The Enlighted Warrior

Please note this post will updated with latest and more detailed info... (when I have more time...)

When one understands the Highest Level of Martial Arts, One realizes that Its pointless to fight and Non-Violence is the only way real way to maintain peace among Humans...

The Enlighten Warrior is one who knows the "Art of Defending without Fighting"...
Thus Enlightened Warriors are not necessarily those with Superior Physical Martial Art Skills, but are those with Superior Mental and Spiritual Skills...

The best examples of "Enlightened Warriors" with their famous Quotes:

Martial Artists

• Meijin GICHIN FUNAKOSHI (1868 -1957), Founder and Grandmaster of Shotokan Karate-Do 
• "The Ultimate Aim Of Karate Lies Not In Victory Or Defeat, But In The Perfection Of The Characters Of Its Participants".

• Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), Founder and O Sensei of Aiki-Do
• "Master The Divine Techniques Of The Art Of Peace And No Enemy Will Dare To Challenge You." 
• "In True Budo, There Is No Enemy Or Opponent. True Budo Is To Become One With The Universe. We Do Not Train To Become Powerful Or To Throw Down Some Opponent, Rather We Train In Hopes Of Being Of Some Use, However Small Our Role May Be, In The Task Of Bringing Peace To Mankind Around The World."

•   Sun-Tsu/ Sun Tzu/Sun Wu, Ancient Chinese Military General, Strategist and Philosopher. Author of the ancient book “Art Of War” 
• "To Win One Hundred Victories In One Hundred Battles Is Not The Highest Skill. To Subdue The Enemy Without Fighting Is The Highest Skill."

Non-Martial Artists

The spiritually superhuman ones:

• Jesus Christ 
• "Put your sword back into its place;  for those who live by the sword, die by the sword." 
• "You have heard it said of old, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, do not resist the evil person. If he strikes you on the left, turn to him the right.

• Buddha 
• "Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace"

The more human ones" 

• Mahatma Gandhi (We are NOT considering what weaknesses he possessed as a human but the Spiritual Strength he had to stand up against what was wrong without being violent)
• "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
•  "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
• Mother Theresa
• "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
• "The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between."

The True Goals Of Martial Art Training: Goal 1 - Good Physical, Mental & Spiritual Health

Never Forget "Its Better To Die In A Fight That May Never Take Place, Than To Live EVERYDAY OF YOUR LIFE Physically, Mentally & Spiritually HANDICAPPED, ILL AND IN PAIN, FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE Because Of Needless Violent Uncontrolled Training"

The goal of most Martial Arts/Sports/Combat Systems preach of good health and longevity. But Unfortunately not all of them actually succeed in this goal...

If we talk about only the Physical aspect of Good Health and if your training system ends up making you Disfigured, Handicapped, Deaf, Blind, or Infertile... what good is it going to do to you, living a life like that, and do we honestly think we would be able to defend or protect ourselves and our dear ones in such a helpless deplorable condition...

Unfortunately many ignorant newbies in the field of martial arts, start attempting to break bricks and board without first going through systematic training. Or rush into full contact sparring with out proper training and without conditioning one's body and reflexes, resulting in unwanted and avoidable injury and pain possibly for life... But it is something that is less a mistake of the Student and more that of the Teacher for not educating his students...

But what becomes absolutely unacceptable is when certain Bad Teachers themselves cause harm to their own Students and make them into punching bags/guinea pigs to test or show off how strong they are...
In addition to getting badly hurt physically, these victimized students also end up disturbed mentally and spiritually... In many cases these victimized students harbour their grudges and wait for a chance to hurt or cause disturbances in their Teachers life and worse challenge their very own Teacher...
In some cases the seniors do the same thing towards their juniors by aping their Teacher...

The recent news about a Krav Maga Instructor in India hitting his own instructor in the groin and stabbing another is a perfect example of the above...

To be updated with more info...

