(Approx 2 minute 25 second read)

Some people look like they were born fighters. Of course they’re not – but it feels that way when you see how they step forward while others shrink back.
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That’s the warrior within – something you either have or you don’t.
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For those of you who aren’t interested in self-defense – the competitors, the ones who train for fun, fitness, and health – what would you do when faced with a real-life threat?
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The dojo, after all, is a safe place. You might get a few bruises, maybe even break a bone by accident, but your life is never truly on the line.
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I remember years ago when I was teaching advanced driving skills to police officers, my student was at the wheel when we passed what looked like a man beating a woman by the roadside. I told him to turn the car around so we could go back and see if I could help. He looked at me, surprised – “You want to go back?”
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I’m no superhero – though Batman and I have never been seen in the same room together – but I believe you have to do something.
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There have been plenty of times in my life (I’m pretty old) when I’ve had to use my skills to get myself and others out of trouble – sometimes physically, sometimes by other means. Often, it was simply the right thing to do. There were times in my career too when I stepped forward long before others even realized something was about to happen.
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My wife and I, both lifelong martial artists, were talking about this recently. She’s a 6th dan instructor in her own right. She told me about an incident on the ‘El’ train in downtown Chicago – a man was randomly throwing punches at passengers. If you’ve never been on the ‘El’, it can feel like a rolling version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Not always the safest place to be.
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She told me how she’d spotted him well before he reached her. She tracked him, read him, prepared herself. Others around her just cowered in their seats – a natural reaction for people who have never faced real violence.
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And this is what worries me when people tell me self-defense is pointless – that it’s not needed, that they only train for fun.
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There are moments when you have to step up. Maybe not for yourself – but for the older person being threatened, the person with special needs being bullied, the one who looks different and is getting pushed around.
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What will you do? Put your head down and pretend it’s not happening?
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Not long ago, a man high on LSD banged on our front door and was causing a commotion outside my house. A small crowd gathered, but no one stepped forward to calm things down. I did – I got hold of him and the situation before my neighbor arrived swinging a baseball bat. Turned out the man was harmless in the end – but you never know how these things will unfold.
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There are times when we need the warrior within to step out. And yes, there are times when restraint is the wiser path. But if we all stand back – if we only train for fun and never for any practical skill – who will step forward when it matters most?
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That’s worth thinking about – because one day, someone might need you to.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo