Kansou

The monthly Kansou, or "thought for contemplation", is brought to us courtesy of Sempai Burnside. Please check out our website each month for sempai's most recent thought.

2022

August - If we come to the Art of Karate hoping to learn self-defense, we will end up in the same state of mind we started out with, but much more seriously compounded. For if we want to learn self-defense, our state of mind is fear. In the more traditional Karate schools, this fear never gets addressed, except in a superficial way by learning how to fight. This only covers up the fear temporarily. It is the fear at the core of our desires that has to be addressed directly and not covered over by moving away from it through learning how to defend oneself.

July - It is vitally important in our practice of Karate to give ourselves totally, with no holding back. Usually, we don’t do this. We resist on some level, and therefore we lack real spirit. When we can give ourselves totally, then we burn away the fear that holds us back. We have tremendous energy when we are fully committed. Fear comes when we remember something in the past, thereby creating a division in the present. When we give ourselves totally, then the past with all its fears is burned away in the flame of that total movement.

June - Karate is an integrated, holistic practice. It educates the whole person, the mind/body. Therefore, it is important to spend time on the mind/body, not dividing it to concentrate only on the perfection of technique. Our practice should be designed not only to train in perfecting the physical aspects, the elements of self-defense, but, simultaneously, we need to understand the psychological principles. As we give a great deal of energy to learn the fundamentals of self-defense, we need to work very hard in understanding the reasons for self-defense, why we study Karate and how it can aid in the understanding of ourselves.

May - One cannot create The Art of Karate by practice or by any means contrived by thought. It seems that when there is order in one’s life, then that allows the Art to happen. This is beyond one’s practice, for this is the Art of living.

April - In Karate we can attack or be attacked. In being attacked we can wait for the other person’s initiative, and then respond by evading the attack. These actions are in the realm of reaction. What is needed is an awareness of the potential for attack before it manifests itself in the consciousness of the other person, before the other person is aware of it in themselves. By being highly sensitive to the potential for aggression, we can prevent that potential from ever coming into awareness. This is the ultimate art of reconciliation, for there is no division between people from the beginning.

March - The Art of Karate is not a means of self-expression. It is an opportunity for self-
understanding, of going beyond one’s self.

February - Being really free, not only in theory but actually, not only in practice but in our everyday life, is the real meaning of the Art of Karate.

January - Take Nami Do literally means bamboo, wave, way. It is a metaphor of the relationship between these elements. The bamboo bends, is flexible. In the face of strong forces it yields but does not succumb. This is because it does not resist the force and so by not resisting, it is strong.
The wave, in turn, uses its great force to overpower whatever stands in its way, and by sheer brute force is also powerful.
Psychologically, the bamboo means to yield, to not resist inwardly. If one insults you, that insult is listened to, understood, and gone beyond. There is no need to react to the insult. Therefore one is free, beyond the conflict of reaction. Psychologically, the wave represents the insult, that anger, that need to hurt another. Physically, the bamboo is the block, the wave is the strike, punch or kick. In order to bring about an intelligent practice one must have the right relationship between these elements, to create a way that is balanced, whole. Lets be like the bamboo in 2022.

2021

December - Our progression in Karate is based metaphorically on the four seasons. The beginner is like the tender young flower blooming in the Spring; the student is earnest and energetic, bursting forth with much energy. As the student moves along, his or her form becomes like the fire of Summer, the heat generated by form well-practiced. Then, as the student ages, a wisdom can come that happens after the stages of development where the student is tempered by the duration of intense practice. This is like the Fall, with seasonal aging. This wisdom deepens like the whitened drifts of Winter and finally, like an animal climbing a tree to protect itself from the cold, it leaves no trace of itself in the newly falling snow.

November - One needs and atmosphere of affection and understanding where one practices Karate. Too often, the atmosphere is fear and ignorance.

