Karate is Not an Expression of Aggression

An interesting statement! I have to say, that for me aggression is an essential factor for consideration in the process of understanding karate and it’s mental discipline. Aggression has to be mastered from within and it's potential flaws fully understood.

Chuck Norris said "we are like tempered steel, once our temper is lost, so are we". It has also been said that the "Iron ore considers itself tortured in the furnace, but is enlightened as tempered steel".

Karate training must include a means by which we can learn to control reflex aggression. How we turn on and off an aggressive state of mind can make all the difference to our physical performance. We need to be in control of, or understand the procedure that takes over from logic. We can have an aggressive or passive attitude, both states of mind are important, both are reflected by our actions. It is not enough to just associate aggression with mindless violence, but see it as a tool, the consequence of understanding ourselves in greater depth. This I think is vital.

I abhor violence and unnecessarily aggressive behaviour. The more I understand the consequences of them when uncontrolled, the more I hate them. However there is a part of me that needs to be able to cultivate the procedure to acquire both to an extreme in order to survive.