Dear Students, Teachers and Friends,

Just got back in town, sorry for the delay on the weekly newsletter.

Congratulations to those that made their new belts this last
weekend. Testing for the Bijou students will take place this week
during class.

Don't miss the Halloween Party to be held at the North dojo on
Saturday October 25th. Games, prizes and good times will be on the
agenda and feel free to invite your friends.

Quotes of the Week

BYRON KATIE:
When you argue with reality, you lose - but only 100% of the time.

PHILIP K. DICK:
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go
away.

Lesson of the Week

Karate-do vs Karate-jitsu


The big debate among modern martial artists is to determine which is
more important the "do" aspects or the "jitsu" aspects of the
martial arts. The "do" aspects (pronounced dough) are the qualities
developed as a result of the training… self-confidence, self-esteem,
self-discipline and so forth. The jitsu aspect is the combat reality
that what you are learning will really work in the street.

In my opinion, you can not have one without the other. Like a double
edged sword it can be used for both depending on the circumstances.
Without the confidence that what one is learning would really work
in the street, then I do not think that true self-confidence will
ever materialize. It is the old yin/yang thing, the blending of the
two is what makes this process work.

This is one of the main reasons for the rituals and protocol taught
in a traditional school. Simply teaching just the fighting
applications produces good street fighters but nothing more. The
purpose for classical martial arts teachers is to arm the average
person with the skills to survive in the modern world. This may
include self-defense tactics, but more often than not it will be
life skills and attitudes to develop a winner in all areas of their
lives. This is why we spend so much time teaching the principles
behind the martial arts that can be used as success principles in
anything they do. This is our method of achieving leaders for the
next generation.

Respectfully,
Terry Bryan