13 Powerful Quotes from Ronda Rousey’s Autobiography My Fight / Your Fight
Get inside the mind of a champion. These 13 quotes from Ronda Rousey’s autobiography show what it really takes to fight—and win—at the highest level.
Gichin Funakoshi
Bio
Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate. He is known as a "father of modern karate".Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karatemasters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, following its earlier introduction by his teacher Itosu. He taught karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949. In addition to being a karate master, Funakoshi was an avid poet and philosopher. His son, Gigō Funakoshi, is widely credited with developing the foundation of the modern karate Shotokan style.
Gichin Funakoshi was born on November 10, 1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration, in Shuri, Okinawa, to a Ryūkyūan Pechin. Funakoshi was born prematurely. His father's name was Gisu.He was of samurai lineage, from a family which in former times had been vassals of Ryukyu Dynasty nobles.
After entering primary school he became close friends with the son of Ankō Asato, a karate and Jigen-ryū master who would soon become his first karate teacher.Funakoshi's family was stiffly opposed to the Meiji government's abolition of the Japanese topknot, and this meant that he would be ineligible to pursue his goal of attending medical school (where topknots were banned), despite having passed the entrance examination.Being trained in both classical Chinese and Japanese philosophies and teachings, Funakoshi became an assistant teacher in Okinawa. During this time, his relations with the Asato family grew and he began nightly travels to the Asato family residence to receive karate instruction from Ankō Asato.
The secret principle of martial arts is not vanquishing the attacker but resolving to avoid an encounter before its occurrence. To become the object of an attack is an indication that there was an opening in one’s guard and the important thing is to be on guard at all times.
No matter how you may excel in the art of Karate, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life.
Spirit first, technique second.
In battle, do not think that you have to win. Think rather that you do not have to lose.
Apply the way of karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty.
Seek perfection of character. Be faithful. Endeavor. Respect others. Refrain from violent behaviour.
To search for the old is to understand the new.
The secret principle of martial arts is not vanquishing the attacker, but resolving to avoid an encounter before its occurrence. To become an object of an attack is an indication that there was an opening in one's guard, and the important thing is to be on guard at all times.
Only through training will a person learn his own weaknesses... He who is aware of his weaknesses will remain master of himself in any situation.
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.
The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.
Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.
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.