The Most Important Part of Karate

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

Anton Chekhov

There is a moment during our belt ceremony where we place our old belt next to our new one to form the shape of the letter “L.” L stands for learning. That's what we do in the karate school. We learn about the art, we learn about the body, we learn about ourselves. And one of the most important things we learn is that learning alone is not enough. We must train to improve. We must practice.

The difference between knowledge and skill is practice.

Holly Marie Simmers

In the kenpo system we have a complex curriculum of techniques, sets, and forms. You will also learn a large number of drills and exercises to aid in your training. But it is not enough to simply know the material. Memorized physical movements are insufficient to the development of real skill. You could read the written curriculum and commit every move and counter and principle to memory, but what we do is more than words on a page. It is more even than the movement of the body. The method only exists in the practice. Only when you are actually standing on the training floor working with the material are you truly a karate practitioner. And only by practicing your karate will you be able to transcend the mere regurgitation of memorized performances and gain the ability to truly and spontaneously express what you have learned.

Knowledge unused tends to drop out of mind. Knowledge used does not need to be remembered.

Henry Hazlitt

You can not become skilled by knowing the movements. You can not win a fight by understanding how techniques are supposed to work. It is true that one must understand the principles in order to be effective. But principle alone is not enough. When Takuan wrote to Munenori he said, “Technique and principle are just like the two wheels of a cart.” And you only develop technique through constant and rigorous practice.

Practice isn't the thing you do when you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.

Malcolm Gladwell

And in the case of karate, we are training to face an opponent. Specifically with regards to the karate we practice here, we are training for a life or death situation. Yes, we are practicing the development of the self and the internal journey towards enlightenment and constant improvement. Yes, the ultimate goal is never to have to use kenpo to fight. Yes, the enemies we will face most often are the ones within. But the Way we follow is that of true combat. It is not the Way of the athlete or the Way of the dancer. It is the Way of the warrior. Our style is one that seeks and teaches truth in combat against another human being. And should we ever be forced to face another, skill against skill alone, it will only be our dedication to practice which gives us any chance to survive such an encounter.

When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win.

Ed Macauley

Karate is not easy. It is not a thing to be done by half measures. It is a Way without an end, a lifelong journey towards ability and understanding and no matter how long or how diligently you train, you will never, ever, finish learning. You may stop some day, but it will not be because you are done. And every day between now and then, while you continue practicing, you will continue improving. There is no technique that you can do enough times that you would not get better by doing it once more. There is no form or throw or combination that you will ever master to the point that you have nothing more to gain from one more repetition. Each time you step on the training floor with purpose you grow. Each time you step off the training floor you have become more than you were. That is the path you are on. Every step is a step up. No matter how good you are, or how bad you are, or how long it has been since your last class, every time you practice, you progress.

If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat.

Herschel Walker

Karate is hard. It is a constant challenge. Every student who has ever begun his training in the martial arts, every champion, every Master, began as a white belt. And every time he learned a new technique, no matter how long he had trained, he began again as a beginner. There is no skill you will ever learn that you don't have to do for the first time first. But that is also the promise of karate. That it works. That training makes you better. That it really is worth it. Every class. Every repetition. Every tired muscle. Every bruise. Every bead of sweat. Every drop of blood. It is all towards something. You can't always see it. But you're always getting better. Every time you throw a punch. Every time you block a kick. Every time you show up and dress out. The only difference between you and your instructors is the amount of classes they've attended. There is no place in karate that you can not go. If you strive. If you work hard. If you practice, day and night, with utmost seriousness.

I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true, hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice.

Ray Bradbury

There are no shortcuts in karate. There is no secret other than this. Practice, and you will improve. Understand that there is nothing we do more important than actually doing karate. Every question you'll ever have can be answered on the training room floor. Every academic debate or stylistic difference or training paradigm is settled without question by what happens on the mats. Everything else is distraction. There is only the practice. That is all karate is. It is not what you think or believe or want it to be. It is only what you do.

If someone asked me what a human being ought to devote the maximum of his time to, I would answer, "Training." Train more than you sleep.

Masutatsu Oyama

Drills-

Beginner: Practice each of your basic techniques 10 times on each side in the air, on the pads or shield, and on the body. Remember the F.A.S.P. training model. Form. Accuracy. Speed. Power. The more you do something correctly, the faster and more powerfully you will be able to do it. Speed and Power come from Form and Accuracy, there can be no other way.

Intermediate: Practice each of your techniques 10 times each in the air and on the body. Practice slowly, making every strike, every stance, every movement precise. Then practice it as fast as you can do it correctly. If you make a mistake, slow down, and begin again. There is no hurry. You will never be done, no matter how fast you go, and trying to rush now will only result in sloppy performance. Haste makes waste.

Advanced: Practice each of your patterns 10 times each in the air with your eyes open and your eyes closed. Pay attention to how every movement affects every other part of your body. The more exhausted and sore you become, the more your body will speak to you. You will learn how moving your arm affects muscles in your shoulders, back, buttocks, hips, legs, and feet. You will learn how even the smallest changes in orientation cause changes in balance and force you to adjust your stance and position. The body is the instrument. Listen to it. Let it be your teacher. Do not argue with the lessons your body is trying to convey.

The Martial Arts and Moral Education

Yang Jwing-Ming is a certified Kung Fu Master. In addition to earning a Ph.D., Yang Jwing-Ming has training in several Chinese systems of both internal and external martial arts.

Dr. Yang began training martial arts at the age of 15 under his White Crane master, Grandmaster Gseng, Gin-Gsao. Dr. Yang also studied Tai Chi under Grandmaster Kao, Tao. During his time at Tamkang College, Dr. Yang began to also train Long Fist under Grandmaster Li, Mao-Ching.

Dr. Yang has been involved in Chinese Kung Fu since 1961. He has taught for more than 40 years: 7 years in Taiwan, 5 years at Purdue University, 2 years in Houston, and 26 years in Boston. He has taught seminars all around the world, sharing his knowledge of Chinese martial arts and Qigong.

His 1982 Book, Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu is an excellent introduction to the forms, techniques, and training methods of that traditional Chinese style of fighting. Its step by step instructions, numerous photographs, and in depth descriptions of movements and applications gives the reader a thorough education in the beginner and intermediate aspects of the art. But to many martial artists, the most valuable part of the book may be contained in the opening pages, where Dr. Yang describes the most important requirement for achieving true martial ability.



Page 9
MORALITY


"In Chinese society it is common for parents to send their children to receive formal training in martial arts. For the Western parent this may seem unusual because they think of martial arts as somehow encouraging violence. But for the Chinese parent the exact opposite is true martial arts is a way to train the child in good habits of mind and body. The Chinese community in general, and Chinese martial society in particular, have always believed morality to be an integral part of Wu Su [martial technique].

