If recent events have shown anything, it is that none of our children are immune to the prevalent physical violence around us. That is why we must all support this movement. When someone killed two people and stabbed a third on a train in Portland almost exactly a year ago, several AMAFA youth students asked me about this in class. Those adults who died were defending two young girls from racist remarks. Many AMAFA youth have been on BART and expressed some concern about safety. And some AMAFA students are aware enough of what is going on around us to express concerns about school shooters. When we were children we only had a fight with a bully to worry about in terms of interpersonal physical safety, but now as adults too many of us wonder about the possibility of our children being shot at school.

To be clear, AMAFA is not wading into a political battle around specific tactics — like banning specific guns. AMAFA is for Safety, Health and Wisdom. In this case, this means:

• Simply put, all children should be able to live their lives safely without threat or fear of being shot at school, at home, at play or anywhere in between.

• Gun violence, particularly when it is perpetrated at schools, is a threat to everyone’s mental health — both those who are direct victims at a school shooting and those who feel the indirect second-hand trauma and fear of watching such acts.

• Mindful solutions are needed, not political or self-serving platitudes. 

For example, anyone saying we should arm teachers hasn’t thought that tactic through or is disingenuous. It takes years of training and a certain demeanor to wield a gun against someone else who is shooting at you, and still be focused enough to make decisions to care for hundreds of scared and screaming children. We have already seen, from Columbine to Florida, that many security people can’t do it—but they should not be blamed. It is not a job that anyone should have to do. The problem should be addressed at the root. How do we prevent someone from shooting at children in school? Any solution that is about dealing with shooters on site means that lives are at risk and will probably be lost, and so all solutions that only deal with “active shooters” are flawed, or at best incomplete.

Answers to these challenges are elusive, but it appears children are leading us to a new horizon that might hold those answers. As an organization that teaches youth leadership, we must support this cause because our children have begun to lead in this critical conversation. 

It is time to listen and follow our youth.

For those of you who may be on the fence and wonder if I am pushing us toward this rally as a personal decision outside the realm of martial arts training, consider this directive to martial artists from Ginchin Funakoshi, the founder of modern Karate:

“In Okinawa, a miraculous and mysterious martial art has come down to us from the past. It is said that one who masters its techniques can defend himself readily without resorting to weapons and can perform remarkable feats—the breaking of several thick boards with his fist or ceiling panels of a room with a kick. With his shuto (“sword hand”) he can kill a bull with a single stroke; he can pierce the flank of a horse with his open hand; he can cross a room grasping the beams of the ceiling with his fingers, crush a green bamboo stalk with his bare hand, shear a hemp rope with a twist, or gouge soft rock with his hands. Some consider these aspects of this miraculous and mysterious martial art to be the essence of Karate-do. But such feats are a small part of karate, playing a role analogous to the straw-cutting test of kendo (Japanese fencing), and it is erroneous to think that there is no more to Karate-do than this. In fact, true Karate-do places weight upon spiritual rather than physical matters. ... True Karate-do is this: that in daily life, one’s mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility; and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.”

This is a critical time, in need of rising justice.

We must apply our martial arts training and principles to life outside the training hall, and add our numbers to the “March for Our Lives.” This is the meaning of Musashi’s quote we use often: “The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”

Come advocate for safety, health, wisdom and justice with AMAFA on Saturday to turn the tide of this gun violence epidemic that has terrorized adults in this country for far too long, and is now stealing away our children by the dozens.

Thanks,

Master Ellis