The value of a black belt?

Something that has often frustrated me is the question of rank in karate.  I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve read about a six year old being awarded a black belt in my local paper, and I wonder what message this kind of thing sends out?  What value does a black belt hold, if it is something which can be achieved by a child as young as six, or a grandmother in her late sixties?

I honestly believe that the whole idea of ranks should be done away with.  I think the kyu/dan system was a good idea to begin with, however, control of who gets awarded what, when, and by whom has been lost.  Far too many people are running around promoting eachother, themselves, and anyone else willing to pay them a few pounds.  I actually read today about a 15th dan soke, what’s that all about?

Miyagi Sensei never awarded a black belt to anyone, stating that before long people would be judged by their rank, rather than their ability and character. 

I wonder whatever happened to just training for the sake of it?  It seems everywhere you look there are different titles, ranks, and halls of fame just waiting for you to be inducted to (oh, if you’re willing to slip them a few quid!).

I feel quite fotunate in that I had to work quite hard to achieve my lowly rank, and take a small amount of pride in the fact that I didn’t take the easy route, but I wonder who the majority of people would rather listen to out of me or the 15th dan soke?  After all, the general public have no reason to suspect a martial artist of being a fruad – karatedo teaches you to be a better person, right?

Thoughts on Shisochin 2

1. When striking with nukite it is highly likely that you will cause more damage to yourself than the opponent, depending on target area and how well you condition your finger tips.  Even so, with all the conditioning in the world, I’m not sure how much faith I would place in my abilty to strike somebody with nukite.  With this in mind I now view the opening three movements differently than the standard bunkai. 

As the opponent punches, slip outside and parry with an open hand soto uke, next use the action of the hand drawing back to your side to jerk the opponent forward by grabbing his forearm and pulling as in the kata.  This draws the opponents weight forward onto his toes, and creates a pre-determined response in that the opponents head will lean forward, exposing the neck and jaw.

The nukite is then used as normal by striking into the opponents jaw, however, rather than making contact with the fingertips, I make contact with the fleshy part of the thumb, near the palm heel.  This fits perfectly into the target area by cupping the opponents jaw into this fleshy area of the palm.  The strike causes the opponents head to jerk violently, which will result in either unconciousness or neck damage.

2. I was told by Kinjo Seikichi Sensei of the jundokan that the most important thing to be aware of in the armbar technique, is the fast withdrawal of the rear hand.  This is often overlooked.  Kinjo Sensei said that pulling with the rear hand as hard and fast as you can prevents the opponent from being able to bend his arm to escape the armbar.

3. Prior to the armbar technique we perform an open hand chudan soto uke in zenkutsu dachi, with the rear hand covering the groin.  This exact same movement appears at the end of the kata, only this time the stance being used is neko ashi dachi.  I wonder why there is the need to repeat the technique in two different stances, one with a forward emphasis, the other with an emphasis to the rear?

This also occurs in Seiunchin with the opening yama no kamae in shiko dachi, appearing again in the final technique but in Neko ashi dachi.  Again, same technique but with different directional emphasis through two different stances.

Memories of My Sensei, Chojun Miyagi

This article is presented here with the kind permission of Sanzinsoo, please check out his website for more excellent translations.

MEMORIES OF MY SENSEI, CHOJUN MIYAGI

Remarks: This is a part of the original article “Chojun Miyagi the Karate Master. His kindness is infinite. He preaches morality.” written by Mr. Genkai Nakaima which appeared in the local monthly magazine “Aoi Umi” No.70 February 1978 issue (pages 99-100) published by Aoi Umi Shuppansha. That special issue featured Okinawan karate masters. The magazine was already discontinued. I translated only a part of the article.

(translated by Sanzinsoo)

It was Spring in 1923, I was 15 years old, when I told my father that I was going to learn karate from Miyagi Sensei (= Master Chojun Miyagi). He said to me “It’s great if you learn from Bushi Miyagushiku (=Miyagi the Karate Master)!” and gave me permission. At that time Miyagi Sensei was already famous for his karate, so my father thought he was an ideal teacher for me.
We, Kumemura community people in Okinawa, were proud of Chinese lineage. We believed our ancestors came from China to Okinawa, so we highly respected not only Chinese literary arts but also fighting arts. As to literary arts, we established a school, “Meirindo” which was something like a college today, where the youth were educated. As for fighting arts such as karate and Bo (=staff fighting), I think we practiced individually in accordance with each physical strength and other conditions.
According to a program of the cultural festival at “Meirindo” school, there were performances of Bo (=staff fighting), Tesshaku or Tiechi (=Sai), “Sesan”, “Chishokin”, “Tohai” and “Suparinpe”. Most performances of karate were the same as what Miyagi Sensei had taught us.