To understand the proper relation of morality to Kung Fu, two important points must be introduced. The first, and the most important fact in Kung Fu is that the level of achievement of any martial artist is directly dependent on his morality. If the martial artist is a bad person, then his ability can only reach certain limited levels, if the martial artist is a good person, then there is no real limit to what he can achieve.

This idea is admittedly strange to many Westerners. In the West an athlete such as a football or baseball player may be a heavy drinker, take drugs, engage in malicious actions and act immaturely, and yet it is believed that such overall behavior will in no way reflect on the athlete's actual or potential abilities. The Chinese martial artists obviously does not subscribe to the philosophy.

The second point relates to the defining of morality. some people hold the notion that morality is merely restricted to restraining themselves from stealing, lying, cheating, and other negative acts. For the Chinese martial artist such simple restraints are not enough. Morality for the Kung Fu practitioner is a total way of acting and thinking; morality, as a condition of life, is lived every second in thought and deed. If the martial artist is working, talking, playing, eating, or doing a thousand other activities, his way of being or morality is constantly a part of his character. In the actual training and mechanics of morality two categories are taught to every student; the morality of action and the morality of mind. These categories reflect the dual development of deed and thought.

The morality of action may be defined as how the martial artists should behave outwardly to the world. Five important traits compose the morality of action; they are humility, respect, righteousness, trust, and loyalty. The student should commit these ideals to memory. At this point let us being with humility.

In China there is a saying, "humility gains and pride loses." When a person is humble he admits, in a sense, that there exists something above him, or at the moment something beyond his reach. This attitude when closely examined is the foundation for all learning. If a student felt adequate and satisfied (pride) with what he had learned, then the ability to reach out beyond his scope would be destroyed. By being humble, the martial artist realizes that what he knows is next to nothing; there is always a gap to fill in by constant learning and practice. In this way "humility gains" by instilling in the martial artist the understanding that he is incomplete in his ability and thus must keep striving for perfection. The final outcome is a better martial artist in mind and ability.

From the above it is easy to see why "pride loses." Pride creates a feeling of satisfaction and adequacy. A mental block is created by giving the martial artists a false sense of achievement. The result is that growth and ability come to a halt. If the martial artist thinks he is good, then why should he practice as hard? If he isn't humble, there is no way to improve and reach high levels of ability; morality goes hand-in-hand with achievement.

Respect is intimately related to humility. If a person has humility it is easy to give respect because both traits involve the recognition of goodness in everything. Respect occupies a special position in the relationship between martial artists of all styles. By giving respect, dignity is gained for all martial styles. Respect and dignity give martial arts an importance beyond words; every person from the instructor to the beginning student realizes through respect that martial arts is not mere fighting, but something that strives for pure spirit. In this way respect for and obedience to the master become absolutely imperative, since it is the master who will be the guide to the higher levels of ability and spirituality.

Loyalty, righteousness, and trust complete the traits of morality of action. When the martial artists has righteousness he will stand up for justice and fight evil whenever he can; to fully complement the actions the martial artists must also have a good approach to life. Having trust means not that the martial artists will trust everybody, but that everybody can trust the martial artist. By showing his dependability and honesty, the student shows other people that his character will be guided by goodness.

Loyalty involves faithfulness to the ideals of family, culture, nation, and martial style. In particular, a student may someday be called upon to teach his particular style, which he must honor by teaching what he has learned to be the traditional aspects of his style. Without this loyalty, a style will undergo as many changes as there are instructors; in time the established forms which have been proven effective and which have identified the style though the ages will disappear. The death of the style will surely come about if this happens. There is always room for innovation, but innovation must occur within the context of an established tradition.

The second aspect of morality, the morality of mind, also has five major traits. They are: will, endurance, perseverance, patience, and bravery. Morality of mind, as contrasted to the morality of action, deals with the inward spirit or soul of the martial artist. Will, of all the traits, is the center point.

In China there is a saying, "If a man is a ship, the the will is the rudder." The martial artist must have something which stands determined to control and direct his energies. It is easy to say that everybody should have a strong will, but for the martial artist it is particularly important. For nearly all of his life, the true martial artist will devote at least three hours of every day for practice; only a strong will can push the martial artist to make this tremendous sacrifice. The will grows in importance once the student realizes that the study of martial arts is a lifetime commitment. Martial arts should not be a hobby which a person drops after a few months or years of practice. Devotion to a lifetime of martial arts requires a guiding force during the times of personal trouble, sadness, laziness, and self-doubt; only the will can provide such a force.

The other traits can be thought of as supporting the will. Endurance can be likened to the physical fuel or energy source of the will. If the body engages in difficult exercises or if the person is tired and sore, then it is endurance which keeps the body whole. If endurance is the physical fuel of will then perseverance and patience are the mental sources of energy for the will. In performing difficult tasks the mental as well as the physical side is affected; when the mind is in pain or is exhausted then perseverance and patience must be present. Sometimes weeks, months, and years of practice are required to perfect certain techniques; during these times the martial artists must never get discouraged. By having perseverance and patience the student will endure.

Lastly, bravery can be seen as the principle of action for the will. Bravery for the martial artist is the spiritual courage needed to face the truth. In facing the truth the martial artist must stand up to any situation and deal with it in an honest and courageous way. The martial artist will always meet the challenges of life head on whether in failure or in success. Secondly, bravery involves the courage to fight evil as the Shao Lin monks once fought evil. The martial artist must follow the example of the Shao Lin Temple and become an active agent for the establishment of justice and righteousness; if the principles of the Shao Lin monk can be followed, then the martial artist can make this world a much better place.

Many more points can be made about martial morality, but as the student makes each trait a part of his character he will find that some things become obvious. As an example, once humility becomes a living ideal the thought of showing off or being boisterous disappears. The martial artist will realize that showing off and boasting are the disguises of pride and limited martial ability."


Simply being able to hurt someone does not make you a martial artist. That is mere thuggery, and can be accomplished by anyone who is willing to aggress upon someone smaller and weaker than himself. A martial artist is built upon three pillars. Knowledge. Technical ability. And Morality. He is more than a brute. He is a thinking individual, possessed with great power, and devoted to right action. You can buy a black belt for next to nothing. But you will not understand the true depth of the Way until you turn within and work on your self. Martial arts is a path of self discipline, both the discipline to focus on your training, and the discipline to improve upon your own character.

All the punches and kicks in the world will never be equal to the strength of simply doing the right thing when called upon. In order to reach the highest levels of ability, you must work both inwardly and outwardly. In so doing, you will gain the strength to truly impact the world around you with more than just your fists.

