To decode martial-speak, we need to delve beneath the surface of simple translation and widely accepted definitions, and discover a deeper sense of popular terms. KARATE空手 On the surface: empty hand. The modern name karate is composed of two characters. 空, ku or sora, signifies “sky” or “void” and 手, shu or te, means...
My journey as a martial arts educator began serendipitously when I was a skinny teenager, and a sensei at the YMCA asked if I could lead warm-ups and perform basics in weekly classes. After a few short months, she retired, and I inherited the program. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the...
In his best-selling book Outliers: The Story of Success, Canadian author, journalist and motivational speaker, Malcolm Gladwell introduced the 10,000-hour rule. He analyzed the habits of extremely successful people and determined that it took 10,000 hours of dedicated, deliberate practice to become a phenom or expert. This translates to about twenty dojo hours a...
Warning: no parlor-tricks or trance techniques in this article. Instead, this is a piece that clarifies the importance of attaining and maintaining a Zen-like mindset through martial arts training. In my opinion, achieving this objective requires an understanding of the three parts of the budo brain: Conscious Mind – interacts with the critical faculty...
Premonition and precognition are associated with the mysteries of the sixth sense. However, in budo, it is the five senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste – that are the basis of our martial subconscious. Precognitive conclusions are achieved either through divine intervention, karma or plain luck, and cause us to act on...
The great Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” If there is no end to learning, the greatest investment you can make is in your personal enrichment. Does this equate to higher education? Perhaps – particularly if formal schooling catalyzes growth. However, pursuing a degree is costly and requires a significant time commitment. Credits are earned through a fixed curriculum, and...
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. (Wayne Dyer) Mount Fuji is affectionately referred to as Fuji-san. Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, it is one of Japan’s “Three Sacred Mountains” (三霊山 -Sanreizan) and a place of scenic beauty, history, and even, superstition. Prior to the Meiji era (1868-1912), general travel was reserved for samurai and the ruling class. Most of the population, comprised of farmers and merchants, had to be satisfied...
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. In the classic 1961 movie Yojimbo (用心棒), the man with no name confronts a gun-wielding adversary. From a considerable distance, the sword master has to face not just a superior weapon, but a likely death. In a matter of a millisecond, all is lost or gained. This is ichi–go ichi-e, 一期一会. One meeting.One chance. Although our lives may not be as dangerous or dramatic as the stuff we see on the...
Most of us wear two faces: Tatemae 建前 (outward appearance) and Honne 本音 (true appearance/self). These aren’t mutually exclusive – often the lines blur – nor are they limited to Japanese society. Additionally, having two-faces shouldn’t be confused with being two-faced. What passes for appropriate behaviour in one situation might be thoroughly inappropriate in another social setting. In New Seeds of Contemplation, the theologian and progressive thinker Father Thomas Merton said, “We have the...
Like so much that is memorized, unquestioned and repeated, when asked what is a dojo, most students reflexively respond, it is the place (jo) of the way (do). Rather than accepting this standard and perhaps narrow definition, we should consider how the term dojo was described by great martial masters. According to the...