Quotes by Martial Artists - Page 7

Effort within the mind further limits the mind, because effort implies struggle towards a goal and when you have a goal, a purpose, an end in view, you have placed a limit on the mind.
Bruce Lee
Jiu Jitsu forges friendships in a way I’ve never known. Being involved in an art as intimate as this, where bodily connection is a must, the common cultural boundaries of personal space are broken. You will never see more hugs, high fives, and physical expressions of love than on the mats. Ultimately, this proves to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of our pursuit of mastery. Along the way, we learn to love others as we love ourselves.
Chris Matakas
Through Jiu Jitsu I have developed many of the most meaningful relationships in my life, and if that were the only benefit of my practice, Jiu Jitsu would still be the best endeavor I have ever undertaken.
Chris Matakas
Relationships formed through Jiu Jitsu are deeply rooted in respect for one another, and this is often not the case in matters of modern society.
Chris Matakas
Jiu Jitsu provides a place of fellowship that, unfortunately, our society has largely failed to create.
Chris Matakas
It is fellowship, this most fundamental need on our way toward achieving our highest expression of the human experience, which Jiu Jitsu provides.
Chris Matakas
This is the opportunity the fellowship of Jiu Jitsu affords us. To reach our highest potential of self, and then to offer that self to another.
Chris Matakas
Conduct yourself in a manner that is worthy of respect and don't worry about what others think.
Bohdi Sanders
What is right is the ultimate law and trumps the law of the land.
Bohdi Sanders
Never strike out of anger if at all possible, this will give your enemy the advantage and strengthen his resolve and psyche
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
Act with the heart of the warrior.
Bohdi Sanders
A karate practitioner should possess two things : wicked hands, and Buddha's heart
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
Karate without heart is just A corpse
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
Patience and Forgiveness are at the heart of A warrior's success, they help engender necessary intervals of space and time to evaluate difficult encounters.
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
It’s clear that if we use the mind attentively, mental power is increased, and if we concentrate the mind in the moment, it is easier to coordinate mind and body. But in terms of mind and body unity, is there something we can concentrate on that will reliably aid us in discovering this state of coordination? In Japan, and to some degree other Asian countries, people have historically focused mental strength in the hara (abdomen) as a way of realizing their full potential. Japan has traditionally viewed the hara as the vital center of humanity in a manner not dissimilar to the Western view of the heart or brain. I once read that years ago Japanese children were asked to point to the origin of thoughts and feelings. They inevitably pointed toward the abdominal region. When the same question was asked of American children, most pointed at their heads or hearts. Likewise, Japan and the West have commonly held differing views of what is physical power or physical health, with Japan emphasizing the strength of the waist and lower body and Western people admiring upper body power. (Consider the ideal of the sumo wrestler versus the V-shaped Western bodybuilder with a narrow waist and broad shoulders.)However, East and West also hold similar viewpoints regarding the hara, and we’re perhaps not as dissimilar as some might imagine. For instance, hara ga nai hito describes a cowardly person, “a person with no hara.” Sounds similar to our saying that so-and-so “has no guts,” doesn’t it?
H.E. Davey
Better than money and fame, teaching martial arts to your children; giving them your time and confidence, is the best inheritance
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
You can't run from who you are. The best you can do is take who are you are and make the best YOU that you can be.
Bohdi Sanders
Physical training is mental warfare!
Tae Yun Kim
I firmly believe that life will continually try to teach you the same lesson, with increasing pain, until you heed the call.
Chris Matakas
. . in Old Karate, you learned you Art through pain. You learned quickly that your techniques had to be fast or powerful or both. If you did not embrace pain and it's lessons adequately, you simply did not survive
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
The true meaning of the 'samurai' is one who serves and adheres to the power of love.
Morihei Ueshiba
Warriorship is none other than the vitality that sustains all life.
Morihei Ueshiba
It is our duty to ensure we have a peace worth fighting for.
Chris Bradford
On Ryukyu islands, the expert Kara-te practitioners, used their skills to subdue, control and generally teach bullies A lesson, rather than severely injure or kill their attackers. They knew full well the consequences of their actions and the trail of blood and retribution that would ensue
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
We are just too busy trying to appear smart to realize how intelligent we actually are.
Chris Matakas
The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit.
Morihei Ueshiba
The idea that each of us can be directly spiritual is radical. Most religions are based not on teaching adherents to be directly spiritual, but in persuading them to trust in the intercession of ministers or priests. The problem with this approach is that we cannot gain access to spirituality except through the medium of a fallible human being. If we want to see Tao, we need only open our eyes and trust what we see.
Ming-Dao Deng
I have found that the morning is far more accessible when a good book awaits you.
Chris Matakas
Jiu Jitsu uses us to express itself, and the best thing we can do to is to become a vehicle capable of expressing Jiu Jitsu with all of its perfection minus our imperfections.
