Some Thoughts on the Essays Regarding the Top 10 Principles of Yachigusa Ryu

Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.

Alexander Hamilton

Now that I’ve spent almost three months writing down the top ten principles of the Yachigusa Ryu martial art system I have to admit I’ve learned a lot. Yes, it’s true, I definitely learned a lot from this experience.

You see, it’s one thing to explain things orally or with physical demonstrations, and a totally different thing to describe the same things in writing. Writing clearly takes more effort and lucidity, since there is no opportunity to discuss the matter or answer questions that may arise during the explanation.

Because I finally made the effort to sit down and explain our principles in writing, I had to really examine the science within them, and figure out the best manner in which to explain them. This is something I had never really done before. I never felt I had to do it before.

In order to complete this project, I also had to do a lot of extra research. That is something I do routinely, but I normally have no set goal or motivating factors.

However, I didn’t have to do all of the research on my own this time. I had a lot of help from my students. Not only did we have a lot of discussions and debates about each principle and the best way to explain them, there was also a lot of discussion which techniques we should use to illustrate them.

In addition, many of my students aided my endeavor by sharing their expertise, and I really appreciate all their efforts and patience in taking the time to see that I fully comprehended the material they shared. I’ll be the first to admit that mathematics and physics were not my strong points in school.

To be honest, without the aid of my students, and their cooperation during a lot of physical trial and error, this project would still not be finished.

I also want to thank one “blog” reader from Texas who was the first to ask me to write about these principles, and kept e-mailing me with encouragement until I was done. It’s nice to know someone is actually reading this stuff, and appreciates the effort.

While I’m not totally satisfied with many of the essays I wrote (the perfectionist part of me always feels I could have done better no matter what others may think), and question how valuable the information really is, I know I did my best. At least I did my best with the information and transmission skills I have at this time. Hopefully, as I improve in the future, so will my abilities to explain these principles in more precise and intelligible detail.

For now, I know I’ve learned a lot of new information, and gained valuable insights into the intricacies within the principles themselves. That alone was worth the effort, and the insights I gained will definitely improve my skills as a student of the martial arts and as a teacher of life-protection skills.

While I know I benefited from this experience, one of my main goals when I decided to explain these principles was to get other people to share what they knew regarding them.

I know for a fact that these principles are not unique to the system of martial arts I teach. While we may call them by different names than other styles, everyone utilizes these principles to some degree or another. After all, science is science, and there are only so many ways the body can be manipulated and various forces applied.

Like I’ve said many times before, teaching martial arts was never something I thought about when I was young. The fact that I’m teaching today, and that people think I have something interesting to share still amazes me at times.

Of course once I started teaching, I made up my mind to be the best teacher I could be, and to never stop learning. There is an old Latin Proverb that states “By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn,” and I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot by teaching and listening to what my students have to share. Furthermore, I’ve definitely learned that sometimes the simplest question can lead to so many new discoveries.

William Ward stated:

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

It is my hope that by sharing these principles I willinspire others to come forward and share what they know on these topics. I, for one, would really like to learn more about them, and I promise to investigate any leads, and/or share any and all information I think will help to clarify each topic.