Pencak Silat Discussion Board

One of the most valuable bits of training , I believe, that we get from our training in Pencak Silat Mande Muda is embodied within the symbol of Mande Muda. There are 3 "leaves" on the symbol. Each symbolizes a stepwise progression though defensive decision making. It's easy to get swept up in the fighting aspect of the art. Training through the different combat techniques are exciting and fun. Still, to have a fully functional self defense method , we can't just focus on fighting. To do so would be , perhaps, socially irresponsible as well as imprudent.
Guru Besar Herman Suwanda would describe the progression as :
1) Run
2) Talk
3) Fight
The first two leaves , if successful ,should keep you from risking personal injury in combat. This also shows that "not fighting" is still ,in essence, the implementation of your Pencak Silat Method. Too often we confuse self defense and avoidance of injury / assault with the act of fighting. One can actually not fight and still be successfully using Pencak Silat in their protection of self or others.
The third leaf is fairly self explainatory . It is actual physical combat. In our day to day training in class, this is the aspect of silat training that is the most fun and satisfying. While it is fun in practice , it may not be so fun in reality. Here is where you can actually take injury while protecting yourself and /or give out injury . Especially with weapons, this is a serious step in self protection so one should not choose this as the "first ,best step" in self defense. It certainly can place you in some perilous legal and social waters ( at least in the USA) if you can not show that you have tried to adhere to the first "leaves" before the fight ensued. If you get into a fight and someone ( hopefully, not you...) gets hurt and the police arrive , you'll have lots of questions to answer if it looks like you could have avoided the fight or if you were responsible for actions which brought about the fight or escalated the situation. As a general rule, you should only give out a "punishment" that fits the crime. You should not "over do" the level of violence you use... I wouldn't advocate breaking a neck or stabbing a person who is not using lethal force against you. In the USA ,when an attacker is no longer a threat you are required to cease damaging the attacker or it becomes "revenge" and you are then considered the "attacker". Often you may be required to withdraw at the first opportunity.
Personally, I interprete the first two leaves as follows:
1) Use judgement, avoid bad situations,leave if troublesome circumstances appear to develop, evade an attack then disengage if possible. You should avoid actions that deliberately provoke attention or aggression. You should avoid visiting "hot spots" for crime around town if possible.
2) Use diplomacy, talk/act in a way that redirects or diffuses anger and aggression, be willing to accept responsibility for actions if appropriate, know how to use psychological ploys to convince an potential attacker to reconsider without risking escalating the situation. Sometimes simply "manning up" and admitting your fault in a situation and offering an appropriate compensation helps. You might offer something to smooth things over....buy the man a beer , pay for damages , etc. If you are in the wrong, sometimes a sincere apology helps. It might be appropriate to fight when you gave no insult and the other pressed for a fight. However, if you did something insulting or were careless and caused some damage /injury , you show better character by owning up to it and offering something in compensation than denying what you did and challenging the legitimately insulted party.
Now in fairness to those who find themselves in a fight , after having tried to implement the first two leaves, we have to admit that in some circumstances the opportunity to use diplomacy or leave can disappear very quickly ....especially if the other party is aggressive and "demands" that a fight happen or places you in a circumstance where you must quickly resort to physical self defense. Also, if you are sought out by an aggressor ( as in home invasion, muggings,etc) you may find yourself jumping right into the third leaf of self defense strategy.

I believe that a student who understands the importance of these 3 leaves is developing a real , practical self defense philosophy rather than merely planning on fighting to solve threats or disagreements.

Does anyone else have additional thoughts on this?