Martial Arts Quotations: Set 5
The mind of a perfect man is like a mirror. It grasps nothing. It expects nothing. It reflects but does not hold. Therefore, the perfect man can act without effort. - Chuang Tzu
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A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory. - Arthur Goldman
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Following quotes are from Mas Oyama:
- The Martial Way begins and ends with courtesy. Therefore, be properly and genuinely courteous at all times.
- Following the Martial Way is like scaling a cliff. Continue upwards without rest. It demands absolute and unflattering devotion to the task at hand.
- Strive to seize the initiative in all things, all the time guarding against actions stemming from selfish animosity or thoughtlessness.
- Even for Martial Artists, the place of money cannot be ignored. Yet one should be careful never to become attached to it.
- The Martial Way is centered in posture. Strive to maintain correct posture at all times.
- The Martial Way begins with one thousand days and is mastered after ten thousand days of training.
- In Martial Arts, introspection begets wisdom. Always see contemplation of your actions as an opportunity to improve.
- The nature and purpose of the Martial Way is universal. All selfish desires should be roasted in the tempering fires of hard training.
- Martial Arts begin with a point and end in a circle. Straight lines stem from this principle.
- The true essence of the Martial Way can only be realized through experience. Knowing this, learn never to fear its demand.
- Always remember: In Martial Arts the rewards of a confident and grateful heart are truly abundant.
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"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants." - Gichin Funakoshi
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"To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill." - Sun Tsu, The Art of War
"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." - Unknown
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"Does not the sage say: "What is more yielding than water? Yet, back it comes again, wearing down the ridged strength, which cannot stand to its strength. What is more forceful than quite water?" - Kahn, Kung Fu, the Series
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"Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end. " - Gichin Funakoshi
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"A punch should stay like a treasure in the sleeve. It should not be used indiscriminately." - Master Chotoku Kyan
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"Karate is not about winning. It's about not losing." - Master Shigetoshi Senaha
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"There is no first strike in Karate." - Master Gichin Funakoshi
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"Karate-Do is a lifetime study." - Master Kenwa Mabuni
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"Slow and steady wins the race." - Aesop
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"He who chases around after many rabbits ends hungry." - Okinawan Proverb
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"Those things in life that we find the hardest to do, are the things we are the most thankful we did."- Annette Ueckert
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."- Samuel Johnson
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"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein
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"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
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"Truth is that which is true - whether you know it or not and whether you like it or not." - Ben Swett
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"Boards don't hit back." - Bruce Lee
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"By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to The Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character and man is their maker and master.” - James Allen, As A Man Thinketh
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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but, it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula K. LeGuin
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"Don't fear death. Fear the unlived life." - Natalie Babbitt
"Karate is for life, not points." - David Walker
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"Karate begins and ends with respect." - Master Anko Itosu
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"No matter how you may excel in the art of Karate, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life." - Master Gichin Funakoshi
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"You aren't rich until you have something money can't buy." - Garth Brooks
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"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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"Karate is a form of martial arts in which people who have had years and years of training can, using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world." - Dave Barry
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"There are two rules for being successful in Martial Arts. Rule 1: Never tell others everything you know." - Unknown
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"A one sided martial artist is a blind martial artist" - Unknown
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"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class." - General Choi, Founder of Taekwondo
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"He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position" - Ed Parker
"A black belt is nothing more than a belt that goes around your waist. Being a black belt is a state of mind and attitude." - Rick English
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"It is not the accumulation of extraneous knowledge, but the realization of the self within, that constitutes true progress." - Okakura Kakuzo
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"The art of the sword consists of never being concerned with victory or defeat, with strength or weakness, of not moving one step forward, nor one step backward, or the enemy not seeing me and my not seeing the enemy. Penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where even yin and yang cannot reach, one instantly attains proficiency in the art." - Takuan
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"A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." - Unknown
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Five Secrets of Japanese Goju Ryu
Move quickly
Keep a sound, calm mind
Be light in body
Have a clever mind
Master the basics
- Gogen Yamaguchi
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Even though surrounded by several enemies set to attack, fight with the thought that they are but one. - Ueshiba
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"The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life's questions." - Miyamoto Musashi
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"The way of the sword and the Way of Zen are identical, for they have the same purpose; that of killing the ego." - Yamada Jirokichi
"Sword and mind must be united. Technique by itself is insufficient, and spirit alone is not enough." - Yamada Jirokichi
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"Traditionalists often study what is taught, not what there is to create." - Ed Parker, Grandmaster, American Kenpo.
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"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." - Unknown
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"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." - Gichin Funakoshi
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"Hoping to see karate included in the universal physical education taught in our public schools, I set about revising the kata so as to make them as simple as possible. Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The karate that high school students practice today is not the same karate that was practiced even as recently as ten years ago, and it is a long way indeed from the karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa." [Written in 1956] - Gichin Funakoshi
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"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." - Morihei Ueshiba (O'Sensei)
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"The teaching of one virtuous person can influence many; that which has been learned well by one generation can be passed on to a hundred." - Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo (1860-1938)
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"Follow not in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seek what they sought" - Unknown
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"Truth is universal. Perception of truth is not." - Unknown
"No one nation or people has a monopoly on the sun and no one art or system as a monopoly on truth." - Mike Casto
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"Some are wise, some are otherwise." - Unknown
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