Kumite Tips #1/Kumite Tips #2/Kumite Tips #3/Kumite Tips #4/Kumite Tips #5/Kumite Tips #6/Kumite Tips #7/Kumite Tips #8/Kumite Tips #9
I wanted to talk about the 20 principles of Karate presented by Mr. Funakoshi...
...and in particular the first principle...the act of bowing.
"In Karate, start with a bow and finish with a bow."
The bow is really about respect...for oneself, others and the world at large.
Here follows some famous quotes about respect...
Eldridge Cleaver:
"Respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due".
Laurence Sterne:
"Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners".
Baltasar Gracian:
"Respect yourself if you would have others respect you".
Andre Gide:
"There are admirable potentialities in every human being. Believe in your strength and your truth. Learn to repeat endlessly to yourself". "It all depends on me."
Henri Frederic Amiel:
"There is no respect for others without humility in one's self".
Thomas Jefferson:
"We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it".
Harry S. Truman:
"We must build a new world, a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected".
How is it, that a simple act like bowing... has so much power and meaning?
I believe, it's the simplicity...
Don Juan use to say that "...acts have power"
...and he was right.
RJF
