Quotes on Karate

One of the most striking features of karate is that it may be engaged in by anybody, young or old, strong or weak, male or female.

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.

There is no first strike in Karate.

Under conditions of peace the warlike man attacks himself.

Once a kata has been learned, it must be practised repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a kata in karate is useless.

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water.

Even after many years, kata practice is never finished, for there is always something new to be learned about executing a movement.

Karate is not a game. It is not a sport. It is not even a system of self-defense. Karate is half physical exercise and half spiritual. The karateist who has given the necessary years of exercise and meditation is a tranquil person. He is unafraid. He can even be calm in a burning building.

Karate is like boiling water: without heat, it returns to it's tepid state

One whose spirit and mental strength have been strengthened by sparring with a never-say-die attitude should find no challenge too great to handle. One who has undergone long years of physical pain and mental agony to learn one punch, one kick, should be able to face any task, no matter how difficult, and carry it through to the end. A person like this can truly be said to have learned karate.

True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.

We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.

Karate is the best thing you can do for your child.

It is important that karate can be practiced by the young and old, men and women alike. That is, since there is no need for a special training place, equipment, or an opponent, a flexibility in training is provided such that the physically and spiritually weak individual can develop his body and mind so gradually and naturally that he himself may not even realize his own great progress.

Karate is Budo and if Budo is removed from Karate it is nothing more than sport karate, show karate, or even fashion karate-the idea of training merely to be fashionable.

Sice Karate exists for cultivating the spirit and training the body, it must be a moral way surpassing mere techniques.

Karate-do may be referred to as the conflict within yourself, or a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training, and your own creative efforts.

Whatever luck I had, I made. I was never a natural athlete, but I paid my dues in sweat and concentration and took the time necessary to learn karate and become world champion.

The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.