A lot of myths surround the martial art of traditional Okinawan karate. Here are eight that you may have heard and the real truth.

1. Once you achieve black belt you must register with the local police station as a dangerous weapon. 
   False. A black belt at the first degree level is someone who has just mastered the basics. Plus, a true black belt would have the scruples to never use their art in harm. Their art is a defensive art only. A gun is far more dangerous than a person holding a black belt rank. Furthermore, no state has any law that explicitly indicates a martial artist must be register themselves as a potential danger.
   
   
2. Once you reach black belt you are done with karate, unless you teach.
   False. In traditional karate there are 10 ranks below black belt and 10 ranks of black belt. A first Dan, Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt) has just mastered the basics. Now they are in the "club" to really learn the advanced techniques!
    
   
3. A martial artist can do amazing feats like climb up walls, levitate, use energy fields to injure an opponent and break through boards or bricks.
   Partially False, Partially True. Some highly trained martial artists can in fact run up a wall perhaps 3, maybe 4 steps. But, martial artists are human. Gravity affects them just the same as the rest of us. What goes up, must come down. Usually, a run up a wall is a way to back flip over an opponent and, honestly, not a very practical way to do so. In a battle, fancy tricks will get you killed. It's the simple techniques that are most effective. Levitation is a parlor trick and not really possible. Energy fields or Chi/ki is partially true, in that a martial artist can focus their inner strength with power. However, actually generating fire or an energy ball to injure an opponent is movie magic, not realistic. Sorry kids. As for breaking boards and bricks, yes, this is possible. It just takes practice, proper technique, speed and power. It's physics, not magic.
   
   
4. A martial artist can take a full kick to the groin without injury.
   True. This is true only for some very highly trained practioners of what has been called "combat ki." It's really not magic, but a technique in which a male martial artist learns to pull his groin up with muscle practice. Prior the kick, the martial artist also positions his hips in a way that the skeleton protects the groin further. It makes you wence to watch, but it is possible!
   
   
5. There is a martial artist who used to chop the horns off a charging bull and then punch the bull in the face until he died.
   True. His name is Mas Oyama, the founder of kyokushinkai karate. He used to do karate demonstrations in the 1950s using a live bull. The part of the story you didn't hear is when he got older, he had so much pain in his hands due to arthritis that he could barely use them. 
   
   
6. A martial arts master has mystical powers and can perform the "death touch"
   False. Most of these discussions come from China. In the old days, if anyone died during a fight, outside of the normal physical injuries, it probably happened in two very distinct ways. One, The person could have been predisposed to a certain injury, that is, he had a weak heart, an aneurysm or something similar, or Two, poison was used. In China, weapons as well as finger picks were used to transmit various poisons. A slight touch and the victim would die within a few days and the mysterious "death touch" would be credited. 
   
   
7. You can kill a man by striking him in the nose and pushing the bone into his brain.
   False. If you know anatomy and physiology you would understand that the nose is made up of soft tissue known as cartilage; and what’s behind the nose inside the skull is the sinus cavity. The brain is not even close, and the nose doesn't have any bones per say. Needless to say this is not the deadly strike that many believe it is. In fact there have been cases where sharp objects have penetrated the nose and sinus cavity and never caused mortal damage. There are even many cases where the brain that is slightly above the sinus cavity has been punctured and the victims survived without long lasting side effects.
   
   
8. There are unbeatable fighting techniques.
   False. Regardless of what anyone tells you, there is no such thing as an unbeatable technique. There is always a technique that will counter their "unbeatable" technique. There are also counters to every counter, meaning that every skilled fight is also a battle of wits. Whoever can think of counters faster will be the winner, and the one who doesn't think of the counters quickly enough will lose. Simple as that.
   

Recently, a gift of a tiny Geisha doll reminded me of something. She reminded me that when you fall down (or get knocked down) you get back up. And, you keep getting back up every time. It doesn't matter what challenges are thrown your way or what situation is occurring in your life at the time.

You get back up.

It doesn't matter if you are flat on your back at a low point in your life.

You get back up.

It doesn't matter if you are sick.

You get back up.

It doesn't matter if you weren't successful before or how many times you've tried and failed in the past.

You get back up.

It doesn't matter if you don't have anyone to lean on, pick you up, carry you or encourage you.

You get back up.

It doesn't matter if you've had your bell rung or your heart broken or your pride shattered.

You get back up.

You see, the world loves an underdog. The world wants to see you succeed. The world wants to see you get back up.

Because it's the glorious grit of never quitting that emotionally charges the masses and inspires them. Then, when they fall down, and everyone does eventually...

THEY GET BACK UP.

~ Vashon Borich, Sensei
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    It may sound like the lead in for an email in your Spam box, but you really can change your life in 30 days. The secret is selecting a single, meaningful change, goal or project that you commit to doing for 30 days in a row. 
    I was inspired when I watched a TED talk by Matt Cutts. If you are not familiar with TED, it is a Web site that contains a full library of "riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world."  You can watch the video that inspired me here: 

If you can't see the embedded video, you can navigate to it with this link: http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html

Come to think of it, watching one TED video for 30 days could be a positive life changing endeavor. I challenge you for the next 30 days to do something amazing. If you are short on ideas here are just a few in various categories. (Thank you to my students who offered up a number of these!)

