Opening the Gate to Self-Protection - PART ONE (Ch: 1 - 170)

It is inherent in human nature to protect and defend and this is about that self-protection in a modern society. It is about developing the kind of social and personal skills necessary to handle conflict. Conflict is also inherent in human nature as is both aggression and violence. It is when we are faced with conflict, especially with potential aggression and violence, that disciplines and skills such as karate are a necessity. 

It doesn't end there, for those models teaching self-defense through martial arts and karate are often woefully inadequate when the proverbial rubber meets the road involving self-defense, defense strategies. It is fraught full of hazards, dangers and deadly intent, both in the reality of attacks on the street and the reality of the attacks one must bear in the legal systems. In short, it's a real bitch. 

That is what this book is all about, to provide inspiration, idea's and theories about the complex and complicated system of social self-defense I refer to as "self-protection." For reasons that will be apparent as one reads this book in its entirety. 

Nothing is what it seems; nothing is as simple as one might believe; nothing is know that is not yet known and this is about uncovering the keys to all the doors that provide, and sometimes hide, that which needs to be known, understood and applied if, when, a person has to resort to the skills necessary to self-protect. 

My goal in this endeavor is to provide “vignettes” of information, philosophy and pragmatic guidance toward mastering the art of self-defense and its defense. The chapters are short chunks of introductory information necessary to seek out, participate in and become proficient in self-protection that is karate and martial disciplines other than karate. Distinctions that will appear as you read and absorb the material that follows. 

First, before the chapters, vignettes, begin I have to present some caveats:

1. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Tomoe Publishing, Alameda California, Copyright 2018, Charles E. James.
2. The chapters on this book-blog are my interpretation of readings, studies and experiences; therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. The content surrounding the extracts of books, see bibliography, are also mine and mine alone, therefore errors and omissions are also mine and mine alone; and therefore why I highly recommended one read, study, research and fact find the material for clarity.
3. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. See the bibliography for information on the books.
4. Please make note that this book-blog is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me.
5. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc.
6. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” 
7. This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial disciplines and/or self-defense/protection. 
8. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular chapter presented.
9. “You should prepare yourself to dedicate at least five or six years to your training and practice to understand the philosophy and physiokinetic's of martial arts and karate so that you can understand the true spirit of everything and dedicate your mind, body and spirit to the discipline of the art.” - cejames (note: you are on your own, make sure you get expert hands-on guidance in all things martial and self-defense).
10. If there are mistakes, errors, and/or omissions, I take full responsibility for them as they are mine and mine alone. If you find any mistakes, errors, and/or omissions please comment and let me know along with the correct information and/or sources.
11. “All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.” - Montaigne
12. Miller's Law: "In order to understand what another person is saying, you must assume that it is true and try to imagine what it could be true of." - Dr. George Miller, Psychologist.
13. Every effort is being made to make this blog site as accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes, both typographical and in content. Therefore, this blog should be used only as a general guide and not the ultimate source of practicing and training in the fighting arts. Furthermore, this blog site contains information on the fighting arts that is current only up to the publishing date and time. 
14. The purpose of this blog site is to educate and entertain. The author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused , directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this blog site.
15. When it comes to martial arts, fighting arts or self-defense, etc. nothing here no matter how well presented, can substitute for qualified professional, hands on instruction provided that instructor is properly educated and trained. This blog site and all its materials are for academic study ONLY.
16. If you do not wish to be bound by the above, you may navigate away from the site at any time.

Now, about me, the author of this material:

Guess What, nothing special

I was a student of some guy named “Henry,” and he taught me Isshinryu while we were stationed on Okinawa. I taught at Camp Hansen, Okinawa; then in Gushikawa, Okinawa; then Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; then in Martinez, California; then in Concord, California; and then I retired from teaching in a dojo. I trained and practiced for a period in Berkeley, California and now I study, train, practice, philosophize and analyze and hypothesize and synthesize my martial disciplines leading to my articles on blogger.

I trained with and around a few proficient and knowledgable martial artists or karate-ka or just really good people. I don’t have a list of legendary teachers even in seminar settings (Oh, Holebecki Sensei did do a short seminar at Berkeley once, about an hour and a half). I am experienced in many ways that in truth should mean absolutely nothing to you.

The only civilian dojo was in my garage while the other was under the auspice of the Civil Service Recreation group where I worked until I retired from my real job in 1999.

My studies both sporadic and full time dedicated span from the age of 17 years to my present age at sixty-five years (2018).

I focused on an Okinawan Karate system, fairly new one circa 1954 or so, starting in 1976 so over all I have studied, practiced, trained, taught a handful of truly dedicated karate-ka, and made it an intricate part of my life in and out of a dojo for around forty-five years or so.

I am a Marine, active from 1972 to 1981 and now on inactive status. 

I am retired from civil service: a Physical Security Specialist/Officer; a Container Repair Mechanic; a Materials Expediter; a Communications Security Manager; a Special Weapons Mechanic/Technician; a Radiation Control Technician; a Computer Tech Support Specialist; a Computer Security Specialist; a fledgling Coder of PL-SQL; a Computer Systems Administrator; a Enterprise Application Systems Administrator; a Release Management Analyst and a few other duties as assigned over my years in service. 

All the while teaching, training, and practicing various disciplines in the proverbial martial arts communities.