The best defense in a fight is not to get into it. This is good advice if you are one of the parties in the fight, but it is just as smart if you aren't in the conflicts in the first place. Now you might call that cowardly, but there is actually merit in surviving to outwit the aggressors later on.
But a good defense is basically making the conflict less extreme. Imagine how a conflict will transpire if you have the ultimate defense: knowing the enemy cannot harm you unless you let them. They would find out pretty soon that further attacks are only wasting energy!
