I
read an interesting article recently by Iain Abernethy titled “The problems with "street
fighting" where he spoke about being more conscious of the
terminology he used in his teaching of Karate to avoid “confusion and errors in
training” [1].
I
found the article very interesting and thought about it some. It made sense- words have energy and connotation
and we then have intent based on those words and this intent leads directly to
how we train. So I started looking at
the words “defend” and “protect”. On the
surface these two words are interchangeable, and based on the definitions from
Dictionary.com, they do appear to be synonymous:
·
Defend:
to ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury (usually followed by from or against) [2].
·
Protect: to defend or guard from attack, invasion,
loss, annoyance, insult, etc.; cover or shield from injury or danger. [3]
And
yet, while they mean the same thing when you defend yourself or protect yourself
are you doing the same thing energetically and with the same intention? You would think so, but it turns out you are
not.
In
an Advanced Class recently, we actually tested this with four Black Belts. I asked a pair to attack and asked the other
two to defend themselves. We did several
attacks. Next, we reversed roles. After a couple of attacks we reversed roles
and this time I asked the black belts being attacked to protect themselves; we
again reversed roles. All four without a
doubt felt they were more aggressive when they were protecting themselves then
when asked to defend themselves.
Sounds
almost crazy, huh?
In
fact there were not crazy. There is a study
on human combative behavior and performance called Hoplology. In an article from the
International Hoplology Society, Defensive vs Protective: A Matter of Mindset [4],
this is difference in intent is explained as a difference in mindset.
“The
defensive mindset seeks only to “resist the attack,” not necessarily to defeat
the attacker: defense as an end in itself. However, in the case of protection,
it is merely a small part of the overall combative intent to defeat the
attacker. It is not that protection per se is superior to defense; it is simply
that well trained combative intent is a better mindset than defense.” [4]
And
based on the Advanced Class experiment, The Black Belts echoed the same thing –
their intent was different. Defending
themselves they were more “defensive” and when protecting themselves they were
more aggressive.
So,
in a life or death situation, should you be defending yourself or protecting yourself? I think the answer is obvious.
Like
Iain Abernethy I am
determined to be more conscious in my terminology in class. You may hear me more and more in class to use
the word protect instead of defend.
Words imply intent, and intent matters and can matter most in life and
death situations.
Regards,
Kelly
“The primary
thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy,
whatever the means. Whenever you parry,
hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy
in the same movement. It is essential to
attain this. If you think only of
hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able
actually to cut him.” ~ Miyamoto Musashi
(1584-1645), legendary Japanese samurai and author of The Book of Five Rings
References
1.
https://iainabernethy.co.uk/article/problems-street-fighting,
Retrieved 11/5/16
2.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/defend,
Retrieved 11/2/16
3.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/protect?s=t,
Retrieved 11/2/16
4.
http://hoplology.com/articles_detail.asp?id=12,
Retrieved 11/2/16