October - If we come to the Karate hoping to learn a self-defense, we will end up in the same state of mind we started out with, but much more seriously compounded. For if we want to learn a self-defense, our state of mind is fear. In the more traditional Karate schools, this fear never gets addressed, except in a superficial way by learning how to fight. This only covers up the fear temporarily. It is the fear at the core of our desires that has to be addressed directly and not covered over by moving away from it through learning how to defend oneself.

September - The movements in Karate are at first a form of controlled free expression. This can have the effect of venting stored aggressions and freeing the body to move without the restrictions placed on it by fear. But as one goes deeper, there is expression that is not controlled. It is this movement that is truly free.

August - Karate is an integrated, holistic practice. It educates the whole person, the mind/body. Therefore, it is important to spend time on the mind/body, not dividing it to concentrate only on the perfection of technique. Our practice should be designed not only to train in perfecting the physical aspects, the elements of self-defense, but, simultaneously, we need to understand the psychological principles. As we give a great deal of energy to learn the fundamentals of self-defense, we need to work very hard in understanding the reasons for self-defense, why we study Karate and how it can aid in the understanding of ourselves.

July - The fear created in thought can transfer to the body, showing up in fixed positions of fear/defense.
Take for example, the defensive rigid posture of the neck pulled back or jutting chin (“take it on the
chin”). It seems that the body gets stuck in the flight-or-flight dilemma, and isn’t able to move in
either direction. One needs to free the body from its fixed postures. This can be done through
rigorous workouts, going through a great many simulated fight-or-flight situations. Through this
mock battling, one can also begin to unlock the fixed patters of behavior associated with the fixed
bodily patterns. Freeing up the patterns has a healthy effect, because the person can operate in
the present without the neurosis of the past. Freed from the past, the body becomes intelligent,
active and alive.

June - Karate brings attention to violence. In everyday life, we deny our violence or try to act non-
violently by suppressing it in favor of some glorified ideal. It seems important to allow ourselves the
opportunity to come into direct contact with all of who we are.

May - The correct execution of a proper technique in all its many facets, both psychological and physical,
takes many years of rigorous training to accomplish, and yet, paradoxically, it takes no time at all.
It is the expression of the purest and most natural form of one’s innate grace and harmony. When
properly executed, a technique becomes the expression of unselfconscious skill in action, the
artfulness in Karate. This outcome of this skill is to transform the person. This transformation
takes the person out of time and the self as we know it, and hence out of the conflict and violence
of becoming, and creates a still point where there is only the essence of pure action.

April - It is only by really listening, seeing, that we can understand the truth or falseness of something. If we listen or observe with care, we will be able to find out what is below the surface of things, that
which is ordinarily hidden when we only hear or look. In our practice it is important to listen, to observe, to take that quality of attention with us when we leave the dojo to go about our daily lives. Karate is life, it is not separate from it.

March - Karate is not a means of self-expression. It is an opportunity for self-understanding, of going beyond one’s self.

February - In Karate we can attack or be attacked. In being attacked we can wait for the other person’s initiative, and then respond by evading the attack. These actions are in the realm of reaction. What is needed is an awareness of the potential for attack before it manifests itself in the consciousness of the other person, before the other person is aware of it in themselves. By being highly sensitive to the potential for aggression, we can prevent that potential from ever coming into awareness. This is the ultimate art of reconciliation, for there is no division between people from the beginning.

January - It is vitally important in our practice of Karate to give ourselves totally, with no holding back. Usually, we don’t do this. We resist on some level, and therefore we lack real spirit. When we can give ourselves totally, then we burn away the fear that holds us back. We have tremendous energy when we are fully committed. Fear comes when we remember something in the past, thereby creating a division in the present. When we give ourselves totally, then the past with all its fears is burned away in the flame of that total movement. Let’s move forward in 2021 and keep this in mind when we are practicing.

Happy New Year everyone.