Well, lessons by Miyagi Sensei began. We had lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, after school from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Miyagi Sensei’s home, not at Dojo (=a training hall) like these days. Some time later, quitted my classmate, Bunshun Tamagusuku whose uncle was a famous karateka Jin-an Shinzato, so remained three members: Tatsutoku Sakiyama whose family name at that time was Senaha, Kiju Nanjo whose family name was Azama at that time, and myself.
The process of our training consists of the preparatory exercises, the supplementary exercise and the foot movements of Sanchin.
According to the explanation of Miyagi Sensei about the preparatory exercise, by doing physical exercise, we can prepare for the formal karate training such as Sanchin and other Kata exercise. It also has an element as a warm-up.
Another meaning of the preparatory exercise is building up our physical strength by training all the necessary muscles so that we can use the muscles in any situation. In short, we build up karate body by the preparatory exercise.
The supplementary exercise is a kind of training mainly for learning basic technical components of Kata. It helps us to understand science and logic of karate, and at the same time, our skill of karate will be created with the development of our athletic ability and physical strength.
In this way, we can lay the foundations for karate by doing the preparatory exercise and the supplementary exercises.

Miyagi Sensei told us various stories for two or three hours after the practice was over.
The topics of his stories were not only technical matters of karate but also the general world affairs, the present situation of karate circles, the origin of karate, his studying attitude toward karate and Buddhism, karate and Okinawan traditional performing arts, and so on.
At that time we were just junior high school boys, but Miyagi Sensei preached to us about the truth of karate, the soul of karate master, the Way of karate, namely the Way of man or morality.
I still remember his bright face with sharp eyes in which I find the true karate master’s love and kindness.

Now I will tell you some of Miyagi Sensei’s words as follows. “If you practice only Sanchin all your life, you do not have to practice any other Kata. Sanchin is so essential and important.” One day I asked him, “How many times do you practice Sanchin to think that you performed well?” He replied, “I think I performed Sanchin well only once out of 30 times practices.” At that time he was young, 34 or 35 years old. His words are still impressive to me.
“The hand position at the ending of Sanchin is the same as that of a Buddha statue.” Miyagi Sensei often told us this story. I think the hand position at the ending of Sanchin is the most beautiful expression of praying. In fact I saw the same hand position of Buddha statues in some temples.
“Goju is the willow tree blown by the strong wind,” said Miyagi Sensei. The strong wind blows the willow. The willow never resists the wind, just remains passive, but will never be broken or destroyed. In this way we take advantage of the opponent’s strength flow. It is a secret of the arts that we have to master through the practice.

I think it was 1926 when the National Athletic Meeting was held at the Outer Garden of the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo. Miyagi Sensei’s disciple, Mr. Jin-an Shinzato participated in the Meeting to perform karate as a classical fighting arts. At that time he was suddenly asked by an official of the Meeting, “What is your style’s name?” then he replied “Goju-ryu style.” Later he explained this matter to Miyagi Sensei and Miyagi Sensei approved it. Since then we call ourselves Goju-ryu.

I asked, “Sensei, do you have eyes in the back of your head? They say that even if we follow you secretly and quietly, you immediately notice us and turn around quickly to find us.” Miyagi Sensei replied, “There is no one who have eyes in the back of his head. However, when I walk along the road, in some cases I feel something strange. I think it is the so-called sixth sense.”
We should always be cautious when we turn at the corner of a road, walk along a rainy street and climb up and down a ladder etc. It will become useful for self-defense if we have practiced karate sufficiently hard and are accustomed to being cautious. As the result of a long time training of karate, we can obtain the so-called sixth sense and can notice if someone is following.
“Studying karate nowadays is like walking in the dark without a lantern. We have to grope our way in the dark.” said Miyagi Sensei. He also told me, “There are so many things in karate which does not make sense and there are a lot of things I cannot understand. Therefore, while our grand masters are still alive, we have to see them and ask many questions. I think it is still very difficult to find the answers even if we did so.” I ever went with him to homes of the grand masters, Chomo Hanashiro Sensei and Itosu-No-Tanmee (=Itosu the Old Master) to hear their stories of karate.