The Destruction Of The Sanctity Of Martial Art Dojos By The Invasion Of "Gym Culture"

PLEASE NOTE: 
# This article is related to Real Martial Art Teachers who are the Epitome of what a Martial Artist and Guru/Teacher is and related to Real Dojos that are Treated as a Temple and Place of Enlightenment.
# This article is based on Asian/Eastern Philosophies and Cultures like Indian "Guru Shishya Parampara" and very identical Chinese and Japanese Philosophies which may seem too silly, orthodox, or promoting "Teacher Worship", etc  for people of Western Culture to understand.
# This article has been inspired by all the indiscipline, protocol violations, disrespect I have been personally observing in the new gen students for my/their "Teachers" and my/their "Dojos" where I have trained and am training or visited... 

One needs to understand that, there are more deeper reasons that, don't meet the eye of people with a shallow and biased insight, as to why Traditional Eastern schools of education & art created, followed, encouraged and ensured the implementation of such Strict Protocols (and consider violating them as Taboo). t gives the Teacher the much needed control and necessary distance in order to prevent any possible Unproductive Talk, Unhealthy Relationships, Indiscipline, Disrespect, Disturbance in the Decorum of the dojo etc.
THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAT, DEDICATED AND GOOD STUDENTS FOLLOW THESE PROTOCOLS NOT OUT OF FEAR OR AS A MEANS OF BUTTERING, BUT OUT OF PURE LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THEIR TEACHER AND THEIR DOJO AND SO TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN IT.

ITS SAD TO OBSERVE HOW GYM CULTURE HAS INVADED THE DOMAIN OF ALMOST ALL MARTIAL ARTS BEING PRACTICED IN THE WORLD TODAY AND HAS POLLUTED & PERVERTED THE PURITY, SANCTITY & DISCIPLINE OF MARTIAL ART DOJO'S IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE...

Lets discuss some of the most common ones:
1) Violations Against Teachers:
A Martial Arts Teacher who teaches us to defend ourselves not just Physically but Mentally & Spiritually as well and is actually more than a guide for life, but for many he/she is no different from a Coach in the Gym.

What a Martial Art Teacher actually is?
The graphic above and its content is not my creation.
The copyright of the contents in this Graphic
belongs to its rightful Anonymous creators

The moment a Teacher becomes friendly towards his/her students they start committing all the worst protocol violations that one can think of...

• Teachers are no longer addressed by their Respectful Titles "Sensei", "Shifu", etc and are replaced with very informal means of addressing, in worst cases they are even called by their first names.
• No longer are the Protocols and Limitations in Physical Contact/Interaction respected by the students.
• No longer do Students maintain silence when their Teacher is talking... They have their own important things to discuss.
• No longer do Students observe their Teacher when he is demonstrating as they have better or too many more important things on their minds.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR STUDENTS TODAY, A TEACHER IS NO LONGER A TEACHER FOR LIFE... (Many PARASITIC STUDENTS just come to take/steal the Teacher's knowledge and then dump their Teachers or worse use it against them)

IN FACT FOR MANY STUDENTS TODAY, A TEACHER IS NO LONGER A TEACHER OUTSIDE THE DOJO/WUSHU GUAN, OR AFTER THEY STOPPED TRAINING UNDER HIM/HER AND TREAT THEIR TEACHER LIKE HE/SHE WERE JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY PERSON THEY KNOW...

2) Violations in the Dojo/Wushu Guan...
Not following the Dojo Etiquette as Instructed by the Teacher or Seniors of the Dojo.

• Talking Loudly, Screaming, Sing, Joking/Fooling around and not being serious in the class, What's worse is when they do it in front of the Shomen/Alter in a Dojo/Wushu Guan.
• Swearing/Cussing and use of Profane Uncivilized Language
• Dirty/Cheap Talk
• Playing pranks on other students. 
• Deliberately not putting their mobile phones in Silent and worse using their Mobile phones inside the Dojo while training is in progress.
• Dirtying the Dojo/Wushu Guan.
• Destroying the Dojo/Shaolin Wushu Guan or the training equipment present in it.
• Many Students forget that a Dojo/Wushu Guan is a "PLACE OF ENLIGHTENMENT" and is as holy and pure as a Place of Worship and not a place of fashion or a place to flaunt the sexiness of their bodies, end up coming to Dojo/Wushu Guan shamelessly and immodestly dressed. (Dress Code for Beginners Learning Martial Arts...)

