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Arya Samaj Mandir Hall, Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi-110 048.
Ph.:
98 103 08287
"There is no substitute for repetition, constant practice and self-discovery." - Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura
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Kenjo No Bitoku
(With true strength comes humility)
(From Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura's book Karate - Technique and Spirit)
The characters mean the virtue of humility. Humility is an essential characteristic of the samurai and of the karate student. Without humility, karate can be used for destructive purposes, and this can give the public a bad impression. Humility comes with the realization that though we can make our bodies strong, we always remain relatively weak. Man is one of the weakest members of all the animal kingdom, and we are subject to all kinds of disease and bodily ailments. Age is an opponent that none of us can be victorious against. So when one walks around either in the dojo or outside the dojo with a jaunty air of overconfidence, that person displays ignorance of life and of himself. Excessive loudness, bragging, disrespect and bullying are all attributes of the person who lacks humility. We strive to make our bodies as strong as possible, and, more importantly, we strive to make our spirits and characters strong. This strength, when combined with the virtue of humility, leads to the bushido spirit. For the samurai is strong yet weak, confident yet never overconfident, and always carries a proper perspective of himself in relation to the world around him. The karate student should strive for this same perspective.
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