The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.
Miyamoto Musashi
The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy’s cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.
Miyamoto Musashi
Spirit first, technique second.
Gichin Funakoshi
Never accept an inferior position to anyone. It is the strongest spirit that wins, not the most expensive sword.
Miyamoto Musashi
Like everyone else, you want to learn the way to win, but never to accept the way to lose – to accept defeat. To learn to die is to be liberated from it. So when tomorrow comes you must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying!
Bruce Lee
There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.
Miyamoto Musashi
The joy of living comes from action, from making the attempt, from the effort, not from success.
Sir Francis Chichester
Control of mental conduct, not skill, is the sign of a matured samurai.
Japanese Proverb
One’s appearance bespeaks dignity corresponding to the depth of his character. One’s concentrated effort, serene attitude, taciturn air, courteous disposition, thoroughly polite bearing, gritted teeth with a piercing look – each of these reveals dignity. Such outward appearance, in short, comes from constant attentiveness and seriousness.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
All of us want to live, and that is absolutely natural. However, we should learn from childhood on to choose our best way to die. If we don’t do that, we end up spending our days like a dog, only in search of harbour, food and expressing a blind loyalty to his owner in return. That isn’t enough to make our lives have a meaning.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
To practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve – as if you might die in the next instant
Taisen Deshimaru
To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.
Bruce Lee
I have come to discover through earnest personal experience and dedicated learning that ultimately the greatest help is self-help; that there is no other help but self-help – doing one’s best, dedicating oneself wholeheartedly to a given task, which happens to have no end but is an on-going process.
Bruce Lee
For me, the martial arts is a search for something inside. It’s not just a physical discipline.
Brandon Lee
Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day one should meditate on being carried away by surging waves, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. There is a saying of the elders that goes, ‘Step from under the eaves and you’re a dead man. Leave the gate and the enemy is waiting.’ This is not a matter of being careful. It is to consider oneself as dead beforehand.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
The real martial artist, as the old Samurai and the true Philosopher taught, should not be afraid of death. He must follow duty and loyalty, heroic courage, justice and morality.
Carl William Brown
The Chinese words ‘kung fu’ translate more or less as ‘a man hard at work over a long time’. If you want to unlock the full power of kung fu, it is not going to be easy: you are going to have to work, you are going to have to sacrifice and you are going to have to suffer – over a long time. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.
Master Iain Armstrong
The cherry blossom the native flower of Japan and the sword are two of the treasures most sacred to the Japanese Samurai Warrior, whose way of life was ruled by the code of Bushido. Through the centuries the Samurai wore attached to the left side of his body, his very soul, the Katana and Wakizashi, long and short sword set known as a DAISHO. Another weapon of the Samurai was the Tanto, a famous knife, which was used to protect his honor to the extent of a ritual suicide. (Harakiri). The Katana was a fearsome weapon which could be unshealthed with lightnening speed and with devastating effect. Both long and short swords were manufactured as matching sets by craftsmen who blended strength of steel with beautiful curvature of blades and matching fittings.
Carl William Brown
Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
It is said the warrior’s is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways.
Miyamoto Musashi
The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.
Miyamoto Musashi
The martial arts are based upon understanding, hard work and a total comprehension of skills. Power training and the use of force are easy, but total comprehension of all of the skills of the martial arts is very difficult to achieve.
Bruce Lee
In true budo there is no enemy or opponent. True budo is to become one with the universe, not train to become powerful or to throw down some opponent. Rather we train in hopes of being of some use, however small our role may be, in the task of bringing peace to mankind around the world.
Morihei Ueshiba
In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.
Miyamoto Musashi
Death seems to be a long way off. Is this not shallow thinking? It is worthless and is only a joke within a dream. It will not do to think in such a way and be negligent. Insofar as death is always at one’s door, one should make sufficient effort and act quickly.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Doing martial arts shouldn’t just mean kicking and punching in the air to try to overcome your fears, even if this could already be a good starting point. The whole training is only the meticulous preparation of the warrior for combat, in practice there is always a conflict to face, and the real samurai, skilled in the pen as well as in the sword, must sooner or later measure himself with his enemies, even the most fearsome, including the supreme and invincible teacher of all battles, death, which will inevitably merge with him in the end!
Doing martial arts therefore cannot be different from studying philosophy, the two practices are combined, and serve for continuous and perennial meditation. In all other cases we are in presence of a mere physical activity, a simple pastime, just as it could be to dedicate oneself to dancing, running, or to other sports, including competitive sports, certainly useful for the mind, for the body , and sometimes also for the portfolio, but absolutely different from the ancient practice of martial disciplines.
Carl William Brown