Drills-
Beginner: Pay attention to your actions throughout the day. When you react to a situation with anger or hatred or frustration, stop and think about what you've done and why. Make a conscious effort to be patient and understanding throughout your day, and to act rather than react. Pay attention to the teachings of your instructors, and dedicate your training to those who have walked the path before you.

Intermediate: Be humble and patient. When someone criticizes your work or performance, rather than leaping to defend your actions, pause and consider what they've said. Even if they are wrong, you may have something to learn from their perspective. Be slow to anger and take offense, and quick to forgive and forget personal affront.

Advanced: Develop your self discipline. Spend time each morning and night practicing your techniques. Practice your foot maneuvers, your stances, your kicks and punches again and again, focusing on polishing and perfecting your material. Do not be content with good enough. Keep training. Keep improving. Temper your skill in the fire of your will.

Fighting, and the Fighting Arts

Michael J. Rosenbaum was born on May 12, 1961 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He started his martial arts training at the age of five when his father instructed him in both Judo and Boxing. At the age of fifteen, he began studying Isshin Ryu Karate and by the time of his seventeenth birthday he had been introduced to the Burmese fighting art of Bando. At the age of eighteen Michael enlisted in the U.S. Army.

He went through infantry school, airborne school, jungle warfare school, and was a member of the elite 82nd Airborne division, where he put his extensive knowledge to good use, having been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, several citations for a job well done and the Distinguished Trooper Award by the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division himself.

Seeking to advance his knowledge of the Burmese fighting arts, Rosenbaum, in 1990, began studying with Allan Thompson and Edward Francisco, both of whom were students of the late Bando pioneer Bob Hill. Thompson was also the founder of the Tiger Hand/Tiger fist fighting system.

Two years later, with much encouragement from Francisco and Thompson, Rosenbaum went on to found the Snow Leopard Boxing/Tiger Fist system. Michael has conducted numerous self-defense and rape prevention courses as well as having been a body guard, bouncer and instructor of law enforcement personnel. He has written several books on the martial arts, including Kata and the Transmission of Knowledge: In Traditional Martial Arts and The Fighting Arts.

In The Fighting Arts, Mr. Rosenbaum discusses the evolution of the study of violence from non-specific combat practices to highly stylized and ritualized forms of training. In his own words the introduction to the book "examines the seeds from which our fighting arts were grown and points out that they are not an entity apart from us, but instead are of us."


Introduction
Page xix

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can known good as good only because there is evil.

- Tao Te Ching 

"At some point in man's evolution, his primal rage compelled him to climb down out of the trees, pick up stones, and take a stand against the animals that had been hunting him for so long. From this rage the art of fighting was born. This inner rage of our ancestors would become the foundation from which many classical and contemporary martial arts styles and systems were built upon. Sir Richard Burton once stated, "The history of the sword is the history of humanity." To expand on Burton's statement, we can say that to study the art of fighting is to study a strand of humanity itself because our survival as a species has at times depended upon our fighting prowess. For some this ideal may seem almost alien in nature while others may view it as repulsive. But, as Will Durant said about our suppressed primal rage in the modern world, "Every vice was once a virtue, necessary in the struggle for existence; it became a vice only when it survived the conditions that made it indispensable." In today's society, fighting is considered a vice by many, and its impact on the history of mankind is to a large degree downplayed by our present culture, which views fighting for the most part as politically incorrect. This view holds true even in the martial arts world where many practitioners consider the act of fighting secondary to their studies, overlooking the fact that all systems have a pugilistic past fueled by our own primal rage. It is an omission that can often hinder the practitioner's development.

In order to practice a fighting art we each have to face our primal rage or at the least acknowledge its presence. Ehrenreich observed, "If violence was, almost from the beginning, the means of human survival, then, according to some advocates of the hunting hypothesis, it must be bred into our genes-an evolutionary version of 'original sin'." (p. 37). Ehrenreich's statement points out that we each have our breaking point, a time when this rage or "original sin" will consume us and harm those whom we focus it on. In order to understand this inner force, its presence cannot be ignored. As ironic as it may seem, the fighting arts that were born out of our primal rage can also aid us in controlling it. It is at this level, fighting is viewed as a last resort.

When a practitioner evolves to this level of studying a fighting art, they begin focusing their energies inward away from the external and more toward the internal realm of things. By doing this they can come to understand those emotions that contribute to our rage and enhance its fury. Shi Ming whose extraordinary powers were featured in the Bill Moyer's 1993 Public Television Special Healing and the Mind stated once, "The aim of pugilism in the martial arts is seeking the Tao" (Shi Ming p. 99). His statement brings to light that at advanced levels of study the art of fighting can become a means to fortify the human spirit by strengthening weaknesses through training.

To study the art of fighting is to examine not only our primal rage, but also our best and yet worst traits, such as fear, courage, hate, respect, and even compassion. History has given us many examples of warriors displaying uncommon valor in the face of certain death. For examples, consider the many duels of Miyamoto Musashi or Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. The history of the art of fighting has shown how, in one instance, a warrior will strike down their foe yet in the next instance will show respect and compassion to a fallen opponent. Both Keegan and Amberger speak of this phenomenon. Keegan states in his scholarly work, The Face of Battle, that "the study of battle is therefore always a study of fear and courage." (See p. 303). Amberger in his book, The Secret History of the Sword also gives an example of our best yet worst traits by describing in detail the 1896 duel between Leonardo F. Terrone and Guido Flauto. The duel was fought because of an insult to Terrone's honor, and it ended when Flauto received a severe cut to his face. After the duel, Flauto and Terrone shook hands out of mutual respect for one another. Later during the 1900 International Fencing Tournament, Flauto expressed to all present his immense respect of Terrone for having fought the duel (Amberger pp. 159-160). These best, yet worst, traits of mankind are still exhibited today in our own study of the art of fighting. One example is those practitioners who perform a bow or execute a salutation at the beginning of a kata or sparring session. This is a ritualized way of showing respect to an opponent. In many cases, the ritual is considered just as important, if not more so, than the techniques used within the form or kata.

The art of fighting begins in each and every one of us as a shapeless, formless entity, until we give it form by expressing it in an action, such as a punch or kick.

It evolves into a system when these physical manifestations, become organized by an individual, or a group of people into a standardized method of training. The reader should bear in mind that there is a difference between the barroom brawler's approach to fighting (as effective as it may be) and that of the trained fighter. The trained fighter's style or system allows him to execute conditioned responses and standardized techniques in a consistent manner. By comparison, the barroom fighter's approach has no such standardization in execution of techniques.

