Pacifism

[Rich Green]

a pacifist is "someone who believes in pacifism and is opposed to war
or violence of any kind." Violence is described as "An unjust or
unwarranted exertion of force or power." Therefore, even a pacifist
can find his way in the martial arts. Because our philosophy
emphasizes using the opponents energy to defeat the opponent, we must
also understand that that means not using more force than necessary.
we don't train so that we can go out and attack anyone. We train for
preservation of self, and to assist our fellow man. I know that some
of you have expressed your concern that you do not want to inflict any
amount of pain on your training partner. I understand your concern,
but when we inflict pain, it is an important training tool. I think
that the concern lies in the lack of distinction that some of us have
with inflicting pain and maiming. The goal is to keep the training
safe AND effective. We don't inflict so much pain that we injure our
partner, just enough to understand the range of the technique and our
own limitations. In fact, the Chin-na that we practice on each other
can do a great deal to strengthen our joints and improve flexibility,
just like much of our training techniques can also contribute to iron
body and sensitivity/feel. Even in Aikido, a martial art that is
heralded as the most completely pacifist form of martial arts,
understands this concept in training. Don't limit yourself with this
small fear of being too harsh or destructive on another person. The
body is resilient and the mind grows stronger by understanding the
pain it endures. Above all, if your intention is pure and you remain
humble and gain the necessary level of control over yourself, you
don't need to worry about harming anyone.

also, let this sit with you for a while. this goes waaay back. "yield
rather than block; block rather than strike; strike rather than hurt;
hurt rather than maim; maim rather than kill; kill rather than be
killed"