2020

December - Kata is form. It is a set of prearranged movements, a routine one practices in order to become proficient in the self-defense aspect of Karate. In this way, Kata is a set or customary order of doing something, it is a structure or pattern one follows to attain a result. Kata as form is, therefore, a formality moulded by instruction and discipline. Yet form moves beyond defense, beyond result and formality. When one first practices Kata it is mechanical, as is necessary in order to learn technique properly. After practicing Kata for a time, one brings forth spirit, the energy generated from contacting the essence of the Kata, that movement that is not of time. The beauty of the movement is then for itself alone. In form with spirit there is dignity and gracefulness in the gesture. There is a majestic quality to movement when one’s spirit is complete. In this, one gives one’s total attention to that form, to live in the world with one’s own body, here and now. Then, form and kata are one and the same, and that form is in everything one does. Kata becomes complete action and then form pervades all activity. Kata becomes ethics, it becomes conduct, it, is how one behaves. It, is the intention towards right behavior. Form as Kata, puts that which is, in order. It gives shape and order to how one acts in the world.

November - Meditation teaches you to relax the body by stilling your thoughts and focusing your breathing. Making yourself relax and staying relaxed takes more effort than you think. Actually, it's hard work. With practice, you can bring yourself into a relaxed state on command. Once you learn to relax in a state of quiet repose, you can bring yourself to relax while engaged in physical activity.

October - Self-expression in the martial arts occurs when your technique comes automatically without thought, without pretense. It is the point where mind and body come together to affect one action, one motion.

September - True respect is the essence of the Art of Karate. Respect is the right relationship between teacher and student and between student and student. Respect comes from real affection and not from meaningless rote tradition. It is not following some code of ethics set down by another. Respect then becomes repetition, blind allegiance. Respect is alive, active. It is not the dead weight of the past, no matter how glorified the past may seem to be.

August - In Karate we Kiai, which is a type of yell or shout. This shout does two things. First, the expelling of air through the mouth in a strong, vibrant manner helps give focus to the Karate movement or technique by making it stronger. This happens because the abdominal muscles contract and give extra power. The kiai also has the effect of psychologically disarming a potential assailant; the tremendous energy generated by the kiai can shake the assailant’s intention to do you harm, for it temporarily disorients him. It can also reach deeply into the person and make contact in a fundamental way; the kiai can bring the person back to his or her senses, back from the depths of fear and hurt to the clear a untainted moment. This can be a very shocking thing, especially when it occurs suddenly. It is like being doused with could water when you are asleep. It brings you out of your dream world into the blazing daylight of reality. This sudden awakening from one’s nightmare into the moment is the intention of Karate. Sustaining that state is another matter, and must be approached in a different manner.Also Kiai simply means energy and union, as in Aikido. Unifying energy means to bring and end to conflict. When conflict is absent, then naturally there is harmony, which is a state of unified energy. The lack of harmony or discord means a state of fragmented energy, a divided state. When one is intending to act out of fear, hurt and anger, then one is out of harmony with things as they are, for these qualities are born of the mind when there is a state of conflict. Being free of the disorder of fearful thinking, one is undivided, not isolated from living. When one kiais, then one is not only focusing energy for more power or to psychologically disarm and assailant; it has a much more far-reaching effect – it affects the whole balance of nature. So, when you kiai, what are you doing? Where does this energy generate from in you? Is it out of fear, which just adds more conflict? Or is the kiai a mightier shout, as an expression of the union of energy within and without? If the latter is true, then one’s actions are always in accordance with nature’s harmony, even if you have to defend yourself. There is no conflict in one’s actions. There is only the appropriate response to the moment and the great undivided force of energy meeting that response.

July - The movements in Karate are at first a form of controlled free expression. This can have the effect of venting stored aggressions and freeing the body to move without the restrictions placed on it by fear. But as one goes deeper, there is expression that is not controlled. It is this movement that is truly free.

