(1 minute and 13 second read)

Knowing which battles to fight, is really knowing which battles to pick and which to walk away from.
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If your response to all things is to fight, this is bad thinking, bad practice. After all, life isn’t measured by how many times you stood up to fight.
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Sometimes the best defense you can use is to walk away. So choose your battles wisely.
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Martial artists must know better, your training and experience gives you the confidence to walk away from an argument before it escalates into a fight. Knowing that you have the ability to react calmly and with presence, without getting angry.
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Anger can cloud judgment, so the best martial artists, instructors and teachers should be calm, even when there is no option other than fighting. Anger interferes with selecting the right response, the right technique and its execution.
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You also need to find where you draw the line between letting something go and engaging in conflict. Somethings are just not worth your time and energy.
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With proficiency, experience and mastery, comes great responsibility, and martial artists are given the power to hurt others, physically and psychologically. This must be tempered by increased accountability. So don’t call yourself master if you cannot master your own emotions.
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The martial arts, as well as being combative, are well regarded for being great exercise, moving meditation, and a means for increasing self-esteem and confidence. But at their core are techniques for combat, the ability to hurt others.
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All skills require practice over time, and the longer you practice, the longer you teach, the importance of choosing your battles, choosing the right battles, cannot be understated. You must not forget that fact. So exercise self-control before attempting to exert control over others.