Ethics

Because of the current status of the United States legal and civil court systems, you may defend yourself from an attack and still end up in jail or be sued, or both. This judicial danger is so prevalent, that it often outweighs the trauma of allowing yourself to be a victim.
Sometimes you must resist, even when you know you may die, just because it is the ethical thing to do, such as when your child is threatened with death. If you do not resist and live, and the child dies, you may hate yourself forever, and many times others may feel the same toward you.
Sometimes you may be killed even if you do not resist. With the example of your child being threatened with death, if you do not resist, the child dies, and you may still die. Then your family is left to deal with your dishonor.
If you do not act with honor in stressful situations, life afterwards may be worse than death for you and for your family. This may sound a bit morbid, but you must come to terms with your own mortality. Death is as much a part of living as birth. Sometimes, death is not the worst thing in life. A life of shame and dishonor may be worse than death.

The closed fist of Taekwondo represents the power and destructive force of Taekwondo. The open, flat hand of Taekwondo represents the restraints placed on the power of Taekwondo, such as ethics, oath, and tenets. All Taekwondo patterns start from a ready position. Some patterns start from a closed stance using an enclosed-fist hand position. The enclosed fist symbolizes the restrained force of Taekwondo. Taekwondo may be a destructive force when unleashed, and we train to increase our power and the ability to release this destructive force. This is symbolized by the closed fist. However, we also train to restrain this force and only use it for a just and honorable reason. This is symbolized by the open hand that encloses the fist. Ethics is the valve that controls the power of Taekwondo. It controls when it is released, how much is released, how long it is released, and when it is shut down.

As discussed above, violence may be good or it may be bad. As a Taekwondo student, you must use violence ethically and honorably.