June - It is important to see that the problem of fear and aggression, the conflict it creates and the inappropriate traditional approach in trying to solve it, is a fundamental cause of violence, not only as disharmony within oneself but as a major breakdown of human relationship. The ensuing strife this situation creates among people is reflected in competition and, ultimately, in war. It is also important to see that this problem must be dealt with, not only at the collective level with law and political reform, but, more importantly, at the individual level from where it arises. Social reform and the law are only temporary measures at best. Understanding these deeper insights lays the right foundation for the practice of Karate as a system of self-defense skills.

May - “Empty Self” is not another form of non-violence. Neither is it a license to be violently aggressive. The physical self-defense skills learned in Karate are not designed to be used in an offensive manner. Yet at times it may be appropriate to stand up to the self-centered aggression of another and, if need be, to use controlled force to counter physical violence. Meeting energy with energy, confronting aggression straight on, may look like violence to those who have been conditioned to act out of some ideal of nonviolence. They may imagine that “empty self” means that one acts passively, “turning the other cheek.” But affecting nonviolence denies the energy necessary to meet the arrogance of self centered aggression. Energy is dissipated when one conforms to images or ideals of nonviolence.
Paradoxically, conforming to ideals of nonviolence is a self-destructive process. A psychological conflict arises between one’s real self and one’s image of who one wants to become. The harder one tries to be nonviolent generates violence. Action stemming from this inward division is manifested outwardly as conflict in relationships.
Meeting energy with energy, without self-centered motivation, without defending or asserting oneself, may be the only intelligent course of action.

April - Karate increases sensitivity, but only if it is seen in perspective. We cannot benefit from Karate if we see it as the whole of life. Karate may have a place in life, but this place must be understood in relation to the rest of living. Many people take Karate and make it everything because they are afraid. They do not understand the relativity of all things. Out of fear, they exploit the self-defense aspect, which is only one small part of the total. In this way, one’s understanding becomes unbalanced, distorted. Understanding the relationship of the part to the whole is balance and harmony. Then, our practice of Karate becomes integrated into the rest of our lives in a natural and fluid manner. There is then no separation between Karate and living. Then, paradoxically, the part becomes the whole and the whole the part. We are not divided. But we must be careful not to try to approach the whole, the totality of life through the fragment, through Karate, as though it were the whole.

March - If we come to the Art of Karate hoping to learn a self-defense, we will end up in the same state of mind we started out with, but much more seriously compounded. For if we want to learn a self-defense, our state of mind is fear. In the more traditional Karate schools, this fear never gets addressed, except in a superficial way by learning how to fight. This only covers up the fear temporarily. It is the fear at the core of our desires that has to be addressed directly and not covered over by moving away from it through learning how to defend oneself.

February - In sensing a potential hostile situation, we can, by being non-defensive, open, alert, turn that potential for destruction into something constructive. Most people cannot act appropriately because they are afraid. Therefore, they act defensively out of fear, which in turn creates fear.

January - There is a point in one’s practice where it is still, like the eye of a hurricane. This still point comes when there is no resistance, when there is effortless attention without a center, without someone attending. In that empty space, there is a feeling of limitlessness, but one wouldn’t recognize it as such at that moment. It is only afterward, when one recollects that there is this comparison. There is no way one can bring about this stillness. It just happens. Perhaps one can set the stage, so to speak, for this to happen, by being aware, intelligent, by understanding all that the mind does to cloud perception, to fill itself with thoughts of fear. But there cannot be any intention to get that stillness; unfortunately, it is rare and, most often, intention dismisses this stillness in favour of the “normal” state of consciousness, that of a constant anxious tension that is called living. The stillness is usually quickly brushed aside, perhaps because the mind is afraid of living without fear, it is too out-of-the-ordinary. But perhaps this stillness is the real, is the actual state of living, and one’s normal life is the abnormal.

2019

December - Karate, when done with affection, with beauty of movement, gives dignity and grace to the body, which in turn gives great dignity and grace to the spirit. One’s movements have symmetry and there is elegance in their glowing design. This refinement in the way one moves has an affect on one’s relationship with another, bringing to it a sense of ease and charm. One naturally wants to bring symmetry to one’s life, having manners, being polite, gracious and kind. This is not contrived. It is authentic, arising out of a genuine impulse for order and intelligence.

