Bit o' Wisdom

[Cthulhu]

I'm going to try to resurrect something I used to do on the martial arts newsgroups several years ago. Basically, I would pop a few quotes, stories, experiences, etc. up relating to philosophy and/or martial arts. People could just read them and leave it at that, or respond, or add their own.

So, here I go...

Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something
- Morihei Ueshiba

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
- Bruce Lee

If you want to do your duty properly,
you should do just a little more than that.
- Bruce Lee

I come to you with only karate...empty hands. I have no weapons. But should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor; should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons...karate...my empty hands.
- Ed Parker, Sr.

If you quote anybody, please make sure to cite the source.

:asian:

Cthulhu

 

[GouRonin]

"Nothing is impossible...it just takes a little longer"
H.E. Holmes

"Thunder is impressive but lightning does all the work"
Gou Ronin - about 2 seconds ago.
:rofl:

 

[Cthulhu]

If you deny the traditional approach, as a reaction, you will have created another pattern in which you will be trapped.
- J. Krishnamurti

I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and violence, I would advice violence.
- Mahatma Gandhi

A good soldier is not violent. A good fighter is not angry.
- Lao Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching

Once, when a woman correspondent from France came to the dojo, O'sensei was so sick he couldn't even stand up. The woman pleaded with him to give a demonstration, saying that she was never coming back to Japan again. So, O'sensei consented. Students had to carry him onto the mat on a litter. They stood him up, and he told his ukes to attack. Suddenly, he was a different man. He put on a 20-minute demonstration, almost non-stop. He just said, "Keep coming!" It was awesome. But, when it was over, he couldn't stand up any more. Students had to put him back on the litter and carried him off the mat.
- Henry Kono Sensei, from Aikido Today Magazine #31

:asian:

Cthulhu

 

[Cthulhu]

No. Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
- Yoda



Cthulhu

 

[Bob Hubbard]

"Wiether you like it or you don't...You have got to learn to Love it!"
- Nature Boy Ric Flair

"If you Believe it, it will be so"
- Maximus (Gladiator movie)

"Face in the Wind,
We're Riding the Storm.
We'll stay our Course,
Whatever will come.
Wandering souls in the Sea of the Damned,
Death or Glory,We're Riding the Storm."
- Running Wild (German metal band)


"Blocking with head baaad!"
- ME!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

"Aim High...For even if you fall short of the target, you will hit more and travel farther than if you aim low. Aiming low, you only hit feet." - unknown

 

[Cthulhu]

"Seek martial arts knowledge with utmost scrutiny. Do not become entranced by impractical or useless movements. Above all, do not be categorized as one who 'Learns more and more about less and less until he ends up learning everything there is to konw about nothing'". - Ed Parker

 

[Jay Bell]

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

~ Mahatma Gandhi

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I like that one.

 

[Jay Bell]

"Strength without compassion is brutality,
Compassion without strength is weakness"

~Uknown

 

[Despairbear]

The first rule of Aikido:


"Get the hell out of the way."


Sensei Greg Parker





Despair Bear

 

[Cthulhu]

:rofl:
I just read somewhere (sorry, can't remember at this ungodly hour) an author calling aikido, 'the honorable art of getting the hell out of the way'.



Cthulhu

 

[jeffbeish]

"Better to keep quite and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth an remove all doubt." Mark Twain

 

[DWright]

"Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill, everytime."
Unknown

I was told that by my father when I first started Karate many years ago. He doesn't say that to me anymore.

 

[jeffbeish]

Japanese: "kaga hinata noshi mo mishi wo aruku"

English: "I walk without evil, light or shadow, without being threatened or show fear." (Meaning: If one is afraid of falling leaves, they should not seek the trails of the forest nor should they enter the forest itself).

 

[jeffbeish]

The Master said: “The ancients were reserved in their speech, lest their actions might not come up to their words.”

From the above, we would also say this: "One who knows does not talk. One who talks, does not know."

 

[Cthulhu]

"Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams. They all have different names, but all contain water. Religions have different names but all contain truth."

-Muhammad Ali, when asked how he felt about different religions.

Cthulhu

 

[jeffbeish]

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

….To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull facilities can comprehend only to the most primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong to the ranks of the devoutly religious men.”

Albert Einstein, What I Believe (1930)

 

[jeffbeish]

"fukai kiri teme mo motenai kaku reru daizan"

"The fog is so fine that you can't hold it in your hands, yet it can hide a mountain.”

This is a good one for those who could never understand why sensei could so easily throw them down without much advanced indication.

 

[bscastro]

He who stops getting better, stops being good.
--Oliver Cromwell

The more I know, the less I know. But I still know more than you.
--anonymous