The Focus'on Philosophy

What we focus on, we tend to feel.

Have you ever remembered a happy or funny moment, during a time of sorrow? Or ever felt anger about something from the past, during a happy moment with a friend? Our focus can be directed in less than a heartbeat. And following it, comes a feeling. Be in charge of your own focus and emotions. Change your focus and change your feeling. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh, people who make you happy, people who help you focus on the good in life. If you focus on it, you will find it, whatever IT is. Learn from the bad, but focus on the good. Life is too short to be anything but happy. You don't have to be happy about everything that happens, but don't deny yourself happiness because of a moment of the past. Focus on the future and its infinite possibilities. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living. As the ancient Japanese Proverb goes, "Fall down seven times, get up eight."

What disempowering thoughts do you tend to have? What holds you back from being what you want and deserve to be? How might you change your focus in order to be more, do more, live more, love more, create more? Create something magical in your life right now. Create a life worth living. Change your focus and change your life. Be the change you wish to see in the world. What do you want out of life?

Drills:
Beginner - Next time you're in class or another safe place, close your eyes and listen. Hear everything that is happening but focus on nothing in particular. After a few moments, turn your attention to one sound and focus on this one sound. Follow this sound with your thoughts, pay attention to every detail. Recognize the direction it comes from, the tone, the pitch, the volume, the rhythm, etc. Next, open your eyes and see if what you heard comes from what you imagined.

Intermediate: While working with a partner during techniques, pad work, grappling or sparring try to read their telegraphs or feel their intention. Focus on the position of their legs and arms. What is their weight distribution? Can you feel if they are going to advance or retreat? Are they about to kick, or punch? Which side are they planning to use? Take note of their every action without focusing on your reaction to it. Be sure to start slow in order to learn to read your opponent. As you begin to correctly predict their movements, speed up the drill.

Advanced: Practice the same as the intermediates, but focus on your own intellectual responses to their actions and inactions as well. Begin to recognize every detail of the situation and seize every opportunity to succeed. Take advantage of their openings. Work around their strengths and overwhelm their weaknesses. Use the environment to your advantage. Work on your focus until you know what they are about to do, before they know.

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments and help us by reposting this for your friends.

The Long and Difficult Path

In the book Martial Arts Teaching Tales of Power and Paradox, Pascal Fauliot collects myths, legends, and parables about masters of zen, tea ceremony, and the sword. He uses these stories to convey a series of lessons on confronting ourselves and the challenges of living the Way of martial arts.

At the beginning of Chapter 3, he describes for the reader the path of self improvement.

Confronting the Mountain

As long as you are incapable of
going beyond the mountain, it is
impossible to attain the Way

Wei Kuan

"Tradition tells us that following the Way is akin to scaling a steep mountain. The person who has chosen to undertake that ascent will select the slope he wishes to attempt and set off in search of a guide who can show him the path. These choices are deciding factors. If the slope is too steep, or the guide too inexperienced, the results can be disastrous. But nothing is guaranteed, even with the best possible guide. There are numerous obstacles ahead and many painful efforts will have to be undertaken. A great struggle that involves going one-on-one with the mountain is necessary. One's muscles are straining, one's fingers are tightly clinging to the rock. Each movement must be precise and measured. Nothing can be left to chance. One false step will lead to a long fall.

But what is the point of this challenge that does not let up for a second, poised halfway between the summit and the abyss, between life and death?

The person who dares the mountain knows, or at least something within him or her knows, that the great struggle takes place inside. The mountain is only a pretext. It permits a man or woman to come face-to-face with him, or herself, it provides one with an opportunity to go beyond oneself. It is by coming to grips with these kinds of difficulties that the student will develop the discipline, the will, and the energy necessary to his continued evolution. In reality every ordeal is a help in getting to the way. "If Heaven is about to entrust an important mission to a man, it begins by filling his heart with bitterness and by confusing his powers of perception and overturning his plans. It forces him to exert his bone and muscle. It forces him to endure hunger and all manner of sufferings. When the man emerges triumphantly over all these trials and tribulations, he is then capable of accomplishing what would have been impossible for him to do before." This quote from Mencius is a very precise answer to the question: "What is the true meaning of life?"

