Stand your ground v. Running with confidence

Now don't get me wrong here.  I am not an expert on martial arts.  But I did buy and read a book about Karate once and the phrase "running with confidence" came up.

Running with confidence sounds oxymoronic.  But the purpose of being able to defend yourself is not to fight, but to fight only when absolutely necessary.  The purpose of karate is not to deliver a crippling blow, but only enough force to stop the attack.  So, to run with confidence means that you are not running for fear for your safety, or worse, in abject fear, but in confidence that you know that you can handle yourself if the need arises.

The purpose of stand your ground is not to turn our streets into the wild, wild west.  If need be, one can leave a situation, but not out of fear that they will be prosecuted if they do not.  For there may be a reason for staying that's legitimate.  Forcing a person to flee isn't always the right thing to do.  Just as beating the hell out of somebody- just because you can - is the right thing to do.

Zimmerman didn't have to go where he did, but he had the right to be in a common area in his own neighborhood.  As for whether or not it was a good idea, well, I think it wasn't.  But I wasn't there and I didn't live in that neighborhood.  I didn't see what he saw.  It is too easy to say something critical if you weren't there.

None of this means that he did what he did out of racial animosity, but that is what he was accused of doing.

This kind of thing may happen a lot in our society, but every situation is different.  Every person is different.  That doesn't give you the right to make false accusations just because something similar may have happened in the past.  That seems to be the excuse.  But it is not a very good one.