CheekyMusician Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 I'm writing an essay on karate and how its started to perfect my character for school. It was actually my teacher's idea...I was quite impressed Anyway, I was going to intersperse some quotes from the masters throughout it. Statements they'd made about perfection of character, benefits of training, etc.etc. Have you guys got any quotes for me? Preferably from Funakoshi or O'Sensei as I study Shotokan and have just started Aikido. Any help is much appreciated. Smile. It makes people wonder what you've been up to.
Stold Posted February 20, 2003 Posted February 20, 2003 "Quit smoking weed before class." -- Sergio Haritos My old instructor. $$
Kensai Posted February 20, 2003 Posted February 20, 2003 O Sensei Ueshiba. Quote from The Essence of Aikido. Quote 58: Michi no tame magareru teki o yobisamashi kotomuke susume as no tsurugi For the sake of the Way Bring your warped foes to thier senses by utilising words of encouragement and instruction grounded in the techiques of love. Quote 55 Toki wa ima ten ka si chi ya tama no o no suji o tadashite tatsu zo anai ni Now is the time! Strengthen and restore the cords that bind heaven, fire, water and earth. Come stand together with me! Quote 75 Kojo wa hiji mo keiko mo araba koso gokui nozomuna mae zo mietari Progress comes to those who train in the inner and outer factors. Do not chase after the "secret techniques," for everything is right before your eyes. Quote 90 Furimawasu tachi no metsukete mamika sen kobishi wa hito no kiru tokoro tare. Of what use is it to fix your gaze on your oppenents sword? it is his hands that reveal where he will cut. Lastly and one of my favs Quote 98 Hito wa mina nan to aru tomo kakugo shi te sokotsu no tachi o idasu bekarazu One who is enlighted to all things will have no need to draw this sword rashly.
monkeygirl Posted February 20, 2003 Posted February 20, 2003 Wise Sayings thread: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2201 There's quite a few great quotes in this thread, martial arts and otherwise. You might be able to find some there that suit your needs. Good luck! 1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.
KickChick Posted February 20, 2003 Posted February 20, 2003 Hey ....check my sig!! ...also I love the assortment here http://www.martialinfo.com/motivationals/default.asp
Guest Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Here's a collection of quotes: When you are confronted with a problem, a challenge, or an important decision, first of all be calm like the still water. Tadashi Nakamora ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble. Yun-men ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He Who Knows Others Is Wise. He Who Knows Himself Is Enlightened. -Tao Te Ching ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Master the divine techniques of the Art of Peace and no enemy will dare to challenge you. – Ueshiba ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All knowledge, is ultimately, self knowledge. – bruce lee ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He Who Knows Others Is Wise. He Who Knows Himself Is Enlightened. -Tao Te Ching ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There are two rules for being successful in Martial Arts. Rule 1: Never tell others everything you know." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "a one sided martial artist is a blind martial artist"-unknown ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A Man Who Has Attained Mastery of An Art Reveals It in His Every Action. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Five Secrets of Japanese Goju Ryu. Move quickly. Sound, calm mind. Be light in body. Have a clever mind. Master the basics." - Gogen Yamaguchi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants." - Gichin Funakoshi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where questioning is rewarded, virtues are promoted, respect is demanded, and love is central........"-L'abri -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If you don't realize you can kill someone with a bokken, I don't want you using one in *MY* dojo..." - Frederick J. Lovret -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Knowledge does not grow like a tree where you dig a hole, plant your feet, cover them with dirt, and pour water on them daily. Knowledge grows with time, work, and dedicated effort. It cannot come by any other means." -- Ed Parker. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) were conquered and united into one kingdom. To insure his rule, the king confiscated and banned possession of weapons by people other than his troops. A second ban on weapons was instituted by Japanese conquerors approximately 200 years later. These two incidents are generally credited as the cause for the intense development of the emptyhanded fighting techniques..." -- Special Forces (USA) manual ST 31-204 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My instructor once told me that 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling...I slipped through his grip..." The Return of Sherlock Holmes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Aikido is not a defensive martial art. Being defensive is a terrible way to go through life." -quote on a dojo wall. This means be proactive. It does not mean hit first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "An unwillingness to deal forcibly with violence does not equate to moral rectitude." -- Mary Malmros -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It should be easy to spot a black belt in a crowd, s/he should walk like a Marine on roller skates" - Fredrick Lovret -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am a Cobra And these Words are my Venom And through My Magickal Lore I shall capture your Mind And Spew My Poison into Your Eyes Then My world will become Your world And You Shall Die -- Some Twit on rec.martial-arts who let his prozac prescription run out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We staunch traditionalists know that appearence