Karate, its birthplace on the small island of Okinawa, created from indigenous fighting systems with influences from Chinese Kempo. . “Karate” (空手), meaning “empty hand”, the name was changed from Chinese hand or Tang hand (唐手), in the early part of the 20th century – both of which are pronounced karate in Japanese. . “Karate-Do” […]
Karate-do is the pathway of inner development… Read More »
If you want to be skilled at karate, do what skilled karate people do: train each day! If you get into the habit of daily training, you will surprise yourself with how much progress you can make. . I often get asked “how can I improve my karate?” The answer is really very simple…… Practice.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Read More »
“We all have inner demons to fight, we call these demons, fear and hatred and anger. If you do not conquer them then a life of one hundred years is a tragedy. If you do, then a life of a single day can be a triumph.” – Yip Man . You run into lots of
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Read More »
Buddhism and happiness are complementary to each other. There is a lot to be learnt about happiness from Buddhist philosophies. . Buddha taught that happiness is one of the seven factors of Enlightenment. . Life Involves Suffering – Accept It. . According to Buddhist philosophy, acceptance to the truth of Life involving suffering is crucial
“A student well versed in even one technique will naturally see corresponding points in other techniques. A upper level punch, a lower punch, a front punch and a reverse punch are all essentially the same. Looking over thirty-odd kata, he should be able to see that they are essentially variations on just a handful.” –
Martial arts and Mathematics…. Connected art forms. Read More »
You don’t have to “bring“ yourself into the present moment, because you are already there. What is required is to become still. And you don’t have to sit down in some difficult yoga position to be still. You don’t have to repeatedly recite a chant to be still. All you need to do are three
People don’t realize that now is all there ever is. Read More »
If you have seen The Karate Kid movie, you will undoubtedly remember the wise old karate master, Mr. Miyagi, telling his student Daniel-san to; “Look eye! Always look eye”. . Well, not necessarily. At least not in the martial arts. . In fact, in Japanese culture, excessive eye contact is considered rude. And being rude
“Eyes that look are common; eyes that see are rare.” Read More »
What is Zen Buddhism? . Trying to explain or define Zen Buddhism, by reducing it to an article, to a post on a website is almost impossible, it weakens its meaning. . Defining Zen (禅) is like trying to describe the taste of honey to someone who has never tasted it before. You can try
What is Zen Buddhism? Read More »
The word ‘mushin’ is comprised of two kanji characters: 無 (mu), meaning ‘nothingness’, and 心 (shin), meaning ‘heart’, ‘spirit’, or, in this case, ‘mind’. In this way, mushin can be roughly translated to ‘nothing mind’ or ‘no mind’. It comes from a longer phrase used in Zen Buddhism, ‘無心の心’ (mushin no shin), or ‘mind of
In Japan, cleaning is called ‘Soji’ (掃除) and apart from obviously ‘cleaning’ it is valued as a way to cultivate our minds. In fact, ‘Soji ‘is beyond mere cleaning. Buddhist monks when attending a monastery or shrine, put a great deal of time into practicing ‘Soji’. A monk’s day begins with cleaning, and cleanliness and
‘Soji’ (掃除) ‘Cleaning’ the Dojo Read More »
Criticism for the sake of criticism does nothing. . Criticism has become a common tendency in present times. Once someone writes about their feelings or observations in the martial arts, they have to confront criticism. Although their writings are reflections of the martial arts in general, there are still critics to highlight the positive and
Criticism for the sake of criticism does nothing. Read More »
Is there a decline in what it means to be a ‘Martial Artist’, rather than just train in the martial arts? . Traditional philosophies in the martial arts have been watered down, and have become difficult to practice due to changes in society. . We don’t the have the time, the attitudes, the common interest,
The journey is the destination. Read More »