To truly understand the art of fighting and how it becomes systematized by people and their cultures, let's illustrate with a big bucket of water. The content of this bucket represents the source from which all styles and systems come. Now let us pour the source into smaller buckets. These buckets represent different cultures and their interpretations of the art of fighting. Now let us take one of these smaller buckets and pour its contents into several glasses. These glasses represent the different systems that make up a culture's fighting art. For example, Japan has several major systems that make up the culture's fighting arts, such as karate-do, judo, aikido, kendo, etc. Now let us pick up one of the glasses and pour the contents into small cups. These cups will represent the different styles that make up a system such as shoto-kan, shito-ryu, isshin-ryu, and many others. We will take one of the cups and pour the content into shot glasses. These shot glasses will represent the individual techniques that are found within the style. It is at this level that the art of fighting both begins and ends. It begins with a single punch, kick, or throw, and becomes a system because of mankind's tendency to organize these techniques into systems and styles. However, for a system or style to exist, it has to have these basic techniques-which have been used by mankind for many years to physically express the art of fighting. This is an evolutionary cycle that makes the art of fighting literally a living breathing entity, one that is constantly changing and evolving as a result of mankind's analytical and creative skills. Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming stated that, "the arts are alive and are creative." (The Essence of Shaolin White Crane p. 24). And they are! Today's contemporary systems and styles have evolved from those past but, more than likely, their appearance and execution are in many ways different that those of their ancestors. 

From a purely combative standpoint, to study the art of fighting is to also understand an evolutionary process that concerns not only the practitioner, but also the art of fighting. Mankind is always seeking better techniques, weapons, and tactics to defend his self. This quest for advancement forces the art of fighting to constantly evolve and devolve. It is not a linear progression as many of today's practitioners would like for us to believe (Amberger p. 2). When technology is present, it is used to develop more effective weapons, but when technology is not present, then mankind develops his natural abilities to a high degree (Draeger and Smith p. 58). The Japanese samurai are an example of the evolutionary portion of this cycle. Their traditional martial arts, the bujutsu (not to be confused with martial ways, budo), had developed to very high levels through centuries of warfare. However, within sixteen years after Commodore Perry's visit to their country and the Japanese's first-hand observation of the Western ways of war, the samurai sword was replaced by the rifle and the spear by the cannon as the soldier's primary weapons (Harries pp. 3-22). This evolution caused many of the traditional bujutsu forms to take on secondary roles in warfare, even though the samurai sword was still worn by officers for years to come. This was the devolution cycle of classical Japanese systems however their evolutionary cycle can be seen again with modern day law enforcement agencies (Draeger, Modern Budo Bujutsu pp. 68-76). Although many law enforcement officers carry firearms, they cannot always use them to arrest suspects because of their lethal nature; so they are trained in empty-handed methods of fighting. Techniques that in some cases were developed by the samurai hundred of years ago and are now frequently used by the police while arresting suspects.

In America, our own study of the art of fighting has been greatly influenced by the meeting of Asian and European systems. It is a meeting that, at times, makes us seem almost at a loss in trying to understand these two cultures' approaches to fighting and how they fit within our culture. In situations such as ours, people can embrace very ethnocentric views about the martial arts/art of fighting and by doing so become very engrossed in the concept of styles and systems.

The systemization of the art of fighting is important because it allows us to segment and practice various concepts and techniques; yet it is a process very much influenced by people's personalities. Since no two people are alike, no two systems will be exactly alike. It is the fighter who makes the fight and not the system. Miyamoto Musashi is a prime example of this. Musashi was a great swordsman, influenced by the culture and times in which he lived. However, his skill was achieved, not because of the sword or a particular style or system, but because he understood the art of fighting. As Musashi expressed it, "Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void." (The Book of Five Rings p. 95). The art of fighting has to be understood from the wide sense that Musashi speaks of. It has to be seen with form or the Way and yet seen with formlessness, the Void. The art of fighting begins within us as the Void, and it becomes the Way when we give it form."

The use of violence is always influenced by culture, technology, and environment. But at a deeper level it comes from something within each of us. It comes from our natural animal desire to survive. It comes from that part of us that still remembers being chased through tall grass and between trees by animals red in tooth and claw. It comes from the same drive that led the first man to pick up a rock or a stick and turn it against his predators. The use of violence is natural and formless. But the study of violence and the codification of its applications comes from another place. Where violence comes from our animal natures, the systems and styles that we use to give it form come from the thinking man. They come from the same place as poetry, philosophy, and science. Where lashing out at a predator is instinct, punches and kicks are learned behavior.

The martial artist must learn to harness the animal within, and give it form through his capacity for creative thought and analysis. These are the two aspects of mankind, the animal and the thinker, and it is through embracing both that he becomes a truly formidable warrior.

Drills -

Beginner: Look within yourself. Take time during a calm, quiet part of your day to analyze your behaviors. Be honest. What makes you angry? How do you react to anger? How do you feel when you are angry? What do you do to calm yourself? When you are angry, stop and say to yourself, "I am angry. I am reacting with emotion." Seek to understand your own motivations and patterns and actively practice state management, or the practice of "moving from an emotional state to a rational state."

Intermediate: Study the patterns. Perform the techniques. With each repetition of each basic carefully practice proper form. Seek to understand the relationships between each of the movements, and the interaction between attacker and defender. Recognize the role that stance, angles, and position play in each movement and pursue constant improvement and perfection of execution.

Advanced: When fighting, bring the beast to the surface. Reach within yourself and awaken the animal part of your nature. Fight with emotion. Project your inner strength against your opponent through your eyes and your voice. Burn with passion and let it fuel your actions, but even in the midst of the fire never forget proper technique. It is the combination of both which gives you strength. Be strong.

Zazen, Satori, and the True Karate

Zen Master Suzuki Shunryū arrived in San Francisco in 1959, bringing with him his own approach to Zen Buddhism. As a Rōshi (literally "elder master") Suzuki Shunryū focused more on the practice of Zen then on the achievement of satori (enlightenment). It was his belief that the practitioner found his true self through the practice, through zazen, and not as a side effect of that practice. In the book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a collection of his teachings compiled and edited by his disciples, he describes this process.


To Polish a Tile
Page 90

When you become you, Zen becomes Zen

When you are you, you see things as they are,

and you become one with your surroundings.