To be honest, it is the responsibility of the Teacher to maintain the necessary distance with his students and the responsibility of the Senior Students of the Teacher to educate the new comers and Juniors in the proper etiquette and protocols that they (as a student learning Martial Arts), must understand from their core and implement:
# in their interaction with their Teachers and
# while practising in the Dojo

Being A Good Student...

PLEASE NOTE: This post will be constantly updated...

This post is dedicated to all my Teachers for having accepted me as their Student... and who themselves are very Good Students to their Teachers even Today...

In order to be a Good Student you must first have a clear understanding of certain facts & truths...

1. KNOWLEDGE OR SKILLS ARE WHAT HELP A PERSON HAPPILY & SUCCESSFULLY EXIST, SURVIVE & MULTIPLY(Our basic instincts) IN THIS WORLD.
2. Knowledge/Skills are numerous but we mainly Learn Knowledge/Skills that will Benefit/Aid/Assist/Satisfy us:
   • Physically, Mentally & Spiritually
     
   • Economically, Financially, Socially etc.
3. But Attaining/Obtaining/Gaining Knowledge/Skills is not an easy task, as in order to attain/obtain/gain Knowledge/Skills you need to Learn it, Practice it and continue to Increase, Enhance & Perfect it.
4. To Learn you have to either
   • Teach/Train yourself (The Difficult way)
     By Understanding the Importance & Need of that Knowledge/Skill, Observation, Thinking(Imagination & Creativity), combined with Experimentation (Trial & Error) that is not only dangerous/risky but may also cause serious loss/damage physically, mentally & spiritually in addition to financial and other losses.
   • Learn it from a Documented Medium like Books, Dvds etc (The Limited Way).
   • Learn it from a Person "A Teacher", (The Easy Way) who has learnt it by himself (The Difficult Way) or from another Person (The Easy Way). 
5. But fortunately or unfortunately Not everyone has the caliber, intelligence, time and patience to first research/experiment/figure out the How, When, What & Why of things and then document it and learn it. Neither are they able to learn anything of quality from Books, DVDs etc.
6. Most People possessing any kind of Important, Life Saving Knowledge/Skill would NEVER want to share His Complete Knowledge/Skill with any third party, because He or his Children and Family could in turn be Challenged Or Would have to Compete with the very same ungrateful person (or his family/students) they taught and shared their knowledge with, That is Why Most Secret Arts/Knowledge/Skills were and even today are still being transferred, only within the same family from father to Child for generations.
7. YOU WANT TO BECOME A STUDENT ONLY BECAUSE YOU WANT TO LEARN/BE GUIDED IN THAT KNOWLEDGE/SKILL THAT YOU DON'T KNOW OR LACK.
8. YOU WANT SOMEONE TO BE YOUR TEACHER  ONLY BECAUSE YOU WANT THAT PERSON (TEACHER) TO TEACH YOU/GUIDE YOU IN THAT KNOWLEDGE/SKILL THAT YOU DON'T KNOW OR LACK.
9. So to be a Student, you must have a Teacher
   Many think that they can learn from Books, Audio & Videos etc, because they are oblivious or ignorant of the fact that, these lifeless, insensitive, unintelligent mediums are:
   
