In a self-defense situation where an un-trained person is the subject to be protected they will first think of their own personal safety and well being.

They will worry and wonder what to do. “Should I fight or run? Is he/her better than me, will I get hurt, do I attack or wait, maybe this situation will go away.”.

A proper decision will be hard to make and definitely the will to fight in stead of the will to run or escape be will challenged in any case the will to fight will not be strong.

But with proper training in a Budo art like Karate-Do you will deny your own existence in this world and act for the love of (God, Family, Friends, Country and Honor) you will be decisive and be able to focus great power.

The “Nothingness” of Karate-do is the freedom from the psychological obstruction of (fear) giving way to the ability to use physical techniques with no concern of the self . This is the very essence of Budo.

An example. If a friend came up to you and asked you to go into a room filled with thugs and to put them in their place.

What would you do? You would say, why should I do that there is no reason for me to expose my self to injury or even death.

And for sure you would not venture into the room.

But if your friend said ”Hey in that room is your mother, wife or children an a bunch of thugs are about to kill them” would you enter the room to rescue them?

Of course you would, but with what intensity? In the first scenario you would not enter the room even if you did your motive to fight is with out reason it is in your best interest not to enter.

But in the second scenario something or someone more important to you than your own life is in danger, you would enter and fight with incredible intensity and     determination to save that person.

What is the difference between the two scenarios and how does that apply to Karate-Do or a Budo art? In the first scenario you are the subject to be protected and with out reason to enter the room there is no mental driving force to commit to the act.

In the second scenario there is something greater than yourself driving you to commit to an act with great mental strength without fear and to risk your personal safety even your life without the slightest thought about you..

There is a saying that “Karate-Do starts and ends with courtesy”. What does that mean? It’s true that all Karate-Do training starts with a courteous vow and ends with one. But why vow? Why be courteous? Does this add to the end result of self-defense.

Lets look at the courteous act of vowing and why it is at the very soul of Budo and Karate-Do. The definition of courtesy is “behavior marked by polished manners or respect for others” Webster dictionary. Courtesy is used to train the individual to “get out of himself” and act for greater things that he. From the moment that you enter a Dojo (a place were a way is practiced) the very first thing is vow before you enter the tatami, vow to your sensei, vow before class starts vow, vow, vow and more vowing.

There is a reason for all of this vowing. The real underlying reason is incredible “mental strength and conviction”. All the rules in a Dojo are driven to this goal, you can’t speak, and you can’t do this or that. It’s all about the training of the mind.

Sometimes this things are not known and or not understood and people omit the courteous behavior or the rules and their Karate is week because of that. Any Karate-ka who is not courteous or polite is not very good. Why? Because they are into themselves and when you need to act for the sake of something and its about you and not something greater that you there will be no mental conviction. This human mental driving action is not only in Budo arts but also in Chivalry (the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code) and all other causes that drive humans to act for something greater that the self.

People without the true understanding of Budo and Karate-do say that we are egotistical and shallow  because we “Sensei” demand to be vowed to and we are the focus of attention. It could not be further from the truth. These are training tools, all military arts have a rank structure and protocols like Karate-Do and the principles are the same, the goal is the same mental strength thought physical training.

There are some Karate-Do people that every other word out of their mouth is “I did this” , ”I did that” and so on. Sad, they truly have not learned the very first   lesson  “it’s not about you”.

Then there are the others that are driven by my “Sensei” is the greatest, he trained with this man, he did this, his way is the only way  he is more legit. Again this is an example of what is not the true way of Karate-Do.

I shared many experiences with the late Kancho Jibiki and on some occasions we would be exposed to different people and observed  at many different Karate classes and demos. He would always say that is           different we do not do it that way because of this or that but he never said that it was  wrong or bad just  different and that it was Ok.

One time a man came to us and started to tell us about his instructor and how good he was and what he did, Kancho later told me that his Karate was not good because he did not have any manners and he was all about him self.

Kancho Jibiki was a true Budo-ka and a Master of Karate-do. He was very polite and soft spoken man with respect for all even the ones that he did not agree with.

Please remember to train hard, listen to your sensei, be courteous and polite, avoid conflict and lastly there is no ego in Karate-Do

Today there are a lot of misconception and Karate-Do

This idea of Budo is to take human realities and thought and to train them is what makes Karate-Do such a rich art.

Anyone can fight but it takes a real Budo-ka not to fight.