Miyagi Chojun 1942

This is a rare photograph of Miyagi Chojun Sensei taken in 1942 during his trip to Kyoto at the Ritsumeikan.  Miyagi Sensei is sat front center.  It seems strange to see him wearing a suit and tie!  In fact, I think this is the only photo I’ve ever seen of him where he is not wearing traditional clothing.

Miyagi Chojun

I read the following on Mario Mckenna’s excellent blog which can be found at http://okinawakarateblog.blogspot.com/

I strongly recommend everyone to take a look at Mckenna Sensei’s site, there is some excellent information from this well established karate historian.

Miyagi Chojun and GojuThe following article about Miyagi Chojun was originally published in Japanese in the November, 1983 issue of Gekkan Karate-do. It was reprinted in 1998 in Karate-do Sousei Densetsu (also published by Gekkan Karate-do), pages 36 to 39. The article itself details the life of Miyagi Chojun as seen by four people: Nagamine Shoshin, Yagi Meitoku, Miyazato Eiichi and Higaonna Morio. I have only included the comments made by these teachers as written in the article and have not translated the commentary.

Chojun’s Teaching Method

Nagamine Shoshin:
He taught in a scientific, organized and fixed manner. He taught neko-ashi dachi by not simply advancing and retreating or turning to the right and left in this stance, but by also by moving in a ‘wave’(1). He also had students hold their stance until they could no longer stand.

Higaonna Morio
(Commenting on when Miyagi sensei taught Seiunchin kata at Naha Commerical High School) He would walk around and make corrections on each students weak point(s) while we would stand in shiko-dachi for 20, sometimes 30 minutes.

Kata teaching method

Yagi Meitoku
He wouldn’t teach San Chin entirely, he broke it down into its parts. For example, one day he would focus on stepping, on another day he would focus on how to move the hands, etc. It was difficult to make progress.

San Chin Kata

Yagi Meitoku My grandfather also knew a little karate and I saw him practice San Chin kata with his hands held open. Even though he would not strike us hard, there would be three black marks left where his fingers had struck us. When I went to the bath house, this old man I didn’t know looked at my shoulders and said, “You’ve been going to Machu’s place haven’t you?” “Yes”, I answered. Later that man went to Miyagi sensei and said, “You’re doing a good job of teaching them. That’s how Toudi should be taught!” Later, Miyagi sensei told me, “Some old man came by today and praised me for the way I teach. Looks like people are beginning to know me.” When I heard this I was so happy.

Practice location

Yagi Meitoku
We practiced in the garden at Miyagi sensei’s home and during summer vacation we would sometimes rent one of the classrooms at school.

Practice time and number of students

Nagamine Shoshin
At the Police Academy he taught twenty students time for a period of six months, twice a year. This was a compulsory course for all new cadets.

Yagi Meitoku
Usually there were three or four students and on busy days about ten students.

Miyazato Eiichi
He [also] taught preparatory and supplementary exercise.

Practice Content

Yagi Meitoku
He only taught supplementary exercises and San Chin [to new students].

Nagamine Shoshin
At the Police Academy, Miyagi sensei only taught basics and kata (Seiunchin).

Miyagi Chojun’s Health

Yagi Meitoku
When Miyagi sensei was a student in junior high school, he would deliberately take the long way to school and choose a path then went up hill. He also gave up drinking in his 30’s.

Higaonna Morio
(With respect to walking from the Naha Police station to his home (about 1 km) in his later years) He would stop three or four times to rest. Miyagi sensei also complained about the iron dumbbells that Miyagi An’ichi made. “These are too heavy for me”, he said.

Favorite Kata

Yagi Meitoku
He never showed kata in front of his students, but when he did he would simply perform Tensho or San Chin. He only taught kata a peice at a time.

Miyagi Chojun’s Teachings

Yagi Meitoku
Not to tell anyone that we were training in karate.

Miyazato Eiichi
That our behviour should be modest. Not to stand out. Not to grow our hair or beards long. To always be alert and cautious.

Miyagi Chojun’s Secret Teachings
Yagi Metoku
I did the same things over and over again. Those are the “secret” teachings.

