Dear Students, Teachers, Parents and Friends,

Welcome to the new high school students that have recently joined
our karate family. As the different districts begin their classes, I
want to take the time to wish you well in your studies and to
encourage you to set high goals for yourself this year. A hallmark
of a black belt leader is to always strive to do their best and
straight "A's" is a good goal to shoot for.

For those students testing for a level of black belt, the test is
scheduled for October 3rd. We are planning on having demo's and
entertainment as we congratulate our new black belts. We will also
have special seminars on Saturday with some special guests coming in
from out of town. Mark your calendar as the 3rd and 4th of October
is going to be a very special weekend.

Don't forget our special VIP program runs through December and the
school is rewarding our students with a $50 cash reward for any VIP
referral they bring into the school that joins. We recognize that
friends share good things with their friends and this is our way of
saying thanks for handing out our VIP guest passes which is good for
one free month of karate lessons and a free uniform. This offer has
a real cash value of $100. If you need some VIP passes, please see
one of our staff members.

For those interested in going to Jamaica in January, the deadline
for registrations is the end of September and also the price of the
land package goes up $25 on the 15th of September. You can pick up
your application at the dojo or ask your Sensei to bring you one if
you train in one of the clubs. If you're interested in getting
involved in fund raising activities to help cover some of the costs,
please e-mail me and I will pass it on to V who is heading up these
activities.



The Lesson of the Week
(This lesson is actually an article I was asked to write for a
magazine and so it is longer than usual.)

Karate Ni Sente Nashi

Karate Ni Sente Nashi basically translates into English as there is
no first strike in karate. I first began exploring this idea while I
was stationed in Viet Nam and the concept intrigued me. While the
idea of never striking first seemed like a good way of training
karate students so they would not abuse their powers, it just didn't
make since in the rice paddies of Southeast Asia. As a matter of
fact, I didn't even see the validity even in a real self-defense
situation. I mean after all, if I found myself in a confrontation
with 3-4 assailants, wouldn't I want to increase my odds of
surviving by taking one of them out right away by using a preemptive
counterattack?

It was in the Okinawan kata and my training with Dan Smith where I
began to understand the meaning of karate ni sente nashi. The forms
were made up of fighting postures or kamae as well as intermediary
moves. The fighting postures were used for defense but in addition
to that they were used to solicit specific responses from an
attacker. For example, what I once saw as a downward block, all of a
sudden became a lower kamae or guard position. If I was guarding my
lower body with low guard position, then I could be pretty sure if I
was attacked it would be to the upper body or face. Armed with this
information, I could have a response waiting and neutralize his
attack immediately. Now this began to make sense, because we used
this same tactic in combat successfully on a regular basis. We would
deliberately leave openings in our perimeter defense only to have
them walk into a prearranged ambush of some kind. This tactic gave
us complete control and assured our success in that engagement. I
began to explore the forms and saw time after time where I was being
taught how to set up my opponent as well as the best possible
counterattack to use at the precise moment they launched the attack.
This concept of karate ni sente nashi was beginning to make sense.

It wasn't until I spent time in Okinawa and got to know the
personalities of some of the truly great Okinawan karate masters did
the idea of karate ni sente nashi take on a new level of
understanding for me. Their genuine desire to never use their karate
skills unless absolutely necessary shined through everything they
did and said. The most humble people that I have ever met, they
would turn and walk away to avoid conflict if at all possible. These
same people had the capabilities of delivering the most powerful
techniques I had ever seen during my over 30 years of training. What
a perfect blend of yin and yang… a true balance.

This led me to understand that karate ni sente nashi was really a
mental and spiritual ideology and not necessarily a physical
response tactic. All conflict begins because of negative emotions.
Doubt, fear, guilt, resentment, envy and even jealousy come about
because we allow ourselves to have these negative emotions. Nothing
good ever comes from negative emotions. Negative emotions are
developed from four major sources – justification, identification,
lack of respect, and blame.

Before a negative emotion can occur, a person first must justify
that he or she is entitled to have this negative emotion. Negative
emotions are truly a choice and a true martial artist chooses not to
have these outbreaks, it is not in the pattern of behavior typical
of a martial arts student. The second thing that is necessary to
have a negative emotion is to identify with it personally. The
counter for this is to not take things personally and to be able to
detach ourselves. The modern student learns this by learning how to
deal with individual techniques one at a time. The third step in
having negative emotions is feeling like we have been disrespected.
A wise man once said, "You should not worry what other people think
of you, because if you knew how seldom they did, you would be
insulted." In the dojo, we are taught how to show respect on a daily
basis, and simply see people that do not do this as having not
learned the proper way. The last cause of negative emotions is
blame. Most people that have a lot of negative emotions blame other
people or circumstances for all their problems. The modern warrior
takes complete responsibility for everything in their lives and is
proactive in achieving their goals.

After three years in combat and a competitive career of over twenty
years, I now have come to an understanding that the concept of there
is no first strike in karate is not about the timing of a physical
response or even the lack of actually responding after you are
attacked. It starts with the way we train. The life skills that we
teach in the karate school today are actually the proactive method
of teaching our students to defeat conflict before it ever occurs.
Teaching these proactive skills, instead of reactive skills is in my
humble opinion the true meaning of there is "no first strike in
karate."

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan