The ultimate aim of the Martial Arts

[nelson]

Here's another excellent quote forwarded on by our friends at Paramount.

‎"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants." - Gichin Funakoshi

[KirkS]

I think character building is a by product of the training not the aim...i've never met anyone who told me they were taking any martial arts to build their character..its always been to learn some type of self defense skill

[nelson]

I think the "character" issue that the founder was talking about is what you discover "after" you have embraced the study of the martial arts for another reason.

[MarkC]

I aim to misbehave.

[KirkS]

I aim to misbehave.

And you do it so well....lol

[punkmonkey]

I aim to misbehave.

Well, my days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

[Lenny]

Here's another excellent quote forwarded on by our friends at Paramount.

‎"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants." - Gichin Funakoshi

Which makes sense only when taken in historical context.

[jdinca]

well, my days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

rofl!

[DavidCC]

I think that is a Japanese perspective on Karate-do, the Japanese have philosophies that allow any pursuit to be about perfection of the person ("do"). Like tea ceremony or calligraphy or flower arranging. Also this is theline they had to feed the occupying Americans so we would allow them to continue to practice karate.

[jdinca]

What matters to me is that they're trying to achieve that goal through perfection of martial movement. This is a concept that's taken very seriously in my system. The mind and spirit needs to be developed in addition to the body and is taken into account when determining whether or not someone is ready to test for BB. Otherwise "Mind, Body, Spirit" is just a quaint phrase.

[Lenny]

I think that is a Japanese perspective on Karate-do, the Japanese have philosophies that allow any pursuit to be about perfection of the person ("do"). Like tea ceremony or calligraphy or flower arranging. Also this is theline they had to feed the occupying Americans so we would allow them to continue to practice karate.

Actually, turning karate from karate-jutsu to karate-do was one of the requirements to acknowledge karate as a japanese martial art. Others included using the gi and the judo kyu/dan system.

[MarkC]

Well, my days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

[nelson]

Here's an excerpt from "conquest over Hatred" The Donnie Williams story that references this quote.

"Throughout my years of martial arts training, i heard other martial artists quote the father of Japanese Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, who said, The ultimate aim in the art of karate lies not in victory but in the perfection of the characters of it's participants." While I often heard this passage, I never reflected on it's meaning. Looking back on my many years of karate competition, I recognize that while I won many battles, there wasn't any character to an inanimate trophy, no more so than there would be in a six figure bank account or an expensive Italian suit."

Perhaps this elaboration by Donnie Williams will bring more meaning to Funakoshi's words.

[Phillip McKnight]

I don't think there's any reward to pursuing martial arts if it's done merely to learn physical movements. Every endeavor should be done with the ultimate goal of improving the character. Physical ability wanes with time, and can be lost altogether. Not everyone is ready to delve into the hard work of self-reflection, but there will come a point in each person's life where the sum total of what's come before will be reflected upon and some will discover, in the words of Thoreau, that they have not lived.