The best armor is to keep out of gunshot.

- Francis Bacon (1561-1626) essayist, philosopher, and statesman

The person who first introduced Okinawan Karate to Japan in a major way was Gichin Funakoshi. He developed a set of Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate or Ninju Kun. The second principle is generally listed in American Karate Schools as:

There is no first strike in karate (Karate ni sente nashi).

However that was translated to me as "In Karate the first strike is not there", so I figured it meant that the first defense was not to be in a situation that required the use of Karate in the first place. . I had friends who got in fights a lot because they frequented biker bars. I frequented yuppy restaurants with bars and never got in a fight. I always thought that meant my self-defense skills were better than theirs. Apparently Francis Bacon would agree. - frank.brown_travelport.com