Martial Arts

• Perform kata 10 times each day for 30 days. That's 300 performances at the end of 30 days!
• Practice all  kicks for 30 minutes each day
• Practice all blocks for 30 minutes each day 

Fitness

• Burpies in steadily increasing increments each day (What's a Burpie?)
• From Couch to running a 5k in 30 days (Cool Mobile App)
• 20 minutes of splits stretching each day

Health

• No sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup 
• No pre-packaged or processed foods
• Meditate for 15 minutes each morning 

Community

• Help someone without expectation of anything in return each day
• Pick up the phone and call or visit a friend/neighbor/family member each day for 10 to 30 min. 
• Write and send a thank you letter or letter of encouragement to someone each day

Inspiration

• Write a chapter of a book each day  
  
• Take a photo each day
• Cook one new recipe each day

    I'm sure you can think of many others. The key to success is to pick just one item to focus on for 30 days. It is also important to tell at least one other person of your 30 day challenge to help hold you true to your word. Have a reward or something special planned that you will do for yourself at the end of the 30 days. 

    I welcome your comments on this blog as to what you selected as your 30 day challenge, what happened along the way, if it was successful for you or how it changed an aspect of your life.  

My philosophy of the martial arts is based on three things: Mind, Body and Spirit. My goal as a Sensei (teacher) is to facilitate growth in all three areas for every student that comes into my dojo. For good health I believe it is important to strive to improve these three areas of ones life.

First, it helps to understand the meaning of each of these elements:
The Body = represents your physical health; strength, flexibility and stamina
The Mind = represents your mental health; alertness, expanding ones knowledge through learning new things and stretching the mind with new challenges, ideas and thought processes
The Spirit = your spiritual health; development of strong character, positive attitude, slow to anger, a purposeful life, belief in a power greater than yourself.

I believe that each of us, myself included, must constantly work to hone our minds, bodies and spirits. Karate and the martial arts are methods for improving all three. But, it is important to also seek opportunities for improvement outside of the dojo.
Just for today, do something healthy for your body.
Just for today, read or talk to someone about something that expands your mind.
Just for today, take time to meditate or pray to your higher power. Focus on finding the positive aspects of any situation.
If you choose to do these three things each day, you may soon find peace and the rewards of a healthy and fulfilling life.

I am a beginner. 

Sure, I've been involved in some sort of Martial Art since I was 8 years old and I'm 38 now. But, in my mind I'm still a beginner. Beginner's don't have to be cool or claim to know everything. Beginner's don't get uptight when they make a mistake. Beginner's are always learning. They seem to have more fun, too. They aren't overly critical of themselves. They don't classify themselves as "good" or "bad."  They are simply a beginner... someone who is in the present and there to learn. Beginner's love what they do regardless of how well they do it. Or, should I say, beginner's love unconditionally. 

This concept of being a beginner is really a mindset, a "beginner's mind." By adopting a beginner's mind, it opens you to learning without ego getting in the way. So often, as adults, we tell ourselves, "I know this! I should have done better! Anything I do should be done well or not done at all. Or, this is how I've always done it." A beginner's mind means temporarily throwing out all of your opinions, beliefs, logic and reason just for the sake of learning. 

It is okay to say, "I don't know." For this is the first step in learning something new. In the martial arts, an "I don't know" mind is the wisdom of the warrior. We don't allow ourselves to say "I don't know" often enough. This is because we always know, or we always think we know. Most of the time when we think we know, we don't really know at all. All we know are our past impressions of the situation that is happening now, the conclusions we came to in the past or judgments about similar events or circumstances that happened to us before.  "I Don’t know"  means keeping an open mind and responding according to circumstances, not according to how we assume things will be.  

Being a beginner means letting go of being an expert. We are all experts in something. We may think we are experts in our job, in raising children, in cooking a certain meal or in how we communicate with others. It’s difficult to let go of being an expert. Doing so means confessing that we really don't know anything. What we know belongs to the past. But this moment is new and offers its unique challenges. If I let go of being an expert, I can listen to others with an open mind. Then I can find that even a beginner has something to teach me. 

Beginners aren't afraid to fail. When we were children we were always starting something new. Then, as we go through our twenties, thirties, and further, we become more hesitant about being a beginner again. Why? Maybe it's because we don’t want to look silly when we fail. Having a Beginner's mind means it's okay to fall down, it's okay to fail and it's okay to laugh at ourselves when we make mistakes. Tell yourself (and others if they are watching), "I'm a beginner!" Then get up, dust yourself off, smile and immerse yourself in learning something new. 

A beginner's mind can transform the way one experiences life. It opens your mind to new possibilities and makes life fun. 

In the next section, I list some thoughts to meditate on to help maintain a beginner's mind.