"Zen stories, or koans, are very difficult to understand before you know what we are doing moment after moment.  But if you know exactly what we are doing in each moment, you will not find koans so difficult. There are so many koans. I have often talked to you about a frog, and each time everybody laughs. But a frog is very interesting. He sits like us, too, you know. But he does not think that he is doing anything so special. When you go to a zendo [meditation hall] and sit, you may think you are doing some special thing. While your husband or wife is sleeping, you are practicing zazen! You are doing some special thing, and your spouse is lazy! That may be your understanding of zazen. But look at the frog. A frog also sits like us, but has no idea of zazen. Watch him. If something annoys him, he will make a face. If something comes along to eat, he will snap it up and eat, and he eats sitting. Actually that is our zazen- not any special thing.

Here is a kind of frog koan for you. Baso was a famous Zen master called the Horse-master. He was the disciple of Nangaku, one of the Sixth Patriarch's disciples. One day while he was studying under Nangaku, Baso was sitting, practicing zazen. He was a man of large physical build; when he talked, his tongue reached to his nose, his voice was loud; and his zazen must have been very good. Nangaku saw him sitting like a great mountain or like a frog. Nangaku asked, "What are you doing?" "I am practicing zazen," Baso replied. "Why are you practicing zazen?" "I want to attain enlightenment; I want to be a Buddha," the disciple said. Do you know what the teacher did? He picked up a tile, and he started to polish it. In Japan, after taking a tile from the kiln, we polish it to give it a beautiful finish. So Nangaku picked up a tile and started to polish it. Baso, his disciple, asked, "What are you doing?" "I want to make this tile into a jewel," Nanagaku said. "How is it possible to make a tile a jewel?" Baso asked. "How is it possible to become a Buddha by practicing zazen?" Nangaku replied. "Do you want to attain Buddhahood? There is no Buddhahood besides our ordinary mind. When a cart does not go, which do you whip, the cart or the horse?" the master asked.

Nangaku's meaning here is that whatever you do, that is zazen. True zazen is beyond being in bed or sitting in the zendo. If your husband or wife is in bed, that is zazen. If you think, "I am sitting here, and my spouse is in bed," then even though you are sitting here in the cross-legged position, that is not true zazen. You should be like a frog always. That is true zazen.

Dogen-zenji commented on this koan. He said, "When the Horse-master becomes the Horse-master, Zen becomes Zen." When Baso becomes Baso, his zazen becomes true zazen, and Zen becomes Zen. What is true zazen? When you become you! When you are you, then no matter what you do, that is zazen. Even though you are sitting in the zendo, I wonder whether you are you in the true sense.

Here is another famous koan. Zuikan was a Zen master who always used to address himself, "Zuikan?" he would call. And then he would answer, "Yes!" "Zuikan?" "Yes!" Of course he was living all alone in his small zendo, and of course he knew who he was, but sometimes he lost himself. And whenever he lost himself, he would address himself, "Zuikan?" "Yes!"

If we are like a frog, we are always ourselves. But even a frog sometimes loses himself, and he makes a sour face. And if something comes along, he will snap at it and eat it. So I think a frog is always addressing himself. I think you should do that also. Even in zazen you will lose yourself. When you become sleepy, or when your mind starts to wander about, you lose yourself. When your legs become painful- "Why are my legs so painful?" -you lose yourself. Because you lose yourself, your problem will be a problem for you. If you do not lose yourself, then even though you have difficulty, there is actually no problem whatsoever. You just sit in the midst of the problem; when you are a part of the problem, or when the problem is a part of you, there is no problem, because you are the problem itself. The problem is you yourself. If this is so, there is no problem.

When your life is always a part of your surrounding-in other words, when you are called back to yourself, in the present moment-then there is no problem. When you start to wander about in some delusion which is something apart from you yourself, then your surroundings are not real anymore, and your mind is not real anymore. If you yourself are deluded, then your surroundings area also a misty, foggy delusion. Once you are in the midst of delusion, there is no end to delusion. You will be involved in deluded ideas one after another. Most people live in delusion, involved in their problem, trying to solve their problem. But just to live is actually to live in problems. And to solve the problem is to be a part of it, to be one with it.

So which do you hit, the cart or the horse? Which do you hit, yourself or your problems? If you start questioning which you should hit, that means you have already started to wander about. But when you actually hit the horse, the cart will go. In truth, the cart and the horse are not different. When you are you, there is no problem of whether you should hit the cart or the horse. When you are you, zazen becomes true zazen. So when you practice zazen, your problem will practice zazen, and everything else will practice zazen too. Even though your spouse is in bed, he or she is also practicing zazen-when you practice zazen! But when you do not practice true zazen, then there is your spouse, and there is yourself, each quite different, quite separate from the other. So if you yourself have true practice, then everything else is practicing our way at the same time.

That is why we should always address ourselves, checking up on ourselves like a doctor tapping himself. This is very important. This kind of practice should be continued moment after moment, incessantly. We say, "When the night is here, the dawn comes." It means there is no gap between the dawn and the night. Before the summer is over, autumn comes. In this way we should understand our life. We should practice with this understanding, and solve our problems in this way. Actually, just to work on the problem, if you do it with single-minded effort, is enough. You should just polish the tile; that is our practice. The purpose of practice is not to make a tile a jewel. Just continue sitting; that is practice in its true sense. It is not a matter of whether or not it is possible to attain Buddhahood, whether or not is possible to make a tile a jewel. Just to work and live in this world with this understanding is the most important point. That is our practice that is true zazen. So we say, "When you eat, eat!" You should eat what is there, you know. Sometimes you do not eat it. Even though you are eating, your mind is somewhere else. You do not taste what you have in your mouth. As long as you can eat when you are eating, you are all right. Do not worry a bit. It means you are you yourself.

When you are you, you see things ass they are, and you become one with your surroundings. There is your true self. There you have true practice; you have the practice of a frog. He is a good example of our practice-when a frog becomes a frog, Zen becomes Zen. When you understand a frog through and through, you attain enlightenment; you are Buddha. And you are good for others, too: husband or wife or son or daughter. This is zazen!"

The practitioner of the martial Way should not concern himself with the external trappings of rank or praise or acclimation. He should not be distracted with goals such as performance or Mastery. Just continue sitting. Just continue training. Just continue working. The practice is not separate from the practitioner. You are not working on your Form or your Technique. You are working on YOU. Do not be concerned with whether or not the tile will become a jewel. Simply keep polishing. When you make the practice indistinguishable from yourself, when the art is not separate from the artist, then zazen becomes true zazen and satori is not a goal but a state of being.

Every part of your training, basics, techniques, sets, forms, static training, live training, sparring, bag work, every part is part of the whole. It is the practice. And the practice is the goal. There are no endings on the Way. The journey is the destination. When you understand the frog, karate is not a thing you do. It is a thing you are.