November - When we are confronted by a challenge, by someone threatening us, we usually react to the situation. Reaction, as it is used here, is a psychological movement to defend, either physically or with words, that which is perceived as being threatened – which is ourselves. It is easy to understand defending oneself from physical assault, by psychological assault is another type of threat. In being attacked physically, the body is being threatened. In being attacked psychologically, what is threatened? If we could actually be aware psychologically at the moment of attack, we could see what is defending. Isn’t it our self, an image that thought has created? It seems that the real work of Karate is understanding this “self,” for it seems that this self is the root of psychological reaction, and therefore is the seat of conflict.

October - In Karate, we sit quietly before we practice and at the end of the practice. This is called “Mukuso”. We do this so we can have a moment to allow ourselves to become relaxed, calm. Being relaxed, calm we can concentrate fully on what we are doing without distraction. But, more importantly, sitting quietly we have the opportunity to observe our thinking, to see the thoughts that are running constantly through the brain. Becoming aware of thought, we can begin to see the roots of self-centered activity, the fears that form our behavior. We begin to see how behavior is conditioned by thoughts of fear, mainly fear of self survival. Sitting quietly opens up the depth of ourselves. In this, the roots of violence are revealed. We are then understanding the essence of Karate, we then begin to understand the significance of empty self.

September - Karate is actually very simple. There is nothing special about it at all. If we could only see this our practice will be very special indeed!

August - Many students feel the need to prove themselves in Karate. This can be seen in the attainment of better and better form or being the best in the competitive aspect of fighting. Or this will manifest itself in the attainment of rank for prestige. This need to prove oneself can be very obvious or very subtle. Either way it is the same. Perhaps one thinks that by proving oneself, he or she will gain favor or respect. One is therefore caught endlessly satisfying the need for approval, and, in so doing, destroys true respect. In Karate, how well you perform is not important. Excellence in form doesn’t come from technical proficiency alone. It comes from an inner quality of affection and sensitivity. It comes from the lack of the need to prove oneself.

July - When we practice the prearranged movements of Kata, what is our motive, our reason for doing them? Is it for self-expression, or to learn how to defend ourselves better? Why do we have a motive, what purpose does it serve? Is it necessary to be motivated? Or can we practice out of the form itself? This means letting the impulse move us. The impulse is not a motive. It comes on its own and not through the wishes we have to be better or more powerful. Therefore it is free of any limitations of thought, of the past. Therefore, our movements take on a quality of creativity, of being outside time and then outside the form itself.

June - One is divided psychologically into two opposing or warring camps. It is the struggle between good and evil. One can see this in Karate, where one is battling against the opponent, the opponent really being oneself. One feels deeply that one must defeat the opponent, win over the enemy. Traditional Karate perpetuates this division, this battle, this contest, by its emphasis on fighting skills. This only breeds fear, not understanding.

May - It is important to have well-defined form and tradition in Karate, for this allows one to feel safe to explore the depths of violence in oneself because the environment is controlled, limited.

April - The Art of Karate as an Art of self-defense is an ethical approach to the resolution of conflict, because it is a discipline that develops the confidence to neutralize hostility by alternative, non-violent means.

March - Many people come to Karate with the notion that it will help them. Many people, therefore, look on Karate as a sort of religion, as a way to transcend their problems. This is false right at the beginning. What has to be seen is one’s original intention. Rarely does a person do this. Rather, they avoid confronting themselves, burying their intentions in the results they are trying to attain. This only creates more problems and leads one to seek for more help.

February - It is impossible to attack emptiness or to attack from nothingness.

January - Put the thought of achieving right out of your mind. Give your full attention to form and move from there. In this you will never be bored. Even the student of many years still practices the basics as if for the first time. This has been called beginner’s mind, a mind that is fresh, renewed each moment. Let us all carry this theme into the New Year with renewed practice. Happy New Year everyone.