What is truly at stake in this inner battle? For the masters, the real obstacles that prevent the student from making any progress are those erected by his or her artificial personality. The ordinary individual, choking under a yoke of mental and physical habits, his vision of the world distorted by a screen of illusions, is an invalid cut off from the depths of his being, depths whose potential remains untouched. The necesary work to be done consists in exploding these physical and psychological blocks so that the individual's latent forces can blossom freely. The goal of budo, the way of combat, like any authentic path, is the regeneration of the individual. But this self-realization can only be attained through a merciless struggle against one's own defects, weaknesses, and illusions. Vanquishing one's inner obstacles requires the patience to be relentless in tracking them down and the courage to confront them when that search bears fruit. Pride, cowardice, impatience, and doubt, all fed by illusion, are so many dreadful traps in which a great many people have fallen. The path through them twists like a snake; it is long, difficult, and taxing. Not allowing oneself to become discouraged, persevering no matter what and in spite of oneself, is one of the keys to the Way."

The inner battle. It is the one we truly face. Self defense is a valuable skill to develop; humans are an intra-species predator. But when we step onto the training floor we do not face an enemy. There is no mugger, or murderer, or villian between us and our goal. We face only ourselves.

The battle against our own illusions, our fears and self imposed limitations, against the Six Invisible Enemies, is a long one. It will take all of your life to walk the path of self improvement. But each time the karateka steps foot inside the school he moves further down that path. Each decision we make to move forward, in karate, in life, embodies what Fauliot called, "the regeneration of the individual."

Drills -
Beginner: Set a goal to practice each of your techniques twice when you get up in the morning and twice before bed. Even if you are really tired. Even if you don't want to. If you forget, forgive yourself and try again next time. Identify something you are afraid to do.

Intermediate: Next time you're working out, keep count of how many pushups and situps you can do comfortably during your physical training. Then attempt to add two repetitions of each every time you train. If you get tired or fail to meet your new goals, take a break and return to the exercise later. Make it a point to do an extra set of each at the end of your workout. Make plans to confront your fears.

Advanced: Perform each of your forms from beginning to end. When you run out of forms to do, begin again with your earliest forms and run through the lists again and again. When you get too tired to continue, perform the forms each one more time. Lower yourself into your stances. Hold each position and breath deeply as you experience the fatigue and weariness of your body. Focus on completing the task. Overcome your anxieties and have new experiences.

12 Primary Love Needs

In our training center students study the physical requirements of becoming a warrior while simultaneously learning to harness the mental abilities of a scholar.  The ability to control both the physical and mental side on oneself shows true mastery and in order to master victory over any opponent, one must truly learn to "know thyself" first.

When several students commented on last month's theme, and asked us to share it, I thought it might be appropriate to share here.  Perhaps you'll find some use from this; perhaps with a spouse, a friend, a relative, or even a student of your own.  These lessons can work universally, however they are just guidelines.  They are primarily intended for loving, respectful relationships, and should always be used with common sense.  While these are generally guidelines for working with the opposite sex, some people may need the opposite of what you'd expect.  We all share some form of masculine and feminine qualities, however large or small.  This is the Yin and Yang of life.  The key is to seek first to understand the needs of one another and then you can begin unlocking the mystery of a synergetic relationship.   

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Men and women are often unaware that they have different emotional needs.  As a result, they do not instinctively know how to support each other.  Both typically give in a relationship, what they would want.  Each mistakenly assumes that the other has the same needs and desires.

12 Primary Love Needs

1.      She needs Caring- Show interest in her feelings.

He needs Trust- Trust in his abilities and his intentions.

2.      She- Understanding- Listen without judgment and with empathy.

He- Acceptance- Love him without trying to change him.

3.      She- Respect- Acknowledge her rights, wishes, and needs.

He- Appreciation- Acknowledge his efforts, behavior, and its value to you.

4.      She- Devotion- Give priority to supporting and fulfilling her.

He- Admiration- Admire him with wonder, delight, and appreciation.

5.      She- Validation- Validate her feelings and point of view.

He- Approval- Recognize the good reasons behind his actions.

6.      She- Reassurance- Let her know she is loved… continually.

He- Encouragement- Give him courage by expressing confidence in his abilities and character.

These ideas were adapted from “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” By John Gray, Ph.D

A recommended read for learning to communicate better.