Drills - 

Beginner: Practice your stances. Practice each stance, as a static position, with proper height, width, depth, and weight distribution. The stances are not separate from your ability to move or strike, they are the foundation of your ability to move and strike. Learn each stance as it's own unique entity, and practice them until they become a part of you.

Intermediate: Practice your strikes. Punches, handswords, hammerfists, front kicks, stomps, knee strikes, and headbutts. Practice the unique aspects and methods of execution specific to each individual strike. Practice striking from every position, standing, kneeling, and prone, against every possible configuration of opponents. Learn how each strike is affected by stance, and how every move leads naturally into the next.

Advanced: Practice your karate. Every stance, every movement, every combination, every pattern. Practice in the air, practice on the body. Hit the pads, hit the shields, hit the bag. Practice the movements you have known for decades and the movements that are new to you. Practice with utmost seriousness. Remember the words of the Master. "Any man who wants to master the essence of my strategy must research diligently, training morning and evening. Thus can he polish his skill, become free from self, and realise extrordinary ability. He will come to possess miraculous power." Practice every day, all of your life, and your karate will become the true karate.

Why Study Karate?

"Do your best as long as you can. You won't be disappointed." 

- Master Ron Chapél

Why does anyone study karate anymore? In this modern age, with modern challenges and modern weapons, what value can there be in training in an ancient form of unarmed combat? What value is there, in a world of guns, in training in the techniques of the warriors of a world of swords and axes? Why would a modern man or woman spend their time practicing and perfecting a skillset that some think was rendered obsolete hundreds of years ago?

The answer is not simple, and it is not singular. For some, karate is a tool for self protection, like a can of mace or a home security system. You learn enough to defend yourself in a violent encounter with a predator, and then you are done with it. Like learning how to change a tire on a car or program a video cassette recorder, karate is nothing more than a basic skill that they acquire. They aren't going to become mechanics or engineers, but they know how to kick someone in the groin, and run and scream for help. And that is why they learned some karate.

For others, it is a sport. Karate players compete for victory or awards and compare their performances of different kata and engage in block and strike point fighting and the purpose is to “win.” Winning is important, not because it reflects the possible outcome in a real combat environment, but simply for its own sake. Because winning is the “goal.” They learn karate, and practice karate, so that they can continue to compete at a high level with other people who learn karate and practice karate for the same reason.

There is a third group of people for whom karate is a social experience. It is like belonging to a club and they can hang out with a group of people who all share a similar hobby, and they can discuss their separate opinions on the focal subject. They show up to class early and they hang out afterwords and during training time they talk about their lives and the things that are on their minds. They train so that they can train with others, and they advance with their friends who do karate because they do it all together.

Some people view karate as a spiritual practice. They ritualize the physical training, and focus on the mental discipline and meditative practices of their arts. In some less common cases they may even include elements of ancestor worship and “enshrine” former Masters for either tributary or religious purposes. The pursuit of technical perfection is not for the purpose of application, but because the pursuit itself is a form of spiritual cleansing and improvement. Karate is a path to enlightenment, and the practice is a vehicle for transcendence.

For some, karate is a hobby. Like collecting butterflies or building model airplanes, karate is for the hobbyist a strange mix of escapism and obsession. As an avocation karate is a leisure activity for these students. They enjoy the physicality of the practice, the aesthetic trappings of the art, and the traditions and culture of the karate school. They come to class and train outside the school because it is something fun to do in their free time.

Then there are others who do karate for fitness. Maybe they don't find running stimulating or they don't have the equipment for weight lifting. Maybe they find that after they left school, it was more and more difficult to find time in their day to engage in pure physical activity. For whatever reason, instead of joining an athletic club or a gym they chose to join a karate school. They practice to get their sweat up, they train to build and tone muscle, and they supplement their karate liberally with calisthenics and aerobic exercise. They train to stay healthy and get stronger, and they keep training to maintain their fitness level.

Some do karate for the discipline. Often, when they bring their children to karate schools, one of the most important things parents are looking for is for their child to “learn discipline.” Committing to the rigorous and repetitive training necessary to succeed in karate requires the practitioner to focus his mind and return again and again to the hard work of actually doing it, despite the challenge and because of the task. They practice because the act of training the body is a method by which they learn to strengthen their will.

Finally, there are those who turn the practice of training in karate into a Way. For them, it is more than any one thing, there is more than one motivation and more than any one goal. Karate isn't just hobby, or mental practice, or athletic activity, or physical performance. Karate is a path, leading throughout one's life. It guides and informs the practitioner, not only in the ways of violence, but more importantly in a method to achieve success in all things. The “secret” to karate is that hard work and dedication are rewarded with accomplishment. The lessons of karate; establish a solid base, stay fluid and be ready to adapt, avoid conflict and be judicious in your use of strength, all apply to more than just fighting. The mental and physical discipline leads to a long and healthy life. The focus on constant and unending improvement drives the practitioner to do more, to be better, in every facet of his life. Karate is not just “a thing to do when you aren't doing anything else.” Karate becomes the thing you are always doing. The thing that everything else is influenced by. Karate becomes everything, at all times, because the practitioner realizes the great lesson of the practice.

You will never understand all of karate. It will take all of your life to learn it, and even if you could live ten thousand years you could not know every part of it. We do not train in karate to Master it. We train in karate to master ourselves. Because ultimately, all of us will only ever train for a short time in a small way. If you train your whole life your motivations will probably change and evolve over time, but whether you train for fitness, or as a hobby, or because you revere the old Masters your training will always improve you. It will always make you stronger, and healthier, and more capable. In the end, we train in karate because it makes us better. 

Every step down the Way of the martial arts is a step forward. And because the Way has no end, there is no limit to how far you can go.

Drills -

Beginner: Practice your karate with an aim towards improving your physical performance. Get faster. Improve your flexibility. Develop your core strength. The more you improve your health and fitness, the more karate you will be able to do. As each of us age, our bodies will begin to corrupt and fail. Work on developing your physical abilities now, and you will live longer and more fully.

Intermediate: Develop your mental discipline. Practice your patterns again and again. Focus on perfecting the movements. Train through the exhaustion and pain. Train until you want to give up, and then force yourself to confront the frustration and the fear and then overcome it. Discipline your body and you will discipline your mind.

Advanced: Apply the lessons of karate to your life outside of the studio. When you are confronted with adversity, practice perseverance. When you are confronted with aggression, step off the line of attack. When you are weak, appear strong. You are not only learning about kicking and punching. If you choose, you are learning about life.

The First Six Stratagems

To win one hundred battles is not the highest good. The highest good is to have the enemy soldiers submit without fighting.

