Karate is not about attacking its about staving off the attacker?

Ok so, I agree with what Frank the Tank said, however I think there are two ways to look at that statement, one is from a philosophical stand point, the other is from a technical stand point. If from a philosophical view, that is the ideal of all traditional martial arts, a negating of the aggression of the opponent. This is a high level of martial arts, I believe Sun Tzu said, the highest level of fighting, is to beat your opponent without fighting them. Now, if one was to look at this from a technical standpoint, when you reach a certain level in martial arts, the line between attack and defense is blurred, it becomes one motion, I think that is the goal of all good martial arts, to surpass the point of, this move blocks, that moves attacks, but rather this movement negates your attack and ends the fight.

空手に先手なし｡

For those who can't read that, it reads: Karate ni sente nashi, which, roughly/popularly translated, means "there is no first strike in Karate".

Sente is a term most well known in board games, like Go and Shogi, where "sente" denotes the opening move (and an alternate exhanging of movements after that). An "opening move" in martial arts would obviously be an attack. This phrase gives that quote meaning, plus a little extra, which could perfectly describe Uke.

Karate ni sente nashi! In karate there is no first attack.

Here is a link to a question where some very good people answer, and it becomes more clear.

http://ca-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=4l9t...

It's the principle of self-defense.

You use a self-defense system (such as karate), to neutralize a threat to your life.

Great movie by the way.