How do you apply the "martial way"?

[Hikage]

I am curious...

In a society that places high emphasis on selfishness, greed and type "A" personalities it has become increasingly important that people find a system of moral values that they can use to guide their lives. Traditionally speaking, the martial arts have provided a sense of morality for those who practiced the arts. In my area, I have found this particular teaching often to be overlooked and instead traded for an emphasis on competition. At national championships we see attitudes flarring, instead of the self-discipline which we all know is essential to a true martial artist. However, please let it be noted that I am NOT implying that this is the norm among most dojos.

Here's my point.... As stated in my profile, I am a middle school teacher of French, Spanish, and Russian and I want to begin a martial arts club at the school for the students who could use to have the extra adult attention, discipline, and moral teaching. What I am interested in is how you or your dojos instruct character development. Furthermore, how do you apply this teaching to your lives?

Thank you,

-Hikage

[jubaji]

Given the question, perhaps you should begin by defining what you consider a 'martial art'.

[Hikage]

What is a martial art

Good question:

I suppose that I was going off the definition of the "traditional martial arts." From a physical standpoint that would be a system of fundamentals and techniques designed to be used by a warrior in battle as a system for fighting such as used by the samurai. However, I see that in my origonal definition I alienated some of today's arts. Therefore, I readjust my definition to include ANY system of fundamentals, physical, philosophical, or mystical, that one could use do defend themself including, but certainly not limited to:Karate, Jujitsu, Kungfu, Boxing, wrestling, taoism, etc.

-Hikage

[darrianation]

who cares!

[Hikage]

I hate to use you as an example, so please excuse my being blunt.

Your reaction kinda proves my point.

-Hikage

[BlackMaskX]

Hikage,

What style(s) do you have experience in? What styles are you thinking about teaching?

[Hikage]

Hikage,

What style(s) do you have experience in? What styles are you thinking about teaching?

My main art is ninjitsu. I also have a background in tai chi, jujitsu, sambo, escrima and arnis, and combat submission wrestling. I plan on teaching the ninjitsu with an emphasis on body movement (taihenjitsu), but I add in from the other arts on rare occaisons when the timing is right.

-Hikage

[Tiger Claw]

I would teach everything I know that is practical. You know some good arts and many grappling ones. I think you can teach a well rounded ma with your knowledge.

[jubaji]

I hate to use you as an example, so please excuse my being blunt.

Your reaction kinda proves my point.

-Hikage

Excuse my dimness but, what point would that be?

[m.artist]

In a society that places high emphasis on selfishness, greed and type "A" personalities it has become increasingly important that people find a system of moral values that they can use to guide their lives.

that was the point..and he said "who cares"...so there ya go

[SLK.fidget]

i beleive that it is just following what u feel is right, what is just and honorable, helping the weak, being a man of ur word and other stuff like that, i kinda guess that it is up to the individual tho.

[darrianation]

The dojo kun

Seek Perfection Of Character!
Be Faithful!
Endeavor!
Respect Others!
Refrain From Violent Behavior!

[Hikage]

Darrianation,
Thank you for the reply... taking this one step further... how are teh studenst taught to apply this dojo kun to their lives? Do they merely repeat it at the beginning of class or is there something more to it?

-Hikage

[darrianation]

Darrianation,
Thank you for the reply... taking this one step further... how are teh studenst taught to apply this dojo kun to their lives? Do they merely repeat it at the beginning of class or is there something more to it?

-Hikage

To me the Dojo Kun really shows us the cultural ideals of Japanese society. In our society many of these things are missing. In our society many of these things have a slightly different meaning.

I think of it like this-
Be Faithful: Believe in yourself and trust in others.
Endeavor: Set goals and continue to work towards them. Don’t give up!
Respect Others: Gain confidence through obtaining your goals, improving your skills, and practice respecting others and through this finding respect for yourself then you can truly respect others.
Refrain From Violent Behavior: If you truly respect yourself and others you will not act aggressively towards them. You will be able to control your pride.

The above are the steps that lead to perfection of character.

Let me expound a little.
These are the steps to perfecting one’s Character. It all begins with finding respect for you. In Japan this is a very big part of their culture. In our society people generally don’t respect each other. In Karate we learn respect for our sensei and our class mates. It is encouraged to continue this in our daily life. As we gain confidence in our physical and mental abilities while practicing respect we begin to respect ourselves, then comes true respect for others.

We are taught not to quite, not to give up. In karate practice sometimes we get tired but we are encouraged to fight through the sweat and fatigue and continue. When we get kicked or punched we are taught not to show our pain and to continue on without stopping or hesitation. We learn patience and perseverance. Through this and as our skills improve we begin to develop confidence in our abilities. Our confidence isn’t with us just in the Dojo but it carries over into our school work, our jobs and our relationships.

We develop trust of our sensei that he is teaching us correctly, and he/she cares about our general welfare. We also learn to trust our classmates and develop healthy relationships that go beyond the dojo walls.

The standards are generally high in the way we act and interact with others. We are expected to treat others as we would have them treat ourselves (the golden rule). Violent or aggressive behavior is discouraged. If you have respect for others (as above) then you would not be aggressive towards them. Also as our ability and fighting skills improve we become less and less likely to let your pride get in the way and are more likely to walk away from a fight instead of trying to prove ourselves and our skills for pride sake.

I think as time goes on more and more of these ideals seep into your character to the point where we actually begin to live them. We can find the freedom to be humble and always seeking to help others. It is all about becoming better people, better fathers/mothers, friends, and citizens.

[Hikage]

That's good, thank you, I can use that as a good starting point. What happens to a student if they stray from the path? IF they stray far enough (perhaps beating up someone for no reason outside the dojo) are there consequences in the dojo for this? I assume for lesser offenses, teh sensei or sempai talks to them and explains where they went wrong?

-Hikage