The Monk would have you believe he is on fire, But it is just his energy showing itself.....The Monk never complains.....

Spending today complaining about yesterday will not make your tomorrow any better.

Make sure that you are not your own worst enemy!

Ancient wisdom literature is packed with warnings about making careless mistakes which can cause you great harm. Whether is it is allowing your emotions to control your words and actions, or simply being careless with your speech or actions, you must guard against being your own worst enemy.

Throughout history it has been a strategy of war, whether it is on the battlefield or in personal conflicts, to make your enemy angry, frustrated, and emotional, in order to cause him to act impulsively and make costly mistakes. This was actually demonstrated in the movie, Braveheart, when the Scots mooned the British on the battlefield, a tactic which the Scots did actually use in real life.

You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain. Miyamoto Musashi

So many people in this world find something that works for them, and then think that they know what's best for everyone else. This happens a lot in the martial arts world with arguments over style, techniques, instruction, etc. Martial artists like to argue about who is legitimate and who is not, like they are the ultimate judge of everyone else's training, skills or abilities.

The fact is, not every style of martial arts works for every person. Not every technique is a good fit for every martial artist. Different people have different body types, different injuries, different weakness, and different issues. Just because a martial art works for you, that doesn't mean it is best for everyone.

I remeber after having deveopled the above photo telling myself I need to step it up and change...my status was the same as everyone else, I need to change ...to push more then the other person at work and the Dojo........I told myself this is it, nothing will stand in my way.......and I never really looked back.......

Martial Arts & Martial Law by J. Michael Brooks

Operating in the dark is a challenge. Darkness may be helpful. Sometimes it is necessary. But it’s difficult to orient in the dark; harder to detect obstacles, threats, targets and the path we need to take.

Which is a lot like training now. Isolated from the dojo, separated from friends, from the normal routines and rhythms of life, is disorienting for everyone. Some people feel at a loss. 

People around the world are feeling fearful, anxious, isolated, and bored. This not produced only by outer circumstances, as difficult as they are. This can be fixed by having a clear mission, that is, a purpose. 

Never hate your enemy. It clouds your judgment. Michael Corleone

The strategy of making your enemy angry in order to cause him to act irrationally and make mistakes is as old as time itself. This is a strategy which has been used throughout history to gain an advantage in both times of war and in personal conflicts, and it works for a specific reason.

Strong emotions, especially emotions such as hate and anger, cloud your mind, interfere with your rational judgment, and cause you to act irrationally and make mistakes. When someone is acting on pure emotion, anger, and hatred, you can count on them making a mistake sooner or later.

If I call you brother, it is because you have earned my respect.

I do not use the words "brother" or "friend" lightly. If I say that you are my brother or my friend, then you have earned it by your actions and your honor. I know the difference between an acquaintance and a true friend, and you should too.

Not everyone who is affable with you is your friend; not everyone who is your buddy is truly your brother. We have become so free with our vocabulary, in our modern society, that it has taken away the true meaning of many of our words.

Kaizen is the principle of constant and never ending improvement in our lives. It is a principle that the
Samurai applied every morning they woke up by beginning the day with a specific goal of improvement
in mind. At the core of Kaizen is patience which is required for improvement since you very rarely see
the effects of your struggles rapidly.

As a beginner it looks almost impossible to master the tasks that are required to earn your black belt
and yet it is achieved one step at a time. There are no shortcuts, no simple ways to get there. As you
strive to improve one thing at a time you slowly become the person with the skills to earn your black
belt, under the careful and watchful eye of your Sensei.

The modern warrior is always mindful of where he is at and where he is going at all times. Since our
world is always changing around us our goals and targets are in constant motion and ever changing. A
wise objective today may be a foolish goal tomorrow so it is always important that one re-evaluates
their goals and and focus on a daily basis.

 Mushin and Zanshin

As everyone knows, controlling one’s own mind is among the most difficult and challenging of all human endeavors. We might say this is because our mental computer lacks a keyboard for direct control and programming; we may know what we want our mind to do, but often we just can’t find the control mechanism. There are no handy buttons to push.

Zen is one approach to this problem. Utilizing meditation as a way of studying the operation of the mind, Zen monks for centuries have researched the problem of exerting conscious control over mental processes. The techniques they have developed, though difficult to master, do work (and have nothing really to do with religious beliefs, at least in martial arts applications). These techniques often utilize symbolic visualization as the “handle” for thought control. It is admittedly a sort of bootstrap method, but it gets the job done.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PjLFdoxkyTnbPt8heyUVeoOa2H9eI5Lz/view

The above link video was produced & developed  by Ryan Raimondi (Sankyu), a student at the Kouketsu Dojo and Film school.......He and his crew utilized the Dojo for a school project...............Enjoy!