Why can teaching the physical martial arts alone, without the Mental Self-Defense component, be dangerous to children?
Teaching only the physical self-defense skills to young people reinforces the conventional conditioned attitude that conflict is resolved by violent means. Also, young people having been taught primarily physical self-defense skills think that they have the ability to resolve conflict before it becomes physical. (But they only have the physical skills, and not all conflicts can be resolved with these skills.) What is Mental Self-Defense? The conventional martial arts teacher has primarily been trained as a self-defense instructor and sports coach, having skills and training to teach students to defend themselves and to enjoy the sport aspect of the martial arts. But now, in the natural evolution of the martial arts, from being primarily a self-defense and a sport, we are developing Mental Self-Defense Training for martial arts teachers in the educational aspects of the martial arts, that is, how to use reason intelligently to cope with brutal aggression before it escalates into confron