2018

December - The fear created in thought can transfer to the body, showing up in fixed positions of fear/defense. Take for example, the defensive rigid posture of the neck pulled back or jutting chin (“take it on the chin”). It seems that the body gets stuck in the flight-or-flight dilemma, and isn’t able to move in either direction. One needs to free the body from its fixed postures. This can be done through rigorous workouts, going through a great many simulated fight-or-flight situations. Through this mock battling, one can also begin to unlock the fixed patters of behavior associated with the fixed bodily patterns. Freeing up the patterns has a healthy effect, because the person can operate in the present without the neurosis of the past. Freed from the past, the body becomes intelligent, active and alive.

November - We practice with full power because it allows us to go beyond ourselves. In going beyond ourselves we are beyond fear, therefore we are free.

October - There is a formula in Karate: Attitude and form equal speed, which in turn equals power. Most people want power in the beginning, forgetting that this is a developmental process. If one has as intelligent attitude and practices form only, one’s movements will naturally become more rapid and hence more powerful. But one must stay always with attitude and form.

August - Karate brings attention to violence. In everyday life, we deny our violence or try to act non-violently by suppressing it in favor of some glorified ideal. It seems important to allow ourselves the opportunity to come into direct contact with all of who we are.

July - The movements in Karate are at first a form of controlled free expression. This can have the effect of venting stored aggressions and freeing the body to move without the restrictions placed on it by fear. But as one goes deeper, there is expression that is not controlled. It is this movement that is truly free.

June - Our progression in the Art of Karate is based metaphorically on the four seasons. The beginner is like the tender young flower blooming in the Spring; the student is earnest and energetic, bursting forth with much energy. As the student moves along, his or her form becomes like the fire of Summer, the heat generated by form well-practiced. Then, as the student ages, a wisdom can come that happens after the stages of development where the student is tempered by the duration of intense practice. This is like the Fall, with seasonal aging. This wisdom deepens like the whitened drifts of Winter and finally, like an animal climbing a tree to protect itself from the cold, it leaves no trace of itself in the newly falling snow.

May - One needs and atmosphere of affection and understanding where one practices Karate. Too often, the atmosphere is fear and ignorance.

April - The correct execution of a proper technique in all its many facets, both psychological and physical, takes many years of rigorous training to accomplish, and yet, paradoxically, it takes no time at all. It is the expression of the purest and most natural form of one’s innate grace and harmony. When properly executed, a technique becomes the expression of unselfconscious skill in action, the Artfulness in the Art of Karate. The outcome of this skill is to transform the person. This outcome of this skill is to transform the person. This transformation takes the person out of time and the self as we know it, and hence out of the conflict and violence of becoming, and creates a still point where there is only the essence of pure action.

2017

December - Being really free, not only in theory but actually, not only in practice but in our everyday life, is the real meaning of the Art of Karate.

November - The Art of Karate is not a means of self-expression. It is an opportunity for self-understanding, of going beyond one’s self.

October - In Karate we can attack or be attacked. In being attacked we can wait for the other person’s initiative, and then respond by evading the attack. These actions are in the realm of reaction. What is needed is an awareness of the potential for attack before it manifests itself in the consciousness of the other person, before the other person is aware of it in themselves. By being highly sensitive to the potential for aggression, we can prevent that potential from ever coming into awareness. This is the ultimate art of reconciliation, for there is no division between people from the beginning.

September - One cannot create the Art of Karate by practice or by any means contrived by thought. It seems that when there is order in one’s life, then that allows the Art to happen. This is beyond one’s practice, for this is the Art of living.

August - It is only by really listening, seeing, that we can understand the truth or falseness of something. If we listen or observe with care, we will be able to find out what is below the surface of things, that which is ordinarily hidden when we only hear or look. In our practice it is important to listen, to observe, to take that quality of attention with us when we leave the dojo to go about our daily lives. For the Art of Karate is life, it is not separate from it.

2016

December - being really free, not only in theory but actually, not only in practice but in our everyday life, is the real meaning of the Art of Karate.

