Teaching for Happiness

I have always felt this way about teaching. It is really enjoyable to see someone like "Doshin So" put it into form

The Tenets of Shorinji Kempo.

Kongo Zen

Shorinji Kempo develops the mind as well as the body, and the Kongo Zen philosophy taught forms an important part of this training and enforces Shorinji Kempo's guiding principles.
Kongo Zen teaches the union of the body and mind, and that each person can find joy and happiness in living half for themselves and half for others. This is a theme central to Kongo Zen. Through the practice of its principles, we can shape ourselves into people who can be relied upon by others as well as ourselves. We may therefore contribute not only to our own happiness but also that of other people in our society.
Doshin So recognised that the course of human events is determined by the strength and character of those involved, misery and happiness find their origins in human actions. Kongo Zen aims to develop as many people as possible, with strength and compassion, with wisdom and a sense of justice, with its ultimate objective being to alleviate suffering and secure happiness on earth.

 

Shorinji Kempo's Guiding Principles

There are six guiding principles or characteristics of Shorinji Kempo, these are described briefly below:

Ken Zen Ichinyo - Body and Mind are the same

Shorinji Kempo addresses the needs of both mind and body to ensure overall development of its students.

The body and mind are not separate and it is not possible for one to exist, maintain itself or have value without the other. A person can not achieve their full potential through only physical training, nor can they achieve peace of mind or spiritual awakening through only mental or spiritual training. It is therefore essential to train both physically and spiritually, only then can a person develop themselves to achieve their full potential.

 

Riki Ai Funi - Strength and Love Stand Together

Strength without love is violence. Love without strength, mere decoration.

Reiki (strength) represents physical strength, intellect and action. Ai (love) represents gentleness, compassion and a way of thinking. The principle of Riki Ai Funi emphasises the need to balance both power and compassion.

 

Shushu Koju - Defence before attack

This principle is important first for its spiritual value and only second for technical reasons. Shorinji Kempo is an art of self defence not offence, this principle is important as a part of a students mental attitude, and also during technical training as Shorinji Kempo is a method based on counter attacks. The reasoning and advantages of this becomes clear when training with others at a Dojo.

Shorinji Kempo students are forbidden to strike the first blow, they are taught to use their art as a last resort for self defence, only if no other option is available.

 

Fusatsu Katsujin - Protect people without injury

Martial Arts should never be used for the purpose of hurting others. Shorinji Kempo is very effective as a way of stopping violence. It has been designed so that if used properly, a practitioner can immobilise an opponent without causing injury. Shorinji Kempo strives to be a discipline which contributes to the welfare of all, and should only be used to restrain those seeking to harm others.

 

Goju Ittai - Hard and Soft work only together (Jiu Jitsu)

Shorinji Kempo is made up of Goho (hard techniques) and Juho (soft techniques) but each set of techniques contain both hard and soft elements. By learning to recognise the soft elements of Goho and the hard elements of Juho the student is able to unite the two to form a unique and dynamic system.

 

Kumite Shutai - Pair work is Fundamental (Sparring/Randori)

Shorinji Kempo can only be mastered through co-operative practice in pair form. To master Shorinji Kempo cooperation between partners is essential, as only by working together can both make progress. Overwhelming and defeating ones training partner is NOT the objective.

 

Why Joe Lewis was a great Teacher

Nathaniel Brandon wrote this but Joe lived it every day.
Self-esteem is an experience. It is a particular way of experiencing the self. It is a good deal more than a mere feeling. It involves emotional, evaluative, and cognitive components. It also entails certain action dispositions: to move toward life rather than away from it; to move toward consciousness rather than away from it; to treat facts with respect rather than denial; to operate self-responsibly rather than the opposite. Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment – happiness – are right and natural for us. Self-esteem is not the euphoria or buoyancy that may be temporarily induced by a drug, a compliment, or a love affair. It is not an illusion or hallucination. Lots of things (some of them quite dubious) can make us “feel good” – for a while. If self-esteem is not grounded in reality, if it is not built over time through the appropriate operation of mind – for example, through operating consciously, self-responsibly, and with integrity – it is not self-esteem.

Doesn’t a Teacher’s Preoccupation with Nurturing a Student’s Self-Esteem Get in the Way of Academic Achievement? That depends on the teacher’s understanding of self-esteem and what is required to nurture it. If a teacher treats students with respect, avoids ridicule and other belittling remarks, deals with everyone fairly and justly, and projects a strong, benevolent conviction about every student’s potential, then that teacher is supporting both self-esteem and the process of learning and mastering challenges. For such a teacher, self-esteem is tied to reality, not to faking reality. In contrast, however, if a teacher tries to nurture self-esteem by empty praise that bears no relationship to the students’ actual accomplishments – dropping all objective standards – allowing young people to believe that the only passport to self-esteem they need is the recognition that they are “unique” – then self-esteem is undermined and so is academic achievement. We help people to grow by holding rational expectations up to them, not by expecting nothing of them; the latter is a message of contempt