Miyagi Chojun’s Personal Training

Standing up to his neck in the ocean or on top of mountains and training his breathing methods (kokyuhou).

Using the crest of wave as an ‘opponent’ to practice his combative engagement distance (maai).

Practicing his kiai on the sea shore.

Practicing nukite against tatami and kakete against the arms of chairs.

Performing push ups using only his index fingers.

Using a mosquito net in place of a makiwara to practice punching and kicking.

Footnotes

(1) Nagamine Shoshin uses the term ‘hashoukei’ or wave-like form, which is most likely referring to the diagonal advancing and retreating techniques found in ‘Tenshin’ practice in modern Goju-ryu schools.

Miyagi Sensei’s self defence method

During my last visit to Okinawa in 2003 I was invited to lunch with Yasuda Tetsunosuke Sensei, and was fortunate to discuss many things with him during this meeting.

One of the things that came up in conversation was Miyagi Sensei’s attitude to self defence.

Yasuda Sensei told me that he had heard how Miyagi Chojun Sensei would never allow himself to be drawn into conflict.  He would always apologise and admit to being at fault if it meant being able to avoid a fight.

Yasuda Sensei said that he admiredthis quality in Miyagi very much, and that this was the correct behaviour of a budoka.

A lot conflicts can be avoided, I think, if we are able to have this attitude and have enough confidence in ourselves, not be driven by the need to protect our ego’s. 

If we are victims of crime or an unprovoked attack then we have no choice but to do everything within our power to defend ourselves and ensure that we come to no harm.  However, allowing an argument over a trivial matter to escalate into violence is not the way of budo.

The old cliche about how ‘it takes a bigger man to walk away’ is not something that’s always easy to apply, especially in front of an audience when you stand to lose face in front of others.  Young men especially, seem to have this pre-programmed need to prove themselves, especially when it comes to matters of violence.

When choosing not to fight you need to be aware of the fact that the ‘demons of self doubt’ will come back to haunt you, and have you doubting yourself and your abilities.  This is perfectly normal and you need to have the courage and conviction in yourself and your actions to know that you did the right thing, as the potential consequences of being drawn into a needless fight far outweigh the consequences of walking away.

Kenpo Hakku

Eight poems of the fist methods

The kempo hakku comes from article 13 of the bubishi, which historically speaking is undoubtedly the single most important document relating to karatedo. I intend to write more about the bubishi at a later date, but for now will concentrate on the kempo hakku.The kempo hakku is a collection of 8 poems which relate to the martial arts. The kempo hakku is probably one of the more widely known sections of the bubishi due to the fact that Miyagi Chojun Sensei is said to have chosen the name for his fighting system from the third line of the kempo hakku.

I have included the Japanese and English translations.

1. Jinshin wa tenchi ni onaji.

The mind is one with heaven and earth.

2. Ketsumyaku wa nichigetsu ni nitari.

The circulatory rhythm of the body is similar to that of the sun and the moon.

3. Ho wa goju no donto su.

The way of inhaling and exhaling is hard and soft.

4. Mi wa toki ni shitagai hen ni ozu.

Act in accordance with time and change.

5. Te wa ku ni ai sunawachi hairu.

Techniques occur in the absence of conscious thought.

6. Shintai wa hakarite riho su.

The feet advance and retreat, separate and meet.

7. Me wa shiho wo miru wa yosu.

The eyes must watch all four directions.

8. Mimi wa yoku happo wo kiku.

The ears listen in all eight directions.

Thoughts on Shisochin

Battling in four directions incorporating the four principles of float, sink, spit and swallow.

One of the kata demonstrated at the 1867 demo at Ochayagoten? (Chishoukiun) This would imply that this kata was already present on Okinawa before Higashionna travelled to China.

Unique arm bar, over the shoulder punch, and uses open hand sanchin posture.

Depending on angle of opponents head, nukite can be used to force the fleshy part of the thumb against the opponents chin, breaking jaw, or sharply twisting opponents head.

Hands draw together to then separate and pull down. Grab opponents collar and wrench down to jar head forward, opening targets on side and back of neck to be struck by pulling him on to an open hand soto uke as in the kata.

When performing the 45 degree open hand soto uke technique, use the bottom hand to slap into the opponents groin to get him to bend at the waist, weakening his posture prior to the armbar.

