SENSEI SAYS:

• Don't waste your time trying to change other people; focus on making changes in your own life. 
• You don't control anyone on this earth but yourself, but you do control who you choose to associate with in your life. 
• Focus on making yourself the best that you can be, not on making everyone else fit into your idea of how they should live their lives.
  
• Focus on making yourself better than you were yesterday. Part of doing this is making careful decisions about who you will and won't allow to be in your life. 
• The sages taught that you should only associate with those people of high moral character, and I agree. Associating with those of low character usually ends up bringing you down to their level. They rarely help you improve your own life.
  Focus on changing yourself, and carefully choosing those that you allow to accompany you on your journey. 
• This is the path to self-improvement and wisdom. 

• To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other.  
• There is much more to being a warrior than simply wishing to be one or calling yourself a warrior. Nobody is born a warrior, or anything else for that matter. You have been given the free will to live your life as you see fit. In order to become a warrior, you must work at it; it is a matter of molding yourself into want to become, and it is an endless process that last your whole life. 
• You develop the warrior spirit deep inside of you. It is a deeply ingrained part of your soul that becomes so integrated in you, that there is something that continues to push you to maintain your skills and your mental awareness. You continue to strive to improve yourself and your preparedness.
• What you become in this life is totally up to you. You can become anything that you desire, but becoming a warrior is a struggle.
• The warrior lifestyle is not easy. It pushes your limits. It is a way of being and a way of living that requires work and dedication, unlike merely being an average person. 
• But the rewards are well worth it.

• It is the intention behind your actions which determine if your actions are honorable or dishonorable, and your intention comes from your thoughts. 
• An action which seems right to outside observers, but which originates from dishonorable intentions, is not an honorable action, even if there is nothing inherently wrong with the action itself. 
• This can be a little hard for most people to grasp, but it is very important to true warriors who take their honor seriously.
• In order for an action to truly be good or right, the thought behind it must be right. In essence, things have to be right on the inside for them to truly be right on the outside. 
• You can’t do wrong right, but you can do right wrong. 
• The intention behind your action makes all the difference in the world. 
• People may judge you on the outcome, but your honor does not depend on the outcome, it depends on the intention behind your action. 

• You can buy a black belt online, or from several of the martial arts catalogs, very cheaply. If all you want is a black belt, they come cheap. But, a 2 - 2 1/2 inch wide cotton belt is not going to save you when your back is against the wall.
• The true warrior doesn't want the black belt; he wants the skills which make him a black belt. 
• There is a big difference. 
• The first one is merely to stroke your ego, while the latter is to improve and prepare yourself to meet life's battles and walk away successfully.
• Instead of being concerned about how other people see you, be concerned with improving yourself. 
• Instead of wanting everyone to think that you are a tough guy, focus on being someone who can handle any situation because you have taken your training seriously and your goal has been much greater than getting a black belt.
• Instead of deceiving yourself by strapping on that black belt and thinking that you are better, focus on being better.
• You can beat some of the people, some of the time, by bluffing, but sooner or later, someone will call your bluff. At that time, you had better have something more than two inches of cotton covering your butt or you will have a rude awakening. 
• Do you take your training deadly serious or are you simply jumping through the hoops to get your black belt?    

• If you are constantly worried about what others think of you, then you have made yourself their mental prisoner. You are not truly free, but torn between who you want to be and who others want you to be. This comes from one of two places:
   
• 1) You really want and need to please others, and so much so, that you constantly worry about pleasing everyone around you because it hurts you when people are displeased with you or your actions.
   
• 2) You have low self-esteem and a low self-image, therefore when others think badly of you, it affects you to the point that you feel bad. So you constantly try to please others to avoid feeling worse about yourself.
   
• Both of these personal issues place you into a type of mental bondage where you are constantly uneasy, insecure, and worried about what others will think of your thoughts, your words, or your actions. This is not freedom.
   