   • Only documentations of a person's (teacher's) Knowledge/Skill and each medium has numerous limitations in being able to replicate & convey that Knowledge/Skill completely and exactly the way, the Teacher knows and understands it.
   • No Teacher (there may be a few exceptions) would or even want to give out all his/her knowledge to the public domain where it could be misused etc.
   • Unable to impart the Ethical, Philosophical & Spiritual Aspects related to a Knowledge/Skill that, can be only Learnt from & Practiced under the guidance of a teacher.
   • Not intelligent or able to OBSERVE and CORRECT you when you are wrong WHICH IS THE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON WHY ONE NEEDS A TEACHER.
   • Unable to customize your training depending on your physical, mental and spiritual needs, abilities, changes or  limitations.
   • Unable to sensitively boost your morale, encourage and push you to the max, thus helping you to achieve your maximum potential, that is possible only in the presence of a Teacher.
10. To have a Teacher you must have a Person Willing To Teach YOU Everything He Knows Completely, Selflessly, Without Bias, Fear of Competition or Challenge.
11. No matter who you are, What you are, Where you are from, What you do...
    You can never force anyone to teach you anything or everything that they know(No matter how much or how little they know) or accept you as their student/disciple.
    If you think you can threaten a teacher to teach you, then don't forget "Only a Teacher knows How much he knows, What he knows, and every minute detail of what he knows", you are foolish to think you can get everything out of him
12. IT IS YOU WHO IS IN NEED OF THE KNOWLEDGE/SKILL THAT A TEACHER HAS.
13. IT IS YOU WHO IS GOING TO THE TEACHER, REQUESTING/BEGGING FOR HIM TO TEACH YOU AND ACCEPT YOU AS HIS STUDENT/DISCIPLE.
14. Don't think that you are doing your teacher a favor by learning from him.
15. If you think you are too great a person to fall at the feet of a teacher THEN YOU ARE NOT FIT TO BE A STUDENT - GO FIND YOUR OWN WAY, waste your time INVENT THE WHEEL.

Now that you have comprehended the much needed truths and facts, let us understand the concepts of Being A Good Student.

Let me start by clearing the meaning of the words "Student", "Skilled Student" & "Good Student":
A "Student" Is One Who Learns From A Teacher/Instructor
A "Skilled Student" is one who is very Good in the Skills he has been taught, BUT it in no way does it define him/her to be a "Good Student"...

So to be a "Good Student" One must

1. First understand "Why One Is A Student", "How One Became A Student" and "How One Chose To Be A Particular Teacher's Student", most of which I have already explained above.
2. Be Dedicated And Passionate Towards And Always Respect His Art, Irrespective of whether he is Good or Bad in it. 
3. Be Perseverant and never brake down on failures, Everyone Has their own learning speed, but no matter how slow a student is, If he is determined and does not give up He will definitely Learn and most probably much better than the ones who learnt things pretty quickly.
4. Know How To Learn, Because "Even To Learn, One MUST Know How To Learn" (My next topic of Discussion)
5. Forever be Grateful and In-Debt to One's Teacher for having accepted him/her as a Student//Disciple.
6. Never Ever Dare Test. Disrespect, Compete or worse Challenge One's Teacher in anyway.
7. Understand and know That IT IS NOT AT ALL NECESSARY FOR One's TEACHER TO KNOW EVERYTHING, AND THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BETTER MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON/TEACHER THAN One's Own Teacher, But That Can And Should Never Belittle Him in anyway.
8. Understand and know that One's Teacher Is A Human Being too and Not God, and So Is Entitled to Make his/her Own Share of Mistakes and Be Forgiven For It, The Same Way We Would Want To Be Forgiven For Our Own Mistakes.
9. Understand that the Money Paid as Fee, Is Not The Cost/Price of A Teacher's Knowledge, It is nothing more than a Token of Appreciation to compensate in the smallest way possible for The Teacher's Valuable and Precious Time That He Could Spend In His OWN PERSONAL TRAINING OR IN TRAINING HIS OWN FAMILY and Knowledge that he would otherwise share only with his own blood.
10. Never Misuse one's Knowledge/Skills.
11. [TO BE UPDATED WITH TIME...]

Hope this post helps enlighten most of the Lost Souls Who Think Be A Student Is As Simple As Sitting In a Classroom Or Making Someone A Teacher Is Similar To Buying A Commodity...

