Martial Art, and it has worked just as well in the years since that time.

If I did have to use any skill I posses in an actual fight I would do everything in my power to win, but getting to that point would mean that every other skill I have learned (some from your excellent book!) had failed.

But there is the sad fact that sometimes one has no choice but to defend one’s self. And as you wrote, that is when the Kata comes into play. It really does give one a set of tools to add to one’s toolbox. Not that any fight is going to conform to the entire Kata, but the individual moves, when broken apart and analyzed really do add up to a great variety of options available for a wide range of situations.

But sometimes shit just happens.

But enough of this; I really enjoyed reading the article and thank you for letting us include it in the Newsletter.

Dave
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Dave Cofell, St. Joseph, MN, USA, 1st Dan QLK