A recent post on kata brought out the analysis engine when I read comments that said words like, "Lethal, Destructive, destroying partners," and other such insinuations. I don't like insinuations or even more suppositions that lead folks to believe you have to use lethal-destructive techniques to achieve reduced damage and ultimate safety.
This mind-set comes from a misunderstanding of what karate is all about. Yes, it is a system that uses the body to apply a certain amount of damage to a threat but it also has to be tempered with a morality that tempers the human mind-set to use it appropriately and with a modicum of restraint for the regard of another human and society as a whole for it is these two that promote a survival instinct and tribal cohesion to promote a way that is morally right and correct.
The Gokui leads us to those ancient classics that speak of a balance where the human understands the yin and yang of many things and teaches us to strive for a balance that is a belief system of moral behavior, thinking and expression.
If not for this type of equilibrium in karate-jutsu-do the practitioner may succumb to "the dark side" and become just another "Darth Vader or a simple thug" with dangerous ability. It is a difference between righteousness or terrorism.
Think of providing a person with tools of power where the difference between proper use vs. improper is the difference between justice, honesty and morality vs. injustice, dishonesty and moral turpitude.
The gokui is meant to be the weight that sits on the other side of the scales of martial systems - physical weight on one side with morally just belief on the other balancing the person who has the system as a means of protection.
This speaks of that one slippery line between defense and fighting. It is narrow, moving and hard to see in the heat of battle but is the determining factor between defense and the legal ramifications of assault.
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