What Is it With Martial Art Students Trying To "Do Their Own Thing"...

Unfortunately Martial Art students today don't get happiness in seeing their teacher grow and get all the love, respect, fame, limelight or money that He/She earned through years of hard work and dedication and which He/She rightfully deserves.

They instead start wanting to be in their teacher's shoes and dream of getting equal if not all the gains, benefits and wealth for themselves, so that they too could feel like they are something big in life forgetting that there was once a time when they were nothing and knew nothing... and that it was their teacher who made them what they are today...

Unless a Teacher has passed away or has specially instructed His/Her student to do things independently, It is absolutely unethical and immoral for a student to even think of doing something that tries to be in par with/better or worse compete, over take, overshadow, impede with or come in the way of his own teacher.

This is more evil than a son foxily taking over his father's business even before:
1) his father dies or
2) his father formally hands over control of his business to his son
and with the son finally over throwing his own father out of the very business his father started, grew, supported and taught his son how to operate it.

Even if the teacher is not a good teacher and is trying to exploit his students, they should still show respect to him and not try to take is place... and should better do something different from what he has taught them.

In fact one of my Teachers was himself a victim of exploitation when he was a student. His teacher made him take all his classes make him work like a servant in his house and for all his dedication and hard work he was paid peanuts while his teacher feasted on the rest of the profits... Even though his teacher was so bad to him, he still prefers to stay in the shadows of obscurity even today, knowing that his teacher is alive, he still avoids coming to the limelight out of respect for him being his teacher in the past...

Sadly most of the students that come to learn martial arts today, only do so, so that they could start their own school tomorrow...

A good student would always want to be with and work for and along with his teacher forever. It is only after his teacher's death that He/She would ever be forced to take the responsibility of the School and the rest of his students when requested by the teacher's family or if it was willed by the teacher, in addition to looking after and supporting the Teacher's Family as long as it was needed....

Dojo - "The Place Of Enlightenment"

The most important thing that a student of Martial Arts must never forget is that a Dojo/Wushuguan/Dojang/Kwoon/(any other Martial Art Training Space/Hall/Place) is the "The Place of Enlightenment", Because It is:
# The Place where you Perfect your Character and Master the Divine Art of Peace.
# The Place where we learn to defend ourselves Physically, Mentally and Spiritually so that we could protect our Body, Mind & Spirit from any Harm.
# The Place where you transform from a Homo Sapien into a Human Being
# The Place where you come to realize, come face to face and connect with your True Self, your Inner Spirit
# The Place where you come to know the True Strengths, Potential and Weaknesses of your Body, Mind & Spirit
# The Place where you work, strive and dedicate your life to eliminate the weakness of your Body, Mind & Spirit
# The Place where you come to heal/fix your broken self Physically, Mentally and Spiritually.

Thus a Dojo is
> As pure and holy as a Church/Temple/Mosque
> A place of Sanctity
> A place that has to be Respected and Honoured
> A place that should be kept free from all the vices and evil in the world
> A place that needs to be protected from any and everything that could possibly destroy it

Unfortunately the Invasion of Gym culture has and is polluting most dojos we see today...

So next time you go to any dojo, go keeping all this in Mind, and you will never disrespect a dojo again...

How To Choose A Good Martial Art School ?

The endless blossoming of Fraudulent Martial Art Schools and the Intentional, Systematic and Unethical Perversion of Traditional and Mixed Martial Arts into Combat, Sport, Acrobatics/Tricking, PT, Breaking etc by people who practice them (Irrespective of the Art they claim to be teaching, be it Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido, or even Kung Fu) in the world today, is the reason why anyone who wants to Learn a Martial Art today has to think twice before joining anyone of them....

