written by sensei Brian George (3rd Dan)
VOLUME 2: Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9
ISSUE 6
Newsletter date Jannuary 2000
Never think Karate is only practised in the dojo!
Funakoshi sensei once said the whole world was a dojo and that one should practice 24 hours a day to achieve true training in the art of Karate.
I think that this form of dedication to a chosen art can only be found in but a few, but the principles of the statement can be utilised by anyone who wishes to practice in the martial arts.
If you take all parts of your training and try to understand them then you will build on your caricature.
Welcome to this a new year and with it comes a new period in your training. I hope you all took the last news letter serious and understood it as a piece of constructive criticism. The points regarding behaviour and respect in the dojo have a significant meaning to our methods of training in the martial arts. The Samurai had a code of honour to which they lived and breathed, the did not divert from this code even if it meant life or death.
(can anyone tell me what this code of honour was called?)
You all have workbooks, have you been looking at them and do you know at what level of training you are are at? If you can not answer this then you are not taking your training serious enough. You can control the way you train and at what speed you learn, simply by making notes and asking questions. There are but a few who come to me with questions, does this mean you are not bothered or is your knowledge so great?
I was once told something that became one of my code's of life, and that was, (Tou wa ichiji no haji, towanu wa matsudai no haji.)
This translated means, (To ask may be a moment's shame, but not to ask and remain ignorant is a lifelong shame).
So this statement says if we don't ask anything we will never learn anything. Knowledge is a very powerful thing and in the hands of a well disciplined and respectful person can only be for the good.