Rear bear hug escape differs from seiunchin because the movement implies that one arm is free, as you are able to punch over the shoulder with this hand. By punching over the shoulder and bumping with your hips, you create enough space to turn 180 into the opponent and strike him with teisho as in the kata.

Karate and the Olympics

I’ve noticed on the karate related forums of late there has been a lot of discussion about karate getting into the Olympics, and whether it would be a good thing.

What’s the point?  I for one fail to see what good would ever come out of having karate in the Olympics. 

Some have stated that it might be good to actually have that distinction between martial art and sport.  This would indeed be a good thing, however the general public tend to have little idea about what is involved in genuine martial arts, likening it all to either mystical monk type characters rambling nonsense, or cheesy Kung Fu films where the hero takes on all comers with a dazzling display of backflips and high pitched noises.  Attempting to popularise karate through the medium of the Olympics would only serve to further damage the integrity of this martial way, in the same way that it has done with Judo and Taekwondo. 

People would see two practitioners squaring off against eachother in a glorified contest of playground tag, with the person who can lightly touch the other the quickest being declared the winner!

The reputation of karatedo as an effective method of self defence is generally in a pretty poor state.  Now, this has to do with a number of things, not just sport karate.  Self proclaimed 10th dan grandmasters at the age of 30, running a string of dojo’s so large that Starbucks would be suffering from an inferiority complex, have probably done the most damage.  However, I don’t see that promoting karate as an Olympic sport will assist our cause in the slightest.

There are many alternative pursuits through which people can compete in combat.  The amatuer boxing, Muay Thai and MMA scene are all enjoying large amounts of popularity and allow for a much more effective way in which participants can test themselves.  There are many things to be gained from engaging in such activities, and I’d recommend all serious practitioners to step into the ring at some point as you can really learn alot about yourself from the whole experience.

As for karate, I don’t think the current method of competition is a good reflection of what karate is.  The karate that would become popular by its introduction to the olympics would be this sport variety, and my overiding fear is that true karatedo would become extinct andreplaced by this strange, unrelated, recreational game….and the odd dojo on the corner teaching ninja death moves in multi-coloured gi’s with far too many badges!! 

Dojo Kun

 

The dojo kun is unique to each dojo or group, and serve as a guide as to how a karateka belonging to that group should behave. The dojo kun should be committed to memory, and time must be taken to study how the dojo kun relates to your character and lifestyle. Although each dojo kun is different, almost all concentrate on the good character traits that a true sensei will seek to instil in a student. Some may also contain tactical advise, or information relating to lifestyle and health.Just as techniques must be continuously refined in order to improve, so too must time be devoted to studying the dojo kun. It is not good enough to simply commit it to memory. Time must be taken to ponder how our own personality and lifestyle relate to the dojo kun. Are we actually putting the advice into practice, are do we contradict it with our actions and character traits?

The advice contained in the dojo kun are a written record which can help to guide us along the middle path, from which it can be so easy to lose our sense of direction. If we try to emulate the qualities described in the dojo kun, our karate will always have a sense of purpose and we can keep moving in the right direction.

The dojo kun presented here is that of the Jundokan dojo in Naha Okinawa. This dojo kun was created by Miyazato Eiichi Sensei, and he based it on the lessons which he had learnt from his teacher Miyagi Chojun Sensei.

I will present both the Japanese and English translation, along with my own personal interpretation of what each line means to me.

Hitotsu! Kenkyo ni shite reigi o omonsayo First! Be humble and polite. Miyazato Sensei was once asked ‘what is the most important thing that karate can teach’. He replied “humility”. A good practitioner of karate and budo must take care with regards to how his behaviour is perceived by other people. The actions of just one person can affect the way a whole group is thought of by other people. As a police officer I have to be constantly aware of how my actions can affect the way in which the whole of the Metropolitan Police is viewed by the public. If I lose my temper, or am rude to someone, this will reflect badly on all of my colleagues who may be tarred with the same brush. Because I am so often in the public eye, this part of the dojo kun is of particular importance for me.For other students who are lucky enough not to have to worry about this, they should think about how their actions may reflect on their sensei and fellow practitioners. The hardest job of a sensei is to instil good character traits in their students, and a teacher may be judged on how good a job he has done. This is why good sensei are so careful about who they accept to be a student. They are only too aware that the behaviour of one rogue student can harm their reputation, and that sometimes this damage can be almost impossible to repair. The students behaviour is studied closely by the sensei, and any protruding nails are hammered down mercilessly.The simple conscious actions of displaying humility and politeness count for a lot about how we are thought of. Nobody likes a person who always pushes in the queue, or never says please and thank you. As well as this, nobody likes a braggart who fills every silent moment with a story about how great they are!