During my Dojo Hunting days, I used to visit every possible Dojo in my area and stand and spend hours and sometimes make many visits, always standing silently but observantly in a corner of the dojos, Observing :

• What the School was Focusing On? The importance it gave to Spiritual & Mental Training in addition to Physical Training?
  -> Since you are looking for a Martial Art School Its clear that the Focus Of the School must be 100% in sync with the Philosophies and Teachings of the Great Masters of the past which is to achieve "Perfection of Character" and "Mastering the Divine Art of Peace". Which is possible only if the school focuses Max on Spiritual and Mental Training. 
• What kind of techniques were being taught and how they were being taught. The Quality and Quantity of Verbal Explanations and Practical Demonstrations given by the instructor when some thing new was being taught.
  -> A Good school will be very systematic and will start with teaching Dojo Etiquette, Philosophy, History etc. and then will continue with Body Conditioning and preparing the body for Martial Art Training.
  -> A Good Teacher will start with teaching basics and will very very slowly progress to Intermediate and then to Advanced training and will never hurry no matter even if the students do not have patience.
  -> A Good Teacher will not rush teaching more and more... as a Good Teacher always focuses on Quality not Quantity.
  -> A Good Teacher will ensure that enough Description/Theory/Explanations are given in sync & relation with the Practical Training.
  -> A Good Responsible Teacher will be very responsible of who he teaches and what he teaches... He will never teach very violent Combative or Killing Techniques to any and everyone.
• Whether their focus was towards the Pure Art form or towards the Combat/Fighting, Sport Perspective of the Art.
  -> As the Philosophy of a Martial Art does NOT match/with any of these perversions, a school that teaches Excess/Only Combat/Fighting, Sport, Tricking etc generally will not and cannot teach the Pure Art form which is based on the philosophy of the Art Form....  
• The Care and Attention given to the students
  -> A Good Teacher will give ample attention to all of his students.
  -> But weakest students will always be given more attention.
• The Strength of the Class.
  -> A Good Teacher will only keep as many students as he can handle and give ample attention.
• The Discipline of the Class
  -> A good school will have strict Discipline and will ensure all students follow it by the letter.
• The Student-Teacher Relationship
  -> Avoid ones where its too Restricted, Difficult for students to Approach the Teacher OR where the Teacher is Over Friendly
  -> Many bad teachers have a habit of Exploiting their students in many ways, so be very careful.
  -> Many teachers are jealous of Students who do some things better than them.
• and finally the Ambiance of the dojo whether it was friendly or dangerously competitive etc.
  -> A good Martial Art dojo is a place where there is Love, Respect, Compassion and Brotherhood.

Another fact over the years that I have learnt is that Big Names/Brands/Labels may not guarantee that you will actually be taught Martial Art the way it is supposed to be and with proper focus on the core philosophy of Martial Art... Never forget Some or the most Authentic Teachers are almost unknown to public...

It is true that I had to do my Home work to be able to figure out what was good and what was not, but I am happy that, all the hard work finally paid off...

Note: These points are applicable for any Martial Art Style/School

Women in Martial Arts & the Male Chauvinists against Them...

This post is dedicated to all the Brave, Dedicated and Hardworking Women practicing Martial Arts all around the world...

Many martial art Internet forums / communities / groups generally have at least one anti-women post or topic like the ones mentioned below and other kind of biased nonsense.
“Boys are stronger than girls” http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=706322&tid=2515435392517766993
“Karate 4 boys, Dance 4 girls” http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=706322&tid=2531417622949608427

What these male chauvinists try to state is that women are weaker than most men so they (women) should not learn martial arts or that there is no use for them (women) to learn martial arts etc...

First of all, these posts just prove their ignorance and their “Frog in a well” level of knowledge and awareness and secondly it is meaningless trying to rationalize the facts with them.

So, let’s see the bare facts:
If it was really true that only a physically stronger person would always win... then there would be no form of martial arts existing today, because there would be no point in learning them, as one would anyway always loose to a physically stronger person....

Other than the Spiritual Aspects, the only other reason, Huge Strong Built, Americans, Europeans etc. pay respect to Asian Masters who are small built and not equally strong is because of the effectiveness of the Martial Art Techniques that these learned masters posses...
One Good Example: Sifu Bruce Lee (5ft 7 1/2 inches tall and weighing 128 pounds) and his student Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7ft 2inches tall and weighing 225 pounds) and many of his other students.

