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

Lemmings in the Cloud

A Customer recently asked me if I thought "Cloud Computing was safe"
my reply

The Lemmings
Once in a hundred years the Lemmings come
Westward, in search of food, over the snow;
Westward until the salt sea drowns them dumb;
Westward, till all are drowned, those Lemmings go.
Once, it is thought, there was a westward land
Now drowned where there was food for those starved things,
And memory of the place has burnt its brand
In the little brains of all the Lemming Kings.
Perhaps, long since, there was a land beyond
Westward from death, some city, some calm place
Where one could taste God's quiet and be fond
With the little beauty of a human face;
But now the land is drowned. Yet we still press
Westward, in search, to death, to nothingness.

Info World – The Dangers of Cloud Computinghttp://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/dangers-cloud-computing-839

The Cisco Expert – The Dangers of Cloud Computinghttp://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/dangers-cloud-computing

The Cloud isn’t safe – So says Black Hat http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_cloud_isnt_safe_or_did_blackhat_just_scare_us.php

The Secret Weapon

I had been training in martial arts for a number of years before I met Joe Lewis and became a member of his organization. As a result of training directly with Mr. Lewis the one thing that stands out to me as the most significant change in my being as a combat martial artist is the reality of time and space, All of my teachers prior to Mr. Lewis told me how to block an opponents punch but never explained when to block. JL demonstrated for me the true eye / hand speed ratio which forever changed my perception. In his demonstration he showed me that it takes a person 7/100ths to 25/100ths of a second to perceive and start responding to a punch, with the average person at about 15/100ths . He then demonstrated that he could deliver a strike/punch in about 3-4/100ths of a second. Bam!!! that’s when I really understood the Philly sucker punch (another lesson). I realized that there was no way I could block a guys punch standing close to him and if I increased the distance between us it equalized the advantage that the initiator/puncher had. This single change in my mental understanding gave me great confidence in my ability to control fighters. it is a secret weapon. That was 40 years ago and oddly enough it is as true today as it was then. One of my students, Larry Greenblatt teaches computer security and in his explanation of computer system defenses he does the same demonstration. In every class he ask if someone knows any martial arts, he brings them up to the front of the class, he ask them how they would block a punch and they reply with a block. He then tells them that he is going to fire a forehand strike close to their head and to block when he does. Invariable each and every time they fail to get even close. His point is that you might think that you have a defense plan worked out but someone inside your castle walls knows otherwise.

Walking the Walk

this is from my kick boxing coach Joe Lewis -

"Real fighters have the courage to be willing to discover and/or to demonstrate how effectively their skills work against world class combatants inside the ring, and also to exhibit that which makes up the substance of one's fighting character, while others are willing to settle for avoiding discovering that which they are not."

You have my permission to spread my comment to anyone out there---IT IS A FACT!

"A big fish in a small pond knows nothing of the whales in the ocean." (My senior black belt, Dennis Nackord, 9th Dan)

I am not in the b...s... slamming business, I offer information and real cutting-edge combative insights for the serious martial artist still interested in continuing to grow. NO ONE will match what I have to offer. For your benefit, here is a sample of one of my latest blogs:

Question: Hi Joe In your manual you mention an inverted jab. What is this? Many Thanks Andrew Thomas

Answer: Quick Answer

The classic jab is executed with the fist (the palm) turned downward, pronated position. An inverted jab is executed with the fist (the palm) facing upwards, supinated position.

Long Answer

There are many types of jabs used in combat and sport competition. A disciplined fighter develops what is called an “educated jab.” This highly skilled technique has attributes which make it effective enabling it to produce rhythm, timing, purpose, speed, and accuracy.

Primarily, most well trained fighters are taught to use it as a “feeler” technique---a probing maneuver to establish initial contact with an opponent or to check out his defensive weaknesses. However, in many old school styles, this lead hand is still taught to be used as a defensive/blocking tool.

This out-dated practice was inherited from the old samurai days when warriors wore thick armor and had to use a shield held with the forward arm for blocking swords and other weapons. When martial arts begin practicing without swords and armor, the tactics had to change; however, many instructors were frozen in a time warp, and continued teaching the use of the forward arm as a blocking tool.

The current cutting-edge trainers of today teach that the lead hand in combat is mainly used for four reasons: 1) The most important purpose of the lead hand is to establish an educated jab in order to stabilize your opponent. 2) The lead hand can be used to turn your opponent (by hooking or cross-palming the shoulder). 3) Good leg kickers use the lead arm sometimes to post (arm obstruction) just before they cut kick the opponent’s leg. 4) Smart sharpshooters will use the lead hand to displace their opponent’s defensive hand positions (called displacement).

Each of these four tactics is designed to help control an opponent by keeping him contained; therefore, each of these tactics is called a containment maneuver.

A jab can be used to cut, to measure, to turn an opponent’s chin sideways or upwards, to blind him, to break his balance, to fake him or to break his rhythm, to set up a punch or takedown, to disrupt an attack, and/or for several other reasons. Names of jabs vary from a flicking jab, the flinging jab, the power jab, the speed jab, the rising straight-arm jab, the off-angle jab, pawing jab, the short pump, and the inverted jab. Regardless of the type of jab a fighter uses, the primary purpose is to stabilize your opponent.

An inverted jab is used against a shorter opponent or someone shooting in for a takedown. When an opponent’s head is tilted forward as they come inside your pocket, the angle of your countering inverted fist fits perfectly against the corresponding descending slope of an attacker's face. This jab is to stabilize, your second shot is to cut, and then your third is designed to drop or stop him or to make him back off.

Lastly, remember that nothing works without practice, practice, and more practice.

Be smart, and go to my web site and become one of our members. You will receive not only a number of these types of updates and commentary blogs in our question and answer section, but you can also download from this site a private lesson every month directly from me on material NO ONE teaches.


Joe Lewis
Former World Karate/Kickbox Champion
United States Marine Corps

JLFS site: http://www.joelewisfightingsystems.com