-Sun Tzu 

The Thirty Six Stratagems was originally a collection of military and political wisdom collected by early Chinese scholars and warriors. At their heart, the stratagems teach three principles fundamental to ancient Chinese military thought.

1. Know all you can before battle.
2. Use the mind before resorting to violence.
3. Win without fighting.

The original text of the Thirty Six Stratagems was very brief. Usually four Chinese characters arranged as a mnemonic device to help convey the concept of the stratagem, and a few lines of classical Chinese. It was patterned in many ways off of the I Ching (Book of Changes), an ancient Chinese tome of philosophical and some would say mystical knowledge.

Since that time, the Thirty Six Stratagems have been reprinted and reanalyzed from progressively modern perspectives and a number of scholars have supplemented it with commentary on the different stratagems and their historical and modern applications. One commentary, written by Hiroshi Moriya, was published in Japan in 2004 and then subsequently translated and republished in english in 2008. It is to that translation, called The Thirty Six Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts, that we turn today.

The stratagems are listed under six headings, mirroring the hexagrams of the I Ching. Each has it's own application, but the individual stratagems attain even greater depth when taken as a part of a whole. To understand the Thirty Six Stratagems, one must consider the words of the translator William Scott Wilson in his forward;

"The Thirty Six Strategies of the Martial Arts considers the world as a dynamic field of energy, constantly moving and flowing, in which conditions may call for one strategy now, and another depending upon the changes in the physical and psychological environment. Indeed, an intended strategy may evoke changes itself, and a different strategy may be required as circumstances evolve. One must avoid rigidity at all costs and be totally aware of the grid of activity and its psychological effects on both one's enemy and oneself."

He further compares understanding the Thirty Six Stratagems to the way that Confucius described the I Ching in his own commentary on that work.

Ah, the Book of Changes
You should keep it within reach.
Its way is frequently shifting.
Changing and moving without stopping anywhere,
Flowing through the six Emptinesses,
While rising and sinking without constancy
Shifting mutually between the hard and the soft,

You cannot make it into fixed law;
It only marches on toward change.

There is, however, a method to its coming and going;
Inside and out, it would have you know apprehension.

It also makes clear sorrow and grief and their causes;
And though you have no great teacher,
You should face it as you would your father and mother.

At first, follow the words, then,
     if you can fathom their direction,
The consistent rules will be there.

But if you are not quite the man,
The Way will be in vain, and go nowhere.

The Thirty Six Stratagems are not perfect solutions to every problem. But taken as a whole they give the reader an insight both in to classical Chinese military strategy, and in to how to defeat one's opponent without having to resort to violence. As Master Tatum once said, "the goal is not ever to have to fight."

Today we will discuss the first six stratagems.


Strategies for Victory in Battle
1. Obscure Heaven, Cross the Sea
The essence of this stratagem is to disguise your true intention with obvious, clearly identifiable actions. Let the opponent see what you are doing, but not what you are thinking. In this way, you program him to associate what he sees with what he believes is happening, and then strike when he defends against what he expects. In karate, a physical application of this strategy is to repeatedly follow a wheel kick with a backnuckle. Again and again. Wheel kick then backnuckle. Then, when your opponent believes the backnuckle is coming follow with a low strike instead. Let him see you coming, but keep your true intentions hidden from view.

2. Surround Wei, Help Chao
When confronted with a more powerful opponent it is not always advantageous to confront him where he is strong. Instead, attack where he is vulnerable and force him to change his position. Then when he moves to respond to your attack he will be vulnerable where before he was strong. If your opponent has a strong high guard, attack low. When he drops his hands to protect his body, his head will be open to strikes.


3. Borrow a Sword to Make Your Kill
There are two applications of this stratagem. First is to allow a third party to defeat your opponent. The second is to use your opponent's strength against himself. Either way, the concept is to allow the strength of another to do your fighting for you, while you stay relatively safe and away from the conflict. In self defense application, this could be allowing the bouncer to toss the guys who were hassling you at the club instead of fighting. Borrowed Force is a reflection of the second application of this stratagem. By allowing your opponent's force to power your strike you use his strength against him.


4. Await his Tired Steps at Your Leisure
This stratagem teaches you to marshal your strength while allowing your opponent to expend his. Literally, it means to wait in a position of strength while your opponent comes to you. A physical application of this stratagem would be the "rope-a-dope" strategy employed by Muhammad Ali against George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. By allowing his opponent to tire himself chasing Ali around the ring and attacking him where he was comfortable and strong, Ali was able to wait until Foreman grew tired and then attack him from a superior position.


5. Take Advantage of the Fire to Plunder the Goods
This stratagem is for attacking from a superior position. When you have forced your opponent in to an inferior position, you take advantage of his weakness and attack with your strength to finish him with a decisive blow. A physical application of this stratagem would be striking the opponent to a vulnerable position and then applying a finishing move. For instance, knocking the opponent down with hand strikes and then finishing with stomps instead of allowing him a chance to regroup and rise to his feet.


6. Be Heard in the East, Attack from the West
This stratagem is similar to the first in that the essence is to shift the opponent's focus from your true target. The difference is that in this stratagem, the sound "heard in the east" is a deception. There is no true attack in the east. Instead, the plan all along was to attack from the west. Feints, fakes, and misdirections are all physical applications of this stratagem. Showing a high line strike and then attacking the legs while the opponent is guarding the head is an example of "being heard in the east and attacking from the west."


These are only the first six stratagems. There are thirty more. But these six stratagems give you an example of the kind of approaches they contain. Know the enemy. Disguise your intentions. Do no more harm than necessary. If possible, win without fighting. When fighting, maneuver the opponent to disadvantageous positions from which he can not defend. If you understand these stratagems, and are able to flow seamlessly between them, if you understand the "method of coming and going," you will never be imperiled in battle.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice attacking where your opponent is not blocking. If he is blocking outside, attack inside. If he is blocking high, attack low. Attack the opponent where he is vulnerable, and not where he is strong.

Intermediate: Allow your opponent to come to you. Force him to attack you where you are strong and to expend his energy against your defenses. When he is weak, counter with your strength. When he is tired, counter with your energy.

Advanced: Practice feints, fakes, and misdirections. Obscure heaven, cross the sea. Fill the opponent's mind with clutter. Force him to chase your actions until he is constantly moving out of position. Then attack with decisive force. Where he is unprepared for attack, deal a powerful blow.

The Value of Karate

To search for the old is to understand the new.

The old, the new

This is a matter of time.

In all things man must have a clear mind.

The Way:

Who will pass it on straight and well?