Martial Arts were developed primarily to help the weaker person defend himself against a stronger person... as it is only the proper implementation of the techniques that can counter/defeat the strength of a stronger person...

So if a woman should not learn martial arts (even if she is really strong) because some people think she will always be weaker than some strong man, then the raw truth is that no man has the right to learn any martial art either as there will always be some man stronger than him and will surely loose to him. In fact there are many men learning Martial Arts who would be beaten up left, right and center by women practicing in their dojo or a bigger percentage of men learning Martial Arts who could be beaten to death by women like Cynthia Rothrock or Chloe Bruce, so I guess they should all stop learning Martial Arts.

Every knowledgeable Martial Artist knows the bitter truth of Life that: “There is always someone BETTER, STRONGER, FASTER and DEADLIER than him/her Somewhere” and so it is important for a Martial Artist to always be Humble and always respect everybody irrespective of age/sex/size/race/religion or creed...

Hope this puts an end to this meaningless debate...

I now take this humble opportunity to invite each and every woman reading this article to start learning any kind of Martial Art they can and if you are already doing so I request you to never get discouraged by anyone and stop learning it because of any kind of discrimination or bias...

Take Care... and Keep practicing...

NOTE: All Images are copyright and belong to their respective owners...

''Shomen Ni Rei' ; 'Kancho Ni Rei' ; 'Sensei Ni Rei' ; 'Senpai Ni Rei'

These instructions we hear during the Opening and Closing Ceremony of a Karate Training Session...
To know what they broadly mean, lets first go through the Brief Translations for these words (This interpretation is with Respect to Karate - they may have other meanings too)

Shomen - The Front of the Dojo, Which is the place where the Picture of The Founder of Shotokan Karate must be kept.
Kancho - Supreme Grandmaster
Sensei - Master/Teacher
Ni - similar to the meaning of 'To' in English
Rei - Bow
So these instructions roughly translate to
Bow / Pay Respect to the Founders of Karate (In Shotokan Karate-Do - Meijin Gichin Funakoshi).
Bow / Pay Respect to our Supreme Grandmaster - (for SKIF followers - Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Sensei - (in our School - Sensei Rajeev Sabharwal.)
Bow / Pay Respect to our Senpai - The Senior who is training us under Sensei's Instructions.

For a Dedicated Karateka these simple ceremonies have a more deeper meaning... 

People are born with many shortcomings like Anger, Ego, Jealousy, Greed, Aggressiveness, Negative Competitiveness, Selfishness just to name a few... Its during these ceremonies that we remind ourselves that we are Karatekas and that we are here to attain our goal of over coming our short comings in order to achieve a Higher Goal of "Perfecting ones Character and Spirit"...
We remind ours selves that Karate is not about fighting with others... its about fighting with our selves... against our weaknesses...

By bowing we give up our egos and pride and pay respect to others, to their knowledge, to their dedication, to their spirit... it doesn't matter who is small or big... who is strong or weak... who is young or old...
Its with the loss of Ego that we loose every other vice that is caused because of it...

When we bow to our Meijin (Founder) we thank him for all the knowledge that he painstakingly gathered... refined... and perfected in the art form that we so passionately practice...

By bowing to our Senseis (Teachers) we thank them for the willingness to share with us their hard earned Knowledge and teaching us like we were their own children... and helping us getting better at it... and for selflessly trying to make us better than themselves... We express our willingness to give our selves whole heatedly into their hands to be molded in the right way without questions or doubt... We beg forgiveness for our faults... Finally we promise that we will never misuse the knowledge they have given us, in our lives neither against Them nor anyone else...

By bowing to our Senpais (Seniors) we thank them for taking care of us and teaching us what ever they know without jealousy or selfishness... for taking the place and heavy responsibility of the class when our Sensei is not around... for clearing those silly doubts that we would otherwise always shy away from asking our Sensei... encouraging us and boosting our morale when we are on the verge of giving up... and Finally for respecting our limited knowledge and protecting us like a big brother when we are in danger...

