The notion that you should always try to avoid fights or physical altercations rather, is a nice idea but it should only be applied to a very minimal level. Im going to be a sophomore next year, and ive been doing Taekwondo for over 4 years, Ki-Gong for about 6 months, Kickboxing and I just started taking MMA for some ground defense. I always try to live by those "Ways of Life" and it has always gotten me in deeper sh*t. For instance, there was a foot ball player who knew I did martial arts, and he would always tried to get me to fight him but because I tried to avoid physical confrontation, I would always decline. This somehow got him to think I was afraid. It came to the point where he bullied me for a week, over the internet, in class, and through the halls. He even got friends to help. And at this point I still declined. This went on until he felt so bad he just stopped. Another time, this same kid tried provoking me into a fight and the same thing happened except in class. I couldn't focus on anything the teacher was saying because I kept getting pelted with paper balls due to the fact I never fought him. (And yes, I did go to teachers, it still didnt fix anything)