November - The Art of Karate is not a means of self-expression. It is an opportunity for self-understanding, of going beyond one’s self.

June - For our warriors going forward:

Our progression in the Art of Karate is based metaphorically on the four seasons. The beginner is like the tender young flower blooming in the Spring; the student is earnest and energetic, bursting forth with much energy. As the student moves along, his or her form becomes like the fire of Summer, the heat generated by form well-practiced. Then, as the student ages, a wisdom can come that happens after the stages of development where the student is tempered by the duration of intense practice. This is like the Fall, with seasonal aging. This wisdom deepens like the whitened drifts of Winter and finally, like an animal climbing a tree to protect itself from the cold, it leaves no trace of itself in the newly falling snow.
Good luck to all who are grading.

May - One needs and atmosphere of affection and understanding where one practices Karate. Too often, the atmosphere is fear and ignorance.

February - The Art of Karate is an integrated, holistic practice. It educates the whole person, the mind/body. Therefore, it is important to spend time on the mind/body, not dividing it to concentrate only on the perfection of technique. Our practice should be designed not only to train in perfecting the physical aspects, the elements of self-defense, but, simultaneously, we need to understand the psychological principles. As we give a great deal of energy to learn the fundamentals of self-defense, we need to work very hard in understanding the reasons for self-defense, why we study Karate and how it can aid in the understanding of ourselves.

January - It is vitally important in our practice of Karate to give ourselves totally, with no holding back. Usually, we don’t do this. We resist on some level, and therefore we lack real spirit. When we can give ourselves totally, then we burn away the fear that holds us back. We have tremendous energy when we are fully committed. Fear comes when we remember something in the past, thereby creating a division in the present. When we give ourselves totally, then the past with all its fears is burned away in the flame of that total movement. Let’s move forward in 2016 and keep this in mind when we are practicing. Happy New Year everyone.

2015

December - The best fighter is never angry.

November - The way is in training.

October - You can only fight the way you practice.

September - Black Belt... a white belt that never quit.

August - One thousand days of lessons for discipline, ten thousand days of lessons for mastery.

July - Do nothing which is of no use.

June - My opponent is my teacher, my ego is my enemy.

May - Pain is the best instructor but no one wants to go to his class.

April - It's not about the style, it's about you.

March - The sword has to be more than a simple weapon. It has to be an answer to life's questions.

February - Your spirit is your true shield.

January - Spirit first, technique second.

2014

December - To practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve - as if you might die in the next instant

November - In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.

October - The undisturbed mind is like the calm body water reflecting the brilliance of the moon. Empty the mind and you will realize the undisturbed mind.

September - Master the divine techniques of the Art of Peace and no enemy will dare to challenge you.

August - Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole body and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.

July - The flower of flowers is the Sakura - Cherry Blossom. The Samurai is the man among men.

June - It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

May - Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.

April - The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.

March - You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.

February - We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.

January - He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

2013

December - As soon as you try to chase and grab Zen, you’ve already stumbled past it.

November - The farmer channels water to his land. The fletcher whittles his arrows. And the carpenter turns his wood. And the wise man directs his mind.

October - Follow not in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seek what they sought.

September - The Art of Peace is medicine for a sick world. There is evil and disorder in the world, because people have forgotten that all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.

August - When two tigers fight, one is certain to be maimed, and one to die.

July - You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do.

June - My instructor once told me that the first five dan ranks come for what you've gotten out of the system, the next ranks come for what you've given back.

May - Knowledge does not grow like a tree where you dig a hole, plant your feet, cover them with dirt, and pour water on them daily. Knowledge grows with time, work, and dedicated effort. It cannot come by any other means.

April - The fastest draw is when the sword never leaves the scabbard. The strongest way to block, is never to provoke a blow. And the cleanest cut is the one withheld.

March - Even though surrounded by several enemies set to attack, fight with the thought that they are but one.

February - A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.

January - To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.