Monday, June 26, 2006

To have quality of life in old age we need to look after our bodies and minds now. Bodies in shape means eating the right foods, drinking plenty of water, and exercising. To keep our minds alert we need to increase our memory power ( we do this by making an effort to remember things that have slipped our minds), lots of reading and intellegent conversations with others. Traditional Karate is one of this finest ways of exercising both body and mind. Its an art that one can do in old age. It teaches self control and discipline. The self control that I have developed through my karate practice has helped me get rid of many bad habits. It helped me make a decision of never poisioning the body or mind by putting rubbish into it.

Kancho Deena Naidu

Thursday, June 22, 2006

I have heard many students say I Love karate. What is love? It is an energy of goodness that lies within the core of our being. Some say it is the very essence of who we are. Love is our life force that lasts forever, whether in the body or beyond. Love creates an energy of bonding between yourself and another or something that you fond of. Many students have told me that they love karate and after a few months or years, have given it up. If they truly love karate, like the life force within ourselves, it should last for ever. If it doesn't then it was not real love, it was infatuation. People who truly love karate will passionately practice forever and not give up. Over the years, I have seen students come and go. Some over do their practice and fall out within weeks. The secret to loving the art is to practice it in moderation and enjoy what it offers. Keep your karate sweet - I have practiced karate-do for many decades and love it like the first day I stepped onto the Dojo floor. When expectations are greater than reality or ego driven, love of the art falls away.

Kancho Deena Naidu

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

I have learnt from many great teachers that we must always judge the actions of people as right or wrong and not direct it to the person as good or bad. An example, If Mr. ‘X’ has done something bad we must not say Mr. ‘X’ is bad, but rather say Mr. ‘X’ has done a bad action. It is the mind and its influences that make people do good or incorrect things. Every human person has three parts: - body, mind and life(spirit). Life is always pure, it is the mind that moves from good to bad, bad to good, bad to worse or good to terrific. It is because of the human mind that there's none on the planet that’s perfect. Human life is about moving towards a state of perfection, so mistakes are bound to happen until we learn Self(mind) control. Traditional Karate is a great school for learning self control. Humans have the ability to judge, what we have to develop is the quality of forgiveness. With forgiveness comes change for the better. If there is no change, people with wicked ways become ostracized, isolated and ignored because they continue to do bad actions. In the end, they bring a lot of suffering to themselves because they have no control of their minds. Such is the nature of life. Change for the better brings a far greater life and change for the worse brings much pain. I urge my students to save themselves by bringing less pain to their lives, Judge not and master forgiveness.

Kancho Deena Naidu

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Here is the final part of Gogen Sensei's Doshi
On a mind level, our Gojuryu karate means overcoming the Ego. Also to always be polite, keep cool and never get emotionally angry. One should always think about ones brothers and sisters and keep good relationship with friends. And if you truly understand Jintoku, then you will realise it means to always be polite to your head teacher. If you are against the teachings of skilled karate person such as this, then you should not be associated with the organisation. It is best for you to absorb the practice of Jintoku and pursue it. It is indeed a long journey to fully understand the true meaning of Jintoku. Spiritual development means learning self control. It is the purpose of this school that is to help students understand the importance of having an open mind to learn. This also means removing or forgetting about those things that are stuck in our minds and NEVER be tempted by EGO. Please do not forget this true instruction of JINTOKU and MUSHIN.

Gogen Yamaguchi Sensei
The teacher of Kancho Deena Naidu

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Here is the second part of Gogen Yamaguchi Sensei's Message in the Doshi

Mushin is the first concentration, Mushin means total humility. Originally the purpose of Karate was to avoid difficulty or any crises and was called Nahate, the first name of this branch. More than Nahate is the self discipline, it is not meant as an offence towards someone, and definitely not allowed to hurt or wound someone.
It is more important to think what is the real purpose of the mind than the skill of the body and if the mind is in the right direction and that is to have pure thoughts, not even a trace of bad, then you have developed the backbone of karate called Jintoku. If you forget this very important understanding and develop bad ways you should leave your karate school. You must always keep this in mind all the time.
Gogen Yamaguchi Sensei

In this message Gogen Sensei is pointing out to us that we must not develop bad ways and have good thoughts. If we develop bad ways he says then we do not deserve to be practicing this great form of karate-do.
The final message will be soon.
Kancho Deena Naidu

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Soon other parts of Gogen Sensei's Doshi will appear here, keep a look out for the great master’s words of wisdom.

I would like to share something from my very good friend Sensei Jessi Moodley once shared with his class. He said if you point your finger at someone (this is in judgment of another person) three fingers of your own hand will be pointing at you. This indicates that you have more faults in yourself than those whom you stand in judgment off. Finally he said, observe your hand as you do this and you will find your thumb is pointing upwards, this means God or the universe is watching you. A simple teaching that has a great lesson of value for self improvement.

Kancho Deena Naidu

Thursday, June 01, 2006

I would like to share with you Gogen Sensei great words of wisdom. Before he died he wrote a "Doshi" This can be read in my book " Discovering Martial Arts"
Please read it to the end. It will help you understand a lot.This is part one. Please look out for part 2 and then part 3.

Words of reverence
by Gogen Yamaguchi
Originally the purpose of Karate requires you to develop humility through its practice skill and its purpose is deep and hard with a continuous effort day and night. Without this we cannot achieve the way of karate of overcoming the ego and developing a strong mind. We also need to develop patience and not get bored.We must never be rude. It is important to keep these spirits, as we know that it needs strong spirit and patience. It is important to learn to concerntrate and we can only achieve the way of karate if we have no ego, the mind must be used for proper skill and that is, for example " How to Kick" - if the mind is disturbed by something our body could suffer or be hit.