There is a popular saying in martial arts:
If you know the basics, they are nothing.
If you don’t know the basics, they are everything.
Take the time to make them nothing.
The secret techniques in martial arts are the basics. They are secret, not because they are hidden, but because they have many layers and can be difficult to understand. After practicing for many years, we realize they were right in front of us all along.
When talking about teachers and methods there are many images and stories used to describe martial arts.
Learning techniques is like using a boat to cross a river; it makes things much easier but on the other side you have to step off the boat.
We like this image because if we step off the boat too soon we fall, but a boat can also take you to more than one place. As a teacher it is important to remember our goal is to help a student across the river not to build a perfect boat.
The techniques and curriculum of a martial art are like an alphabet. As you learn the letters, you are able to read and write. It is our goal to help people to express themselves and communicate. As we become more comfortable with reading, we no longer think about the individual letters, and we can create poetry. Rules and systems can be used to separate people or to bring people together. We hope that this book will give people from different places and traditions a language to communicate and come together, to recognize our similarities as well as our differences.
Our mission is to promote awareness, understanding and harmony: internally, interpersonally, culturally, ecologically, and ideologically.