Iain Abernethy - The Practical Application Of Karate

In the final podcast of 2014 we discuss the requirements of a moral, healthy and effective approach to violence. The mix of effective self-protection skills and the development of character is the common goal of most martial arts. In this episode I use the model of the three As (Appreciation, Ability and Attitude) to ensure our approach to unprovoked criminal violence is both effective and in keeping with the morality of the martial arts. As part of this discussion we touch on many topics including: the two core goals all martial arts should achieve; the nature and myths of violence; healthy precautions vs. unhealthy paranoia; when using physical skills is appropriate; the criminal attitude to violence (hate based) as opposed to the martial artist’s attitude to violence (love based); what the past masters had to say on the issue (Funakoshi, Mabuni, Motobu, Otsuka, Takamura, etc.); martial arts and pacifism; and quite a bit more! It’s impossible to cover all aspect of this issue in a thirty-minute podcast, b