Thursday, September 30, 2004

Gi or Giri
Gi is o­ne of the highest of all virtues. It means morality, justice, obligation to duty as well as righteousness. Morality is about a mental cleanliness. Having a clean mind is Gi. Justice relates to fairness. Obligation to duty means committement to serve without question. Behaving with honour, integrity and living in truth. Honouring fair actions and o­nes intentions are the bases for order and harmoney. When you have a teacher that is kind, loving and who listens to you and is reachable, do not betray him/her. This is gi. Both have to play their path and be good to each other. A teacher can also betray his/her student. Gi relates to both teacher and student, not just o­ne. A teacher must show the way by leading by example. And a student betrays his teacher when he/she leaves without good reason. When you choose a teacher and this teacher is sharing good values and doing their level best for you and the organisation then you must in return show your loyality and commitment. This is Giri.
Kancho

Rei or Reiho
This means to surrender in gratitude and to be thankful to a power greater than yourself, parents, teachers, mentors and everyone else that are helping and who has helped you in life. It is coutesy and ettiquette in a modest manner. Respect, politeness, ritual, love are the essential part of Rei. There is nothing greater than gratitude. It is the highest form of respect. In karate-do we do this by salutation. In the dojo A Power greater than yourself, that has created you, is first, then comes teachers of the past as well as the present who have shared this knowledge. We must also acknowledge ancestors, ones community, mother nature, the universe and everything within it. In the dojo we do a ritual showing respect. This must help you outside the dojo to acknowledge others who help you. Without everything that exists in your life then life for you is not possible. We have to develop total gratitude for life - this is rei. we do this with love. Love in action is gratfulness. Never show disregard for those who have assisted you to benefit from life or become the person you are. The only times you allowed to disassociate yourself with others is when they are doing bad things to you, especially after you have tried to resolve issues, other wise remain grateful. However be the first to forgive and continue forgiving. In you salutions or prayers send love and forgiveness. this shows that you have the quality of Rei. R in rei stands for Respect. E stands for Everything. I stands for from within yourself. the I within is the real you, not the body or the mind.
Kancho Deena Naidu

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

The world seems to be in the decline for many years now. Every day on TV we see terrible acts of cruelity on human beings. The people who do these things do so for their own personal joys that are demonic in nature. No good human being will kill for the sake of religion, political reason or pleasure. Only those who have decended below humanism can do these acts. There are four levels of life that appears in human form. First the highest is human beings that are divine in nature. These people see everything as good and accepts everything to happen for a reason. Then there are human beings that are cosmic in nature. These people will do everything in their power to guide and help other human beings. Then there is the animalistic nature of man. They are bound by their own ego. Finally there is the demonic human. He/she is selfish, self centred and does things for their benefit under the pretext that it is for a good cause. We must do our best not to allow our nature to decline. the way to do this is to keep the ego in check.

Kancho

Thursday, September 23, 2004

There is a constant drive amongst many students in the art to develop and grade to higher levels. This is well and good, however what is most important is the quality and standard of the grade. It is better to be a good brown belt than a poor black belt. I have always said that BELT means Best Effort Little at a Time. Karate is a life time pursuit and not an overnight journey.
Kancho

Friday, September 10, 2004

The prerequistites of a happy life is simple and extremely easy to follow. Obey right conduct as guided by the heart, take life as it presents itself and be satisfied with what you have. With this, we will never be unhappy.

Kancho

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Out of the billions of people on the planet, there is no other like you, nor will there ever be. What others think or say of you must never bother you. You are a child of Divine creation and the most precious. Keep this in your mind always,Cherish this for it is the truth.
kancho