<aside> đź’ˇ *In order to complete gradings in my school of karate, one must submit a written paragraph on specific aspects of karate.
One such grading required me to reflect on the story of Bushi Matsumura, the famed karateka who was ordered to literally fight a bull, and won.
I liked the story, and decided to reflect on this further.*
</aside>
One cannot defeat a charging bull by being gored.
A bull is an animal that has lived with literal spears attached to their face for its entire lifetime.
Don’t. Get. Gored.
A simple principle to extend your lifetime.
Conditions for getting gored:
Be the target of an ire bull.
Be in the place the bull is targeting.
That means get the hell out of the way when a bull is charging.
And that can be any bull- a literal bull, some co-workers bullshit, an attacker who’s having a psychotic break, an angry spouse.
Don’t Get Gored.
Now that doesn’t mean don’t engage.
It means get the hell out of the way when that’s what required.
And stay out of the way until you can engage.
Here’s the thing about a bull, you can’t hurt it.
Attempts to fight back will only enrage it further.