is everything. Technique is nowhere near as important as having your pleats straight when you die" - Steve Gombosi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When in trouble or in doubt, Cut down all who move about. - Frederick J. Lovret -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "When in doubt, knock 'em out" - "Big" Vinny Girolamo - NY Hell's Angels -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Never leave an enemy standing. - Shaka Zulu (the original one, King of the Zulu Nation...not the American karate instructor who appropriated his name) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "When pure knuckles meet pure flesh, that's pure Karate, no matter who executes it or whatever style is involved." -- Ed Parker -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Of those who start TaeKwonDo training, only about 5% stick with it until they achieve the Black Belt Rank. Then perhaps 80% of those who earn a Black stop there." (Duk Sung Son, Black Belt Korean Karate) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We are creating a fighting force of extra-ordinary measure! We forge our bodies in the spirit of our ancestors." - Kentucky Fried Movie: Fistfull of Yen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Time to Strike is When the Opportunity Presents Itself." -- 6th Code of Isshinryu Karatedo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 [this book was written in 1956], and it is a long way indeed from the karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa." - Gichin Funakoshi, in his book "Karate-do: My Way of Life" (page 35-36): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's not just self defense, it's about...self control, body discipline, and mind discipline...and breath techniques. It involves yoga. It involves meditation. It's an art, not a sport." - Elvis Presley. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kick-boxing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Truth is universal. Perception of truth is not." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "No one nation or people has a monopoly on the sun and no one art or system as a monopoly on truth." - Mike Casto ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That which does not kill us, must have missed us." - Miowara Tomokata ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The point of the teachings is to control your own mind. Restrain your mind from greed, and you will keep your body right, your mind pure and your words faithful. Always thinking of the transience of your life, you will be able to desist from greed and anger and will be able to avoid all evils. Buddha (B.C. 568-488) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A tree as big around as you can reach starts with a single acorn. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-tzu To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the greatest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill. Chinese proverb Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought Basho When we apply our Karate well, nothing is waste and nothing is withheld. George E Anderson, Pres of USAKF To hear is to forget, to see is to remember, to do is to understand. Chinese proverb Knowing others is intelligence; Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; Mastering yourself is true power. Lao-tzu It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. Ursula K. Le Guin -- One mind, any weapon - Hunter B. Armstrong "Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it's price."--Sun Tzu The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle. - Motto of Navy Seals http://www.kenpoka.8k.com/quotes2.html "Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class." Choi, Hong Hi Founder of Taekwon-Do "He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position" -Ed Parker "It is not the accumulation of extraneous knowledge, but the realization of the self within, that constitutes true progress."- Okakura Kakuzo "Sword and mind must be united. Technique by itself is insufficient, and spirit alone is not enough." - Yamada Jirokichi Traditionalists often study what is taught, not what there is to create." - Ed Parker, Grandmaster, American Kenpo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants." -- Master Gichin Funakoshi "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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "1-2 out of every 100 students reach Black Belt and of those only 1 out of every 1,000 achieves his 2nd Dan. ( Masutatsu Oyama, This is Karate.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 (1860-1938) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "'Ow' is not a Kenpo word" - Jonathan Vance -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You are reconsidering your training, or perhaps even contemplating beginning a new system. You have been told by the teacher that to obtain proficiency, you may have to train hard for the next two to three years. You begin to wonder if all of that time out of your life is really worth it. No matter what your choice is, your going end up there anyway in two to three years with or without the training." - Michael R. Boyce ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself -- Chinese Proverb ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Even though surrounded By several enemies set to attack, Fight with the thought That they are but one." - Ueshiba -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end" - Gichin Funakoshi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life's questions."- Miyamoto Musashi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "When two tigers fight, one is certain to be maimed, and one to die." -- Master Funakoshi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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."
SaiFightsMS Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Take a look through the internal arts area of the forum. That is where posts of that nature are usually placed.
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