-Master Funakoshi Gichin

In his Master Text, Karate-Do Kyohan, Master Funakoshi leaves behind what he believed were the "profound aspects of karate." Among these were basic stances, basic hand and foot techniques, throwing, weapons, sparring, and the patterns that made up his curriculum of movement. But before he discusses the technical aspects of his karate style, the Master describes the benefits of training in the Way.

Page 11

The Value of Karate

"AS ATHLETIC TRAINING

The Nature of karate is such that it requires the body to move in all directions, in contrast, for example to the emphasis on the arms in rowing or the legs in jumping. There is absolutely no need for concern about one-sided development of the body in karate, and the fact of uniform development may be considered to be one of the benefits of karate.

In most cases, only a minute or two is required to complete a kata. Moreover, as one continues to practice, the movements become quicker and the training as a whole more vigorous, so that one can get ample exercise from a relatively short period of time. This is an ideal form of exercise for the many people today who complain that they would like to exercise, but they just do not have the time. the little time required is, therefore, a second major advantage.

Almost no other form of exercise, be it judo, kendo, archery, swimming, or horsemanship, can be performed at any time or place as easily as karate. Most sports require a  large area, equipment, or a partner, and in this regard as well karate is the most adaptable. No specific area, equipment, or even partner is necessary, for it can be performed in a garden, living room, hallway, at any time or place that one feels the desire to practice. This is the third significant advantage of karate.

Usually, exercise suitable for men is not suitable for women, and that for women is probably not enough for men, that for people recovering from illness is not enough for healthy people, and similarly, sufficient exercise for healthy young people is too strenuous for older people or young children. Karate however, may even be practiced by the physically weak, by women, children, and by elderly people. In other words, since each individual may adjust the exercise to his own capacity, and with each unit of exercise being of but one to two minutes duration, there is no danger of overexertion or physical exhaustion. Moreover, as the body is built up and the technique become more skillful the movements naturally become more powerful, so that the amount of exercise becomes sufficient even for the healthy young man in his prime.Thus, the amount of exercise increases naturally as the training progresses, a point I would cite as the fourth athletic merit of karate.

The fact that karate may be practiced either alone or in groups is a feature unique to it. Finally, even considered purely from the standpoint of physical techniques of practical value, the individual hand or foot movements, each with its own meaning, and the many variations in the various kata sequences become challenges to learn. While enjoying and being engrossed in their study on this basis, one accrues their benefits almost without realizing it.

The value of karate as physical training may easily be demonstrated by scientific tests, and even after a year or less of practice, one can easily see for himself the tremendous improvement in his condition over its state before karate training.

My esteemed teachers, the late Masters Shishu (in Japanese, Itosu) and Azato, were both very weak in their childhood, but after starting to train in karate as a means of improving their health, they developed so much that they seemed like different people compared to their old selves and lived to become famous, in our times, as old Masters. Master Shishu lived to the venerable age of eighty-five, and Azato to that of eighty. Master Azato's own teacher, Master Matsumura, lived to be over ninety years of age. Other contemporary karate experts such as Masters Yamaguchi, Aragake, Chibana, Nakazato, Yahiku, Tokashiki, Sakihara, and Chinen, have all lived to be over eighty. These examples are indicative of the role of karate as a superior method of maintaining one's health.

AS SELF-DEFENSE

Almost all living creatures have some mechanism for defending themselves, for, where this development is incomplete, the weaker are destroyed and perish in the fierce struggle for survival. The fangs of the tiger and lion, the talons of the eagle and hawk, the poisonous sting of the bees and scorpions, and the thorns of the rose and Bengal quince; are these not all preparations for defense? But if the lower mammals, birds, insects, and plants each have such specialization, should not man, the lord of creation, be prepared as well? An appropriate basis for the reply to this question is provided by the statement: We should have no intention of harming other people, but we must try to keep out of harm's way. To protect oneself, one must find a method that will give the weak the power to defend themselves against stronger opponents. The power of karate has become well known in these times for its effectiveness in breaking boards or cracking stone without tools, and it is not an exaggeration to assert that a man well trained in this form of defense may consider the whole body to be a weapon of awesomely effective offensive power. 

Finally, although karate does have throwing techniques, it relies principally on striking, kicking, and thrusting techniques. These movements are much quicker and can escape the untrained eye. Block-attack combinations are executed simultaneously, and weaker individuals, women or young boys, do have ample strength to control a more powerful opponent with them. In short, among the advantages of karate as a means of self-defense are these: no weapons are necessary; the old or sick, or women, are able to apply it; and one can protect himself effectively even with little natural strength. These points combine to make karate a form of self-defense without equal.

AS SPIRITUAL TRAINING

Karate is no different from the other martial arts in fostering the traits of courage, courtesy, integrity, humility, and self-control in those who have found its essence. However, most of the martial arts, since their practice is harsh from the outset, are not suited to individuals of weak constitution, poor build, or weak character, and such students, generally speaking, will lose spirit and drop out early in their training. Moreover, it is possible for a student, because of physical weakness, to train so conscientiously that he overexerts himself to the point of injuring himself or becoming ill, his body not being able to keep pace with his will, and early failures of this sort are encountered as well. For these reasons, many people, being physically weak, have had to give up hope of training in the martial arts, even though such training and its developments of bravery and a solid, firm body could be of special importance to the constitutionally or spiritually weak individual. It is, therefore, important in this context as well that karate can be practiced by the young and old, men and women alike. That is, since there is no need for a special training place, equipment or an opponent, a flexibility in training is provided such that the physically and spiritually weak individual can develop his body and mind as gradually and naturally that he himself may not even realize his own great progress.

This flexibility of training also makes possible great strides in spiritual training. For if training in any martial art is discontinued after half a year or a year it can hardly be expected to lead to any degree of spiritual training. An insight into this art, a mastery of its techniques, a polishing of the virtues of courage, courtesy, integrity, humility, and self-control to make them the inner light to guide one's daily actions: these require at the least ten or twenty years, if possible a lifetime of devotion to the study of this art. In view of its adaptability to continued training, I consider karate to be the most suitable of the many martial arts in leading to fulfillment of the need for training of the spirit."

To make the body strong, keep it safe, and polish the virtues of the spirit. These are the principle benefits of training in the Way recognized by Master Funakoshi.

Drills -

Beginner: Focus on your athletic training. Practice pushups, crunches, swimmers, grippers, lunges, and squats. Get stronger and more fit. Remake your body.

Intermediate: Focus on your self-defense training. Practice grabs, gouges, claws, low line kicks. sweeps, and scenario training. Get more capable and more confident. Be responsible for your security.

Advanced: Focus on your spiritual training. Practice meditation, trance, breathing, focus, mushin, and state management. Learn to control your energy and direct it according to your will. Discipline your mind.