20 Years Later... A Legacy... Your Legacy.

“I received a call from Ed Parker Jr. at 6am the morning after his father had his fatal heart attack. He said “I’m calling my father ‘s friends to let them know he passed away..."  (Lee Wedlake, Black Belt magazine)

20 years ago today, Ed Parker, the father of American martial arts and a pioneer of modern martial arts practice and principals would teach no more.  While today marks the 20th anniversary of our Grandmaster's death, his legacy continues to be carried on through the 21st century.  There are schools of American Kenpo on every continent.  His teachings have become embedded in over a thousand different styles.  Movie fight scenes often portray his work in films such as Blade, Borne Identity, and the original Pink Panther series (not to mention countless martial arts movies).  The lessons he left many of us with where not always about kicking and punching though, they also included philosophies and ideals for living.  Students of his have gone on to promote the physical, mental, and martial lessons that he taught while also working to create better community amongst mankind.

It is important to note however, that while much has been done to promote his art, it is not his art.  Much like Bruce Lee's concept of martial arts as the art of expressing the human body, it is not his any more than it is mine, nor yours.  It is what it is, it is our own.  Your body, your mind, your character and spirit are your own, it is up to you to craft it.  If you do not, someone else will do it for you.  It is not hard, nor is it easy.  It just is.  You are what you eat, you become what you focus on most, you are an average of the 5 people you hang out with most often; these are all ancient words of wisdom.  What work of art are you crafting?

 “Time and space may separate us, but not the thoughts and memories that bind us.” - Ed Parker

We must take it upon ourselves to honor a man who has given so much of himself to the world and ultimately you, our students, and the best way we can do that is to leave a spectacular legacy of our own.  The best way to lead is by a good example.  Dunham's dojo leads through the example of our instructors and top students.  We seek to inspire and educate those in training, to create a life of purpose and passion.  The friendships, knowledge, mental focus, emotional fortitude, and physical prowess that we continually aim to perfect is our legacy. We pass this on to you, our students.  We would not have it if it weren't for our many teachers and Mr. Parker.  Mr. Parker would have missed his same chance to make his mark if it weren't for Mr. Chow and his countless other teachers.  So on and so on it goes, for centuries.  It is up to each of us to chose a path and to pass on what we find best in ourselves and to continually work to better what we find worse.  Some will do this by passing on their Kenpo, some, through living by example, and some, will forget the lesson all together.  Become empowered.  Create the life you want.  Ask yourself what you want out of life and fight for it, work for it, relish the chance to take living into your own hands as our Great Grandmaster Edmund Kealoha Parker did.  I invite you all, students and non students alike, challenge yourselves to be your best and under no circumstances should you ever give up.  We may fall down nine times, but we'll always get up ten.

As the New Year approaches, as we strive to get through a recession, and as you consider the life you wish to craft, consider one of my favorite quotes:

"You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something. The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."

Norman Vincent Peale

Last living disciple of Jigoro Kano still teaches three days a week at age 97.

Here is an article about an amazing woman who has done many things with her life and in an effort to help women find their place in the martial arts.


(Excerpts taken from http://www.flyingcarp.net/2009/04/be-strong/ and wikipedia.)

"In a world dominated by men, a tiny 97 year-old living legend is the highest ranking woman in judo history. She is also the last living disciple of Jigoro Kano, judo’s founder." (Kano is also known to be the originator of the modern belt ranking system).

"In 1934 Keiko Fukuda was preparing for marriage, like most young women in Japan. Then she met Jigoro Kano and radically altered her life path. She gave up marriage, family, and her home-land to pursue her life destiny.  In 1966 she immigrated to the U.S., a single woman with an opportunity to make a living with her vocation, judo. Her move to the U.S. caught light of rank injustice within the Japanese judo system. With the help of American women’s rights activist, judo students, she began her struggle up the male dominant ladder of judo."

"Fukuda was born on April 12, 1913, in Tokyo, Japan.  As a youth, she learned the arts of calligraphy, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony; typical pursuits for a woman in Japan at that time.  Fukuda's grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, had been a samurai and master of Tenjin Shinyō-ryū jujutsu, and he had taught that art to Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo and head of the Kodokan.  Kanō had taught female students as early as 1893 (Sueko Ashiya).  He personally invited the young Fukuda to study judo—an unusual gesture for that time—as a mark of respect for her grandfather.  She began training in judo in 1935, as one of only 24 women training at the Kodokan.

Despite her conventional upbringing, Fukuda felt close to judo through memories of her grandfather, and one day went with her mother to watch a judo training session.  A few months later, she decided to begin training for herself.  Her mother and brother supported this decision, but her uncle was opposed to the idea.  Her mother and brother had thought that Fukuda would eventually marry one of the judo practitioners, but she ended up never marrying, instead becoming a judo expert herself."