Quotes

Here a little collection of my favorite martial arts quotes.

That which does not kill us, must have missed us.

Miowara Tomoka

Karate is not about winning. It's about not losing.

Shigetoshi Senaha

Karate begins and ends with respect.

Anko Itosu

You might as well stand and fight because if you run, you will only die tired.

Vern Jocque

Follow not in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seek what they sought.

Unknown

It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

Muhammad Ali

All Martial Artists are beginners; Some of us have just been beginning longer!

J.R. West

One man that has a mind and knows it, can always beat ten men who haven't and don't.

George Bernard Shaw

Deja Fu: The feeling that somehow, somewhere, you've been kicked in the head like this before.

Unknown

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not you go out and look for a successfull personality and duplicate it.

Bruce Lee

Do not covet illustrious titles and certificates; practice your technique and adhere to the Way, for the wind will not read.

F. L. Lovret

In true budo there is no enemy or opponent. True budo is to become one with the universe, not train to become powerful or to throw down some opponent. Rather we train in hopes of being of some use, however small our role may be, in the task of bringing peace to mankind around the world.

Morihei Ueshiba

Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teachings there are. The Great Path is really NO PATH.

Ueshiba Morihei

The black belt is not a mark or symbol of the end of the journey to ones mastery of the arts; rather it is the mark that one is done packing for their journey and may now take the first step in their true journey. This a journey which can not ever be complete, only traveled...

Unknown

A black belt is nothing more than a belt that goes around your waist. Being a black belt is a state of mind and attitude.

Unknown

The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.

Gichin Funakoshi

Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end.

Gichin Funakoshi

You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do.

Gichin Funakoshi

No matter how you may excel in the art of Karate, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life.

Gichin Funakoshi

There is no place in contemporary Karate-do for different schools. Some instructors, I know, claim to have invented new and unusual kata, and so they arrogate to themselves the right to be called founders of "schools". Indeed, I have heard myself and my colleagues referred to as the Shoto-kan school, but I strongly object to this attempt at classification. My belief is that all these "schools" should be amalgamated into one so that Karate-do may pursue and orderly and useful progress into man's future.

Gichin Funakoshi

Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it's price.

Sun Tzu

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

Confucius

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Jim Ryun

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Confucius

None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.

Ferdinand Foch

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

Jonathan Kozol

Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose.

Evan Esar

Never fight an inanimate object.

P. J. O'Rourke

I'm glad I didn't have to fight in any war. I'm glad I didn't have to pick up a gun. I'm glad I didn't get killed or kill somebody. I hope my kids enjoy the same lack of manhood.

Tom Hanks

It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

Sally Kempton

Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose.

Robin Williams

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

If you want peace, stop fighting. If you want peace of mind, stop fighting with your thoughts.

Peter McWilliams

Not even the gods fight against necessity.