By bowing to our equals we thank them for being a support during our struggle to attain our goal... for selflessly being our Partners and filling up those gaps that we accidentally missed while learning from our Senseis and Senpais...

By bowing to our Kohai (Juniors) we thank them for the immense respect that they give us... we in turn promise to take care of them... guide them... protect them... and help them in every way possible...

Martial Art Definitions, Concepts and Philosophies That Define and Govern It

Many confuse Fighting Arts and Combat Sports with Martial Arts as they do not not understand the real meaning of Martial Arts...

This is because:

1. Of the confusion that arises out of the huge differences between Western and Eastern Definitions and Philosophies of Martial art. The Western philosophy is about Fighting, Winning and Victory while the Eastern Philosophy Budo & Wushu are about Stopping an attack or a fight, Defending, Peace and Perfection of Character. 
2. Martial Arts is Multidimensional and cannot be easily comprehended or properly described by a single short definition. 

Thus in order to help everyone understand what Martial Art really is we need to understand it from all the various Perspectives, Definitions, Concepts & Philosophies of Martial Arts shown/taught to us by Great Enlightened Warriors, Masters and Philosophers of the Past that Define and Govern it...

• "The Ultimate Aim Of Karate Lies Not In Victory Or Defeat, But In The Perfection Of The Characters Of Its Participants". – Meijin GICHIN FUNAKOSHI (1868 -1957), Founder and Grandmaster of Shotokan Karate-Do

• "In True Budo, There Is No Enemy Or Opponent. True Budo Is To Become One With The Universe. We Do Not Train To Become Powerful Or To Throw Down Some Opponent, Rather We Train In Hopes Of Being Of Some Use, However Small Our Role May Be, In The Task Of Bringing Peace To Mankind Around The World." – Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), Founder and O Sensei of Aiki-Do

• "To Win One Hundred Victories In One Hundred Battles Is Not The Highest Skill. To Subdue The Enemy Without Fighting Is The Highest Skill." – Sun-Tsu/ Sun Tzu/Sun Wu, Ancient Chinese Military General, Strategist and Philosopher. Author of the ancient book “Art Of War”

• "The Fastest Draw Is When The Sword Never Leaves The Scabbard, The Strongest Way To Block, Is Never To Provoke A Blow, And The Cleanest Cut Is The One Withheld." – An Anonymous Warrior

• "Master The Divine Techniques Of The Art Of Peace And No Enemy Will Dare To Challenge You." – Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), Founder and O Sensei of Aikido

Few That I have Learnt, Observed and Comprehended from the teachings of Great Enlightened Warriors, Masters and Philosophers.

(Please Note: I quote myself to take full responsibility of my words)

• "Martial Art Is The Art Of Defending Without Fighting" - Sensei Michael A. R.
  NOTE: This sounds similar to Bruce Lee's dialog in the movie "Enter The Dragon"- 'My Style... The art of Fighting Without Fighting' but is not the same as Fighting and Defending are completely two different things.

• "Martial Arts Is The Art Of Making Your Enemy Your Friend"  - Sensei Michael A. R.

• "Unlike Martial Combat Or Martial Self-Defense, That Focuses On What To Do In The Situation Of Dispute/Conflict/Fight/War, Martial Art Focuses In
• # Why - To Do/Not To Do
• # What - To Do/Not To Do 
• # Where - To Do/Not To Do
• # When - To Do/Not To Do
• # How - To Do/Not To Do
• And In
• # Why - To Be/ Not To Be
• # What - To Be/ Not To Be
• # Where - To Be/ Not To Be
• # When - To Be/ Not To Be
• # How - To Be/ Not To Be
• So That,
• # One Will Never Be In
• # One Can Prevent
• # One Can Avoid
• # One Can Escape Being In
• The Unfortunate Situation Of Dispute/Conflict/Fight/War In The First Place..." - Sensei Michael A. R.