I use my understanding of jiu jitsu as a road map to learn other activities. I look for the similarities between the two, and use jiu jitsu as an allegory for whatever my new practice...

Don’t make the mistake of depending on the presence of certain people for your training,’ he advised me. ‘Teachers come and go. My own teacher, O-Sensei, died not long ago. I could have given up...

Jiu Jitsu is the vehicle. Not the road.

He landed on cheap shot, but I knocked him out of the tournament.

Never respond to an angry person with a fiery comeback, even if he deserves it…Don’t allow his anger to become your anger.

She looked into the eyes of many of them as they passed away, like some sort of angel of death. Some were frightened, some relieved, most just confused. She served as the arbiter of their...

I train Jiu Jitsu because I recognize that I am a piece of the whole, and as I grow so does that which contains me. The whole of man advances with the growth of a...

O-Sensei was frequently head to say. ‘Aiki is not a technique to fight with or defeat an enemy. It is the way to harmonize the world and make humanity one family.

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 prerequisite, the common cultural boundaries of personal space are broken. You...

When you are the only laowai in a village of 10,000 Chinese martial artists and you’ve sat through several dozen films where a white man shouts, “You Chinese dog,” before getting his ass kicked, it...

… but to remain historically accurate, I would have had to leave out an important question that I felt needed to be addressed, which is, ‘What if Jesus had known kung fu?

Do not seek victory, for victory in itself will not serve you. Seek to understand what made the victory possible.

Devoting yourself to a particular art is invaluable. The art becomes our vehicle with which we drive down the road of life. We use this vehicle to learn about ourselves and this place, to conquer...

Now is the most important time. The world today is chaotic-you know this. But the age of the heart will come. O-Sensei emphasized that we must return to the heart. Firmly grasp O-Sensei’s philosophy–the heart...

We must remember that regardless of our differences in rank we are all equal as human beings. You can always tell how caring and compassionate others are in their actions towards those “below” them. Of...

The best fighter is never angry.

Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things...

The sword is a handle onto the Way of the world that is offering itself to you. If you are willful it will weigh a ton and wear you out. If you lose focus it...

Jiu Jitsu is a vehicle for self-discovery and growth. It reminds me of my ego, of my insecurities, and of my shortcomings.

In Aikido training, we learn from everyone. We learn from the most experience people, but we also learn from new students. Everyone is connected through the heart and develops a mutual understanding. It is important...

To base your self worth relative to others is to play a losing game. If you are at the bottom, you will be filled with self-loathing. If you are at the top, you will be...

The only way to see the path in the wind is to become the wind itself.

Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.

Truth in Christ is not a matter of being near or far like in martial arts when you strive for a black belt. He saves us then we grow; not the other way around.

My growth as a human being has been directly proportional to my growth as a marital artist.

We need to remember that the primary goal of Aikido is harmony and good relations between people. If we don’t cultivate a harmonious heart along with technical skill, there will be a lack of integration...

I believe we must pursue mastery for who we become along the way in its achievement. When we progress in Jiu Jitsu, that newfound experience and wisdom transcends into all areas of our lives. We...

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...

Falsafa ya Usawa kwa Watu na Vitu Vyote ya Yin-Yang ya Kichina ni falsafa inayotumiwa na Wachina, kujifunza sanaa ya mapigano na kutengeneza madawa ya asili, na magaidi wa madawa ya kulevya wa Amerika ya...

Whatever is going on inside your head has everything to do with how well you end up performing.

You are never as good as you think you are, and you are never as bad as you believe yourself to be.

To reach an understanding of Aikido as love, you have to be shinken [completely focused; as if wielding a real sword]. You need to commit yourself, body and soul. Without a wholehearted focus, you won;t...

Being a samurai is all about selfless service and if the lord abuses the servant, it is no longer a situation of service; it becomes the situation of a victim. It is never acceptable for...

I believe the real reason we pursue anything in life is not for the thing itself, but for who we become on the way to its accomplishment. We strive to accomplish things in the attempt...

There is no “can’t” in martial arts. It is perfectly all right for students to state that they are “still working on it”, “have not mastered it yet”, or “are trying as best they can”...

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.

A champion always prepares to win.

I would more appropriately define mastery as the technical ability possible within the constraints of your particular existence. It must be noted that this is a subjective definition, and that this degree of mastery would...

Aikido practice is a method of incorporating the fundamentals of Great Harmony, Great Love, and Gratitude into one’s own heart. To integrate these fundamentals into Aikido technique, I have to eliminate the sense of winning...

If he can’t reach you he can’t hit youIf he can’t hit you he can’t hurt you

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.

Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

just as a stool requires three legs to stand upright so the taekwondoist must cultivate basic skills, meaningful forms, and effective sparring in order to have both feet firmly planted in the art

I think all artists struggle to represent the geometryof life in their own way, just like writers deal witharchetypes. There are only so many stories that you cantell, but an infinite number of storytellers.

As an instructor, my goal has always been to use Jiu Jitsu as a vehicle to help our students achieve their goals, whatever the case may be. I have yet to find a better vehicle...

Aikido is not ultimately Japanese: It is an art of universal truth and international significance.

I’ve learned to fall like the BJJ player, to protect the body through controlling the distribution of force by slapping the mat with hands open. With hands open. Hands open. Open. O Pen.

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.

Unfortunately, religion often works to shrink and tame the very wild and mysterious forces that first drew our wonder. In the process of making the inexplicable safe for the masses, the possibilities for real illusion-piercing...

If you are fortunate enough to have a particular activity with which you find greatest joy and technical success, it is your responsibility as a growing human being to continue that study. Whatever your endeavor,...