people or to do something good in the world, even to the point of it costing your life, if it is for some good purpose.
Karate is an art that has been developed from the spirit of the samurais’ blade and the image reflects the samurais soul.
There was a priest named Tannen who used to say in his daily talks that a monk cannot fulfil the Buddhist way if he does not generate compassion within and persistently stir up courage, that is, if a warrior does not manifest courage on the outside, and hold enough compassion within his heart to burst his chest, he cannot become a warrior. Therefore the monk pursues courage with the warrior as his model, and the warrior pursues the compassion of the monk.
In our days, there are many students who are attached to martial arts and by training hard believe that they have achieved full stature of a “warrior” or, as we would understand it today, a good fighter or competitors. But it is a regrettable thing to put far too much effort and at the end to become merely an artist.
Sensei Sid Tadrist
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