When Force Has No Place

Please note that we are NOT the original writers of this blog post. All credit goes to the original writers. Find the original post as published at this link: http://yourwarriorsedge.com/martial-arts-2/force-no-place/

Consider this quote from Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 BC — c. 425 BC) that the historian famous for his writings on the conflict between Greece and Persia, as well as the descriptions he wrote of different places and people he met on his journeys.

– Herodotus
The article When Force Has No Place appeared on .
Becoming adept in technique allows the martial artist to accomplish defense of oneself without force sometimes. And isn’t that the ideal? I’m not saying force isn’t useful or necessary at times. It certainly is. But there are times when the skillful can accomplish much without it, and in those times it has no location.

Both my father and grandfather fixed watches and clocks. You know, the older kind that had the intricate working bits that caused hands of the clock to rotate to tell time. Not the newer electronic clocks and watches so many use today. It’s obvious when thinking about fixing these fine instruments of time that force wouldn’t be necessary, and that only skilled craftsmanship, like used to create such time pieces, would be necessary to repair them.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill”

So is this quote even relevant for martial arts? Yes, I think it is. As martial artists, we learn how to defend ourselves when we don’t posses larger force. We also learn options so we don’t have to just bash ’em on the head. I found this very important when working bodyguard and safety work. I was in many situations where I had to be physical with people, but I couldn’t just bash them and hurt them. I needed to control them, and sometimes they were bigger and stronger than I was. It was skill and technique that allowed me to prevail. And it wasn’t always physical skill. There were times with verbal and people skills allowed me to handle situations without resorting to physical procedures or force.
But does this quote relate to martial arts? Why not just party ’em on the head with force and be done with the altercation? And I’ll admit, there were lots of fights in my younger days I prevailed in because of conditioning and force, not skill or technique. I wrote about that in my book for Paladin Press over twenty years ago. Strength and conditioning go a long way in protecting yourself.