That being said, self-defense is only until the threat is no longer there. To attack first is OK as long as you do not go beyond the point of removing the threat. In other words it is never right to inflict more injury than is needed to stop the attacker from injuring you. You are not right in trying to continue the fight or to as some say "teach him a lesson". You have the right to defend yourself bu not to work out your frustrations or anger on the attacker.
**** There is no such thing as registering your hands as deadly weapons. That myth was around before i began my training in 1967. I have trained law enforcement personnel. Ask them about this and they will laugh.
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"But as people continue to practice martial arts and hone their fighting skills they should obviously strive to practice humility"
Why? Say's who?
"Isn't it true that in many states you are required by law to get your hands and feet registered as weapons because you could hurt a lot people if you aren't careful"
No.
"how do you continue to practice martial arts and still be a good man or woman that treats other people with respect and only fights in self defence without being the aggressor"
You don't. If someone has made it clear they are going to get physical you MUST become the attacker. better to be the hammer not the anvil.
Someone asked this question in a Traditional Okinawan Martial arts page in which many gave similar answers. For me, Karate is about Ikken Hissatsu, that one move should be so devastating that the fight ends with that yet theres should be many following moves that follow the same intent. The entire ethos of Karate depend on that. Only when you realize that you can cause serious damage and that the other party can as well do you step back and see that the mutually assured destruction of the arts makes a fight too costly. Think of it as this, the person across from me is human and so am I. As I train to destroy so do they. If I attack, I will be met with crippling defenses. Either out of fear of damage or of harming another we avoid fighting by being polite and excusing ourselves. That also give us more power in a fight as if we tried to leave and were not allowed, we can fight free of wondering where we should stop.
"Isn't it true that in many states you are required by law to get your hands and feet registered as weapons because you could hurt a lot people if you aren't careful?"
Don't get registered for a belt or as a member of a martial arts organization for very long. No jury thinks that a person who spent 6 months in a martial arts class is a "lethal weapon".
For your question, a martial artist should seek to become an individual, one that does not merely obey Authority due to fear or self interest.
As for the moral issue, consider Socrates.
"I would rather die having spoken in my manner, than speak in your manner and live. For neither in war nor yet in law ought any man use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death, if a man is willing to say or do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs deeper than death."
Socrates before the Athenian death panel
I've often found that the people who are afraid of other humans and of strangers, are definitely angry or rude in their responses. The person that has no fear of such, will also have no anger or hate due to that motivation. Lethal force applications is a kind of power. Personal power changes people's viewpoints, so that before they were afraid of external enemies, but now they are afraid of their power if said power is greater than external enemies combined.
Thus a martial artist must master and defeat themselves first and foremost.
The goal is to survive, pure and simple. (For the sport stylists, the goal is to win, pure and simple.)
It is a fallacy that one must register their hands as weapons in any municipality.
It is a fallacy to think that striking first makes one the aggressor, too.
You must understand your place in life. If you are a thug, your goal is to take advantage of people - so you should expect to get a lot of push-back from people. Get over it. But if you are the type to live your life absolutely according to the Golden Rule, then you understand why it is perfectly acceptable to strike first to prevent being hit first, and if you analyze this, you'll see why if you assume you are the thug.
You have to draw your value system from something else besides the martial arts, in addition to whatever tenets or slogans your art contains. That is how you can be a non-violent martial artist.
My two main arts are Taekwondo and Judo. Taekwondo's tenets are Courtesy, Integrety, Perserverance, Self Control and Indomidable Spirit. Judo's slogans are Maximum Efficiency, Mininum Effort, and Mutual Welfare and Benefit. These are all great things to strive for. But ultimately, I had to return to this:
" And one of them, a doctor of the Law, putting him to the test, asked him, "Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?" Jesus said to him, "'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.' This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40) "
I am still working on those two greatest commandments.
You can use your martial arts fighting spirit to fight for what is right, to fight disease and maintain your health, fight evil and injustice, fight poverty, and to be of service to others. Sometimes you can save someone's life because you are there, not afraid and can think under pressure----being able to pull off your techniques under the stresses of sparring and competition does help you think under pressure. It's not foolproof though. You are still going to make mistakes because you are human.
Self discipline.
YOU MUST KNOW WHY MARTIAL ARTS WAS CREATED THE ART OF WAR WAS CREATED TO FIGHT AGAINST EVIL PEOPLE OR CREATURES OR THING IN ALL WAYS, THIS INCLUDES MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY, AND PHYSICALLY, ECONOMICALLY,MATERIALISTICALLY,SPIRITUAL... SO BY YOU KNOWING IT IS NOT LIMITED TO ONE THING YOU CAN FIGHT IN ALL THESE WAYS!!!! YOU MUST FIGHT MENTALLY WITHIN YOURSELF TO OVERCOME YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS OTHERS, I AM TREYTHEBRAVE SAYS THIS, AND I AM HE!!!!
I am sure there are several answers on yahoo similar to the question I am asking but I want people to answer this one directly so I know what you all have to say about this. People start practicing martial arts for any number of reasons be that for protection from neighborhood bullies in their youth, to gain more confidence in themselves, etc. But as people continue to practice martial arts and hone their fighting skills they should obviously strive to practice humility and doing unto others as they would have them do themselves. Because the more you practice martial arts the more people you could hurt. Especially if people get you provoked or angry for some reason, then you may just become the same bully you hoped to prevent. Isn't it true that in many states you are required by law to get your hands and feet registered as weapons because you could hurt a lot people if you aren't careful? To sum all of this up, how do you continue to practice martial arts and still be a good man or woman that treats other people with respect and only fights in self defense without being the aggressor?