• What you need to realize is, what others think about you is their business, not your business. If they have a problem with how you live your life, it is THEIR problem, not YOUR problem. You are not on this planet to please everyone that crosses your path, and this includes your friends and family as well. You don't need ANYONE'S approval to live your life, your way, as long as you are not disrupting someone else's life or harming someone else in some way.
   
• This can be a really hard concept to grasp and put into action, especially if those who are constantly on your back to conform to their "approved" way of life are your family and friends. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and let everyone know that this is YOUR life and you will live it YOUR way.
   
• This is even more true if you have grown up dealing with this pressure to conform and to please people your whole life. You will never be truly free until you find the courage to stand up for your own freedom of choice and declare that you will no longer allow others to place you in these mental bonds.
   
• This is a must for the warrior. You must be able to live according to your own principles and code of honor, no matter what anyone else thinks about your decision. You have to have such conviction in your way of life, that you don't care what others think. The only way to get to that place is to know, without a doubt, that you have reflected on how you want to live and who you want to be, and that is how you WILL live and who you WILL be, period, no matter what society, friends, or family thinks about it. Don't allow others to sidetrack you on your path to warrior hood. Have the courage to stand up for the right to live your life as you see fit. 

• Your martial arts training must be kept sharp. 
• It is one of the duties of the warrior to keep his skills ready at all times no matter how old is he/she. 
• Don't neglect your training. 
• It is easy to fall into the mental illusion that you may never really need to use your martial arts skills in "real life," but as a warrior, you cannot think this way.
• As the proverb in the picture states, "Even in the sheath the knife must be sharp." The same goes for your martial arts skills; even if you are not using them, and they are "just in the sheath," they still must be sharp. 
• You don't wait until you need your knife to clean it up and sharpen it. After you use it, you clean it, sharpen it and store it in good shape for the next time you need to use it.
• In the same way, you don't wait until you need your martial arts skills to make sure they are developed, sharp and ready to be used.
• You keep them sharp and ready to be used when you need them.
• Procrastination can be a deadly habit. The warrior's weapons are kept sheathed the majority of the time, but they still have to be kept sharp. 
• You don't want to find that you need to use your "knife" and when you take it out the sheath, it is dull, rusted, and couldn't cut hot butter. 
• Think about this.

• You can get hit hard and you can get knocked down, but you are never defeated until you give up. 
• Just keep coming back. Never give up, never give in. If you just continue to try, sooner or later, one way or another, you will end up victorious.
• If you lose one day, learn a lesson from the experience and come back the next day. As long as there is still breath in your body, and you refuse to give up, you aren't beaten. Defeat is a state of mind; it is never permanent until you give up. 
• Life is like a game. It will test your persistence, your will power, and your tenacity. As long as the game continues, you have a chance to win. Each new day brings a new opportunity to be victorious. How could you possibly be beaten if the game is not over, unless of course you simply quit and give up? The answer is: YOU CAN'T. Your destiny is in your hands. Will you continue to fight until you win or will you take the easy way out and throw in the towel? 

• Never imagine that you are safe after you deal a blow to your opponent.
   
• The warrior knows that fighting is a serious business and should never been entered into lightly. 
• You should always do everything in your power to avoid a physical encounter. 
• It is much better to avoid danger or to defeat your enemy without actually having to result to violence if at all possible. 
• Never use your martial arts expertise unless you have no other recourse.
   
• This said, when you do have to resort to violence to defend yourself or someone else, don’t play around. 
• Don’t assume that if you punch a threatening street thug in the nose, he has learn his lesson and will then straighten up, shake hands, and change his attitude.
   
• In the movie The karate kid, Daniel San has an encounter on the beach at the beginning of the movie with another kid.
• This kid punch Daniel in the stomach, then Daniel punch him in the face and said, “Okay, now we are even,” as he offered to shake his hand. The other kid proceeded to thoroughly thrash Daniel.
   
• The point here is that if the situation is important enough to resort to using your martial arts skills, it is serious enough to do some major damage before you consider the matter is settled. 
• If it is not serious enough to dish out a hard core pounding, then you are in the wrong if you decide to use your martial arts training in this instance. 
• Insight and discernment have to be your guide. 

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