Intelligent Martial Arts

The following in an excerpt from a talk by Dr. Frederick Lenz on the nature of power. I find it highly illuminating:

Intelligent martial arts is not getting in battles and winning them.  Intelligent martial arts is avoiding battles because battles use up energy, and you can get hurt no matter how good you are and that wasn’t what you had on your agenda today.

Simply because you were going some place today and you were going to have a great picnic and you didn’t intend to get in a battle with somebody, if you get in a battle and even win, you never get to have your nice picnic.  That was somebody else’s idea. 

So the intelligent use of power is to apprehend those who would trip you up, to slide around them and go do what you want to do.  Naturally, if there is no way out and confrontation and battle is inevitable, one can use power and strategy, balance and wisdom and enlightenment to win, of course. 

But the best battle is the battle that’s never fought.  The best war is the war that’s won without battle.