Chris Matakas
True mastery transcends any particular art. It stems from mastery of oneself--the ability, developed through self-discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the surroundings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself.
Bruce Lee
Just as writing can become calligraphy when it’s creatively, skillfully, and consciously performed, so can all other activities become art. In this case, we are reflecting upon life itself as an artistic statement—the art of living.
H.E. Davey
Realizing that our minds control our bodies while our bodies reflect our minds amounts to understanding the most fundamental aspects of ourselves. It further equals a comprehension of the relationship between our “tools.” And since the mind and body are interrelated, this understanding makes it easier to see why coordinating them is a practical way of using these tools to greatest effect—a way of using the mind and body to live our lives as art.
H.E. Davey
In Japan, a number of time-honored everyday activities (such as making tea, arranging flowers, and writing) have traditionally been deeply examined by their proponents. Students study how to make tea, perform martial arts, or write with a brush in the most skillful way possible to express themselves with maximum efficiency and minimum strain. Through this efficient, adroit, and creative performance, they arrive at art. But if they continue to delve even more deeply into their art, they discover principles that are truly universal, principles relating to life itself. Then, the art of brush writing becomes shodo—the “Way of the brush”—while the art of arranging flowers is elevated to the status of kado—the “Way of flowers.” Through these Ways or Do forms, the Japanese have sought to realize the Way of living itself. They have approached the universal through the particular.
H.E. Davey
Nothing feels dirtier than living a life that is not your own. No amount of money is worth my soul. I would rather be homeless and go out in a blaze of glory than subject myself to a slow and steady death of apathy and government by my environment.
Chris Matakas
An exceptional Sensei has traits such as patience and integrity. Otherwise, natural fighting ability, cruelty and aggressive behavior may be observed in most animal predators.
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
We see that happiness is not comfort. Happiness is the freedom to choose one's own way.
Chris Matakas
In a war, you wield every weapon you have, including words. Especially words.
Fonda Lee
Only by binding together as a single force will we remain strong and unconquerable.
Chris Bradford
Wherever it is you may be, it is your friends who make your world.
Chris Bradford
Habits are infinitely more beneficial to the aspiring student than motivation. Motivation may get you started, but habits keep you going.
Chris Matakas
Just know that the achievement of anything grand takes consistent effort year after year. Motivation can uphold you intermittently, but it has too few calories to sustain a life.
Chris Matakas
Systems and processes will always surpass motivation.
Chris Matakas
Things can be added, but that doesn't mean that anything is missing.
Chris Matakas
If you have a good idea, use it so that you will not only accomplish something, but so that you can make room for new ones to flow into you.
Ming-Dao Deng
I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000 kicks. But I am afraid of a person who knows one kick but practices it for 10000 times.
Bruce Lee
I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000 kicks. But I am afraid of a person who knows one kick but practices it for 10000 times.
Bruce Lee
The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits.
Bruce Lee
Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
Bruce Lee
Jiu Jitsu opened up doors in my mind that public education had bolted shut. In hindsight, I see just how superficial my thoughts had been prior to this art. It is no coincidence that my efforts in reading and writing have run parallel with this craft. I began training Jiu Jitsu at twenty-two, and at the time of this writing I am about to turn thirty. I have learned more in the past eight years than the previous twenty-two, and have no doubts that Jiu Jitsu opened up my mind in a way traditional organized education never could. Jiu Jitsu gave me a life when I didn't know how to live. It is the best thing I have ever done, and is the foundation upon which all I will do.
Chris Matakas
Jiu Jitsu has given me an education in education, which I now see is the most valuable education there is.
Chris Matakas
. . and so it is that A Sensei may impart his knowledge of the martial Way and nurture your fighting abilities, but you must learn the wisdom of finding other ways than martial skills to solve your problems
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
While we can learn or study techniques for almost anything we might want to accomplish, real understanding is not the mere accumulation of knowledge. Understanding cannot be realized by listening or reading about the realization of others. It must be achieved firsthand via substantive, direct perception in the moment.
H.E. Davey
Be the winner in your life!
Tae Yun Kim
hope for the best, prepare for the worst
Chris Bradford
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
Chris Bradford
I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.
Bruce Lee
Failure is a fuel for excuses.
Jet Li
Memorizing someone else’s explanation of the truth isn’t the same as seeing the truth for yourself. It is what it is—the memorization of second-hand knowledge. It is not your experience. It is not your knowledge. And no matter how much material is learned by rote, and no matter how eloquently we can speak about the memorized information, we’re clinging to a description of something that’s not ours. What’s more, the description is never the item itself. By holding onto our impression of certain descriptions, we frequently are unable to see the real thing when it’s right before our eyes. We are conditioned by memorizing and believing concepts—the truth of which we’ve never genuinely seen for ourselves.
H.E. Davey
When you recognize or experience the truth about yourself you automatically feel love, because love is a quality of your true consciousness and true ideas.
Tae Yun Kim
All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.
Bruce Lee