It never fails to impress me when I watch the post fight interviews of sports personalities like Ricky Hatton or Randy Couture, as they always start off by complimenting the efforts of their opponents and thanking their fans for their support. This genuine act of humility goes a long way, and I think that’s reflected in the amount of fans that these men have.

Humility and politeness are two of the character traits which are most easily seen by strangers. Other qualities take longer to discover in someone you are not familiar with. I believe that it is because these traits are so naturally displayed (or not in some peoples cases!) that Miyazato Sensei placed such emphasis on them.

By displaying politeness and humility in our own personal lives we conduct ourselves in a manner which is befitting that of our tradition.

Hitotsu! Tairyoku ni ojite tekkido ni shugyo sayoFirst! Train considering your physical strengthTraining in karatedo is a very personal thing. Each person is different and will have their own natural strengths and weaknesses, as well as other factors such as age, physical build and personality which also have a huge impact upon the way we practice our art. Because of these varying factors, it is important that the training is suited to the individual so that they can effectively address their own physical weaknesses and improve in areas where they are technically not so strong.

When you are young, you should train as a young man, however, as you age, your training has to adapt to the natural changes in your physical condition. I was fortunate enough to meet many practitioners in Okinawa over the age of 70 years old who were still able to train on a daily basis. For us to be able to replicate that feat, our personal training has to alter at some point to ensure that we do not force our bodies to do too much as we get older and more prone to receiving injuries.

In contrast to this, when we are young we should push ourselves to our limits in order to forge our bodies and make our technique strong. After all, we are only young once and we’ll never be given back our youth so that we can have another go if we don’t quite get it right.

Most professional sportsmen retire from actively competing by the time they reach forty as they are no longer able to cope with the amount of training required to stay at the top, although of course, there are some exceptions.

We are lucky because our chosen endeavour isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, where if we train correctly and intelligently, we will be able to continue training throughout our entire lives.

Hitotsu! Shinken ni kufu kenkyo sayoFirst! Practise earnestly with creativityIt’s very easy to become stuck in a rut with regards to training. Sometimes we become so busy ensuring that we keep to a regular training pattern, that training in itself becomes routine and we fail to challenge ourselves.

There is only so much to be gained from performing 100 repetitions of sanchin kata, if by the end of the tenth repetition you have stopped thinking and are merely plodding through it in an effort to reach the end.

Training in this manner does have its place, and all practitioners should engage in a form of shugyo on a regular basis, however, if every training session becomes an exercise in merely reaching the end, I wonder if it has any real depth or meaning in the long run?

In order to grow in our understanding of karatedo, we must be constantly questioning ourselves and our art. We must continue to ask questions of our kata to broaden our knowledge of the applications and information that are contained within them. We must then test any ideas we come up with in order to assess their practicality and relevance to the arts we practise, and this in turn will provide us with further avenues for exploration.

Training in an intelligent manner enable us to continue discovering more from these methods, and in turn this assists us to stay motivated.

Hitotsu! Heisei chinchaku ni shitei binsho jizai nareFirst! Be calm in mind and swift in actionCorrect training in the martial arts forge both the mind and the body of the practitioner, so that when met with a problem, the budoka is able to react decisively, without falling victim to their own fears or anxieties, in order to take control of a situation.

In a self defence situation the budoka must be able to keep his temper in the face of adversity, and retain clarity of mind so that responses can be spontaneous. Acting out of anger can cloud our judgement, and often lead us into making mistakes.

When dealing with everyday problems that affect the smooth running of our lives, the budoka does not sit back and wait for things to sort themselves out, putting things off until another day. It is better to take care of things at the earliest opportunity and not have problems hanging over your head unnecessarily, causing needless worry.

There is a saying ‘beneath the sword raised high there is hell making you tremble, but go forth and enter the land of bliss’. We will, during the course of our lives be met with many situations that scare us, be it a situation where we are attacked by a villain, or even something non-martial such as losing our job. It is not easy to overcome our natural instincts to run away, give in to fear, and get started on that endless downward spiral of self pity. However, through correct training, the budo instil courage within us to draw upon during difficult times. This courage is what enables us to act decisively with confidence, moving forward to meet problems head on with belief in our abilities.

We are all in charge of our own destiny’s, and it is up to us to seize what we want out of life, as nobody is going to hand it to us. To do this we have to seize each opportunity as it passes, as it may not ever come again.

Swiftly taking control with clarity of thought is the way of budo.

Hitotsu! Sessei o omonsayoFirst! Take care of your healthWe are lucky enough to live in an age where food is readily available, and there is tons of advice relating to diet and personal health. We now know what is good and bad for us, and how certain foods can help prevent illness. We spend a lot of time in the dojo trying to build stronger bodies, however, it is also important to take care of what goes inside our bodies.

It never ceases to amaze me when I see people who are supposedly serious about their training, spark up a cigarette immediately after a training session. How can you talk about the health benefits of sanchin in one breath, and then be poisoning your system with lethal a lethal mixture of chemicals the next? Also is this lack of will power something that should be displayed by a budoka?

In addition to ensuring we eat and drink the right amounts of different foods and drinks in order to take care of our bodies, it is important to train considering our physical strengths, as causing unnecessary injuries is irresponsible and can cause us to become a liability to other people if our injuries are serious enough to prevent us working.

Taking care of our health also means being responsible for our own self protection. Avoiding bad neighbourhoods, not drinking ourselves into a drunken stupor, and being aware of our surroundings. This is all part of self defence, and by virtue of not getting ourselves injured through fighting with idiots, we are taking care of our health.

Hitotsu! Shiso na seikatsu o sayoFirst! Live a plain lifeWhen I first heard this part of the dojo kun, my lack of understanding meant that I interpreted it to mean that we have to behave like monks. Needless to say, most people wouldn’t be too thrilled about the prospect of a life of celibacy and robes!

Upon deeper reflection I now understand this in a more sensible and practical way. I think the above statement means that we are to avoid excesses.

This obviously relates to taking care of our health, and training considering our physical strengths, but also it has a lot to do with keeping things simple.

The human mind (well certainly mine anyway!) is peculiar in that it bores easily and needs constant stimulation. In order to satisfy this, we sometimes fill up our lives with pointless clutter. The steady accumulation of this clutter can build up to a point where we begin to struggle to fit everything into the space of a day.

Living a plain life is about knowing what is important and being able to disregard what is not. By taking on less we are able to devote our full attention to the things that matter.

Hitotsu! Manshin senukotoFirst! Do not be too proud of yourselfAgain, this is easy to misinterpret. We need to have some pride in order to see our own faults, and then work on them in order to improve. Without pride, there would be no need to train harder to perfect our technique, and we’d all probably end up promoting ourselves to tenth dans because we wouldn’t care what anyone thought. All our socks would have holes in, and we’d probably all stink because we wouldn’t be bothered to wash. There also wouldn’t be any need to be humble and polite because, without a bit of pride, would we even care if everyone thought we were obnoxious?

So certainly, a little pride is important, however, too much can cause us problems.

When we become too proud to accept constructive criticism, or even so proud that we become boastful and too full of our own self importance, that is when we delve into the murky realms of promoting ourselves to tenth dan and getting ourselves on the good ol’ worldwide register of grandmasters.

We should feel proud of our achievements, yet we must be cautious not to get too carried away with ourselves to the point of becoming arrogant.

Hitotsu! Shinamasu kusezu shugyo o eisoku seyoFirst! Continue your training with patienceTraining in budo should last a lifetime. We have all the time in the world to walk along this path and to make steady progress through daily training.

When we begin, our immediate concern is looking to the people in the dojo with more experience and wondering how long will it take us to reach that level? Of course, there is no way to predict how our progress will fare. People progress at different speeds, and it is important to understand that we our walking this path for ourselves, and that it doesn’t matter what the person next to you is doing.

Do not compare, and do not compete. Your martial art is your own, and does not belong to anybody else but you.

If we are too concerned with rushing toward the goal as quick as possible, we may fail to notice that the goal keeps getting moved further back. It is as if we are chasing the dangling carrot.

Kyu do mugen means ‘there is no end to seeking the way’. Technique needs constant polishing or else it becomes dull. It takes great patience to continue to train knowing that the end will always be just out of reach. That is the challenge that the budo throws down in front of us, and the challenge that we must face on a daily basis in order to keep progressing gradually along its path.