Eastern martial philosophy impacts on us with its undeniable fascination. A life of discipline, of the search for perfection that collides with the banality, the haste, the superficiality of the world we live in. Quoting Nathan Algren, the main character of “The Last Samurai” played by Tom Cruise: They (Japanese people) are an intriguing people. […]
One hundred-four years ago, Francesco Olivero, an Italian soldier, wrote from the trenches in the middle of WWI “Because of the labors and dangers of war, there are certain fools who invoke the smart bullet. With this smart bullet, they intend to receive a bullet that does not offend the main parts but only that […]
In that kind of do-it-yourself marketing that rages in the world of Martial Arts, one of the various mantras is the claim that the practice of a discipline “teaches respect”. That’s true: one of the many gifts of constant practice is also an increased capability to respect yourself and others. Yet, is it really possible […]
In the past four days, I have heard four different people, in different environments, saying more or less the same thing. In order: An Aikido teacher: “If we are here, if we are alive, it is because we have not yet finished learning, because there is still the chance of growing, improving ourselves”; A priest: […]
One of the characteristics of Martial Arts is to use an exotic nomenclature. Not only because the terms are usually given in the original Oriental languages but also because their translation often evokes imaginative concepts. And, you know, the fervent imagination of the average practitioner comes on when he hears about “secret techniques”. On average […]
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as […]
All martial arts and all combat systems accurately study the concepts of distance and space. Just as we did for kuzushi (unbalancing), also in this case, we start from the Japanese ideogram “ma”, 間. In this kanji its two components can be identified: in the center, enclosed by the stylization of a door (門, kado), […]
The word exam generates a shiver down the back and a stomach ache to many of us. Anyone who has lived the adventure of getting through from a graduation path knows that every exam was a real birth. Each phase of the gestation is experienced by the student up to the travail of the night before […]
1. I am the Sensei thy Lord, thou shalt have no other Teachers before me. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of O’Sensei in vain. 3. Remember to participate in the National Seminars. 4. Honor thy Senpai and Koai. 5. Thou shalt not kill (nor break bones). 6. Thou shalt not commit impure techniques […]
