Joint Locking Series & Counters

On March 15th, Hanshi Roensch visited The Martial Arts Center for his 3rd annual seminar at our school. One of the greater honors for a teacher is when his student(s) can demonstrate certain techniques that have been taught to them. An even greater honor is when that student can apply their knowledge and transcend what has been given them in the first place. Each year we enjoy putting together a demonstration to honor Hanshi Roensch and his devotion to his students. For more information about this seminar or upcoming seminars, please visit www.tmacenter.com.

Mokuso ~ To Look Into The Heart

Many people consider martial arts to be a meditative art, a way to focus and reflect on themselves in the present moment. They want to see themselves as they are now, not as they were yesterday or even a moment ago, nor how they will be tomorrow or in the next second. They do so by getting away from their day-to-day activities – the office, household chores, school and homework – to spend an hour or two concentrating on getting each technique perfect.

If you could make each moment in life a work of perfection, you would be living very well indeed. You would never feel regret that you are not living life to its fullest potential. But this is very difficult if not impossible to accomplish. We all become careless at one time or another, and there are many distractions to keep us from concentrating continually on the here and now.

Students of martial arts try at least to make the time in which they practice perfect. To achieve this goal, they sit quietly, usually kneeling on the floor, for a few moments before and after each class. This is called mokuso.

During these moments of absolute quiet, martial arts students focus their thoughts on life at the present moment, on the practice at hand. Whether you’ve just had an argument with a friend, or it’s your birthday, or you’ve just received a promotion at work, you must use mokuso to forget about such matters and simply turn your mind toward your training.

The mokuso after class is an opportunity to reorient yourself to life outside martial arts. You may be surprised how you can get a fresh perspective on your daily routine after you’ve stepped away from it even for a moment or two. The meditative aspects of martial arts promote a better appreciation of each moment in life, inside and outside the dojo.

You can also use the mokuso after practice to reflect on the time you have just spent in class. Did you try your best? Did you concentrate the entire time on your practice? As you can well imagine, it is not easy to think only about martial arts for hours on end, and even Shihan Mike may have thought about something else for a moment or two. The mokuso after class, therefore, can also be the time when you pledge to yourself to do better next time. For more information, please visit us at tmacenter@aol.com.

Adapted from, “The Empty Hand: A Karate Wordbook” by Rui Umezawa

"My Parent Is My Partner" February 2008

On February 27th and 28th, the parents of our children students jumped on the mat and joined in the training. They endured the workout along side their children and had a great time. Our next training dates for this special training will be on Monday & Tuesday ~ July 7th and 8th, 2008. I hope all of our parents can join us during this time of summer training. For More Information, please visit us at www.TMACenter.com.

Hanshi Steve Roensch ~ 2008 Seminar

On Saturday, March 15th 2008, The Martial Arts Center held its 3rd Annual Seminar w/ Hanshi Steve Roensch. Hanshi taught two separate groups that day. He began with the children for two hours. They worked very hard and listened intently as Hanshi spoke about "Honor" and "Character". The adult session followed in the afternoon with Karate ~ Punch & Kick Drills and Combat Jiu-Jitsu scenarios. All the students worked very hard. We look forward to Hanshi's visit next year. For more information on upcoming seminars, please visit http://www.tmacenter.com/

Karate Competition

In June 2007, The Martial Arts Center brought a group of students to compete in the "All Shuri-Ryu Cup" Karate Tournament hosted by Hanshi Ridgely Abele in Columbia, South Carolina. All the students did a fine job with many medals being won. In the below video clip, one of our high ranked youth students demonstrates an empty hand form called "Wunsu" and a Bo Form called "Tsue Sho". Please visit us at http://tmacenter.com/ if you have any questions.

Bushido

The Way of the Warrior
The Essence of Bushido ~Its Seven Virtues

Justice
A compelling belief of bushido – if not the most cogent. Plainly stated, it is a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. The talent and skills of the bushi in action could not be employed without a sense of justice.

Courage
The tempering influence upon the precepts of justice. It is an integration of moral and physical courage – not simply bravery. Courage is based on serenity and experience.

Benevolence
It is a composite of magnanimity, affection, love, pity, and sympathy. Benevolence is seasoned with justice and tempered by right reason so as not to be taken as weakness.

Courtesy
A prime source of courage and its highest form approaches ‘love’ thus relating it to loyalty. Courtesy disciplines the soul and brings a refined harmony of mind and body.

Veracity
‘Truthfulness’ and the twin brother of justice. This precept gave rise to the expression,“Bushi no ichi-gon”, implying that written pledges were unnecessary because the word of the warrior was sufficient.

Honor
This is exemplified by the ‘bushi’ in his high regard for his life, family, country, and undying sense of what is right and wrong.

Loyalty
A philosophy of life – the idea of fidelity and allegiance to a lord, leader, or cause.
“Bushi No Nasake” meaning the “tenderness of a warrior”. This saying applies all the virtues of bushido

Over / Under Demonstration

In September 2007, we performed a demonstration on some of our favorite Over / Under Techniques taught to us by Shihan Rey Perez over the past seven years. Shihan Perez visits The Martial Arts Center each year for an Annual Seminar for both our children and adult students. We look forward to his visit this June 2008. For More Information on this Seminar and more, please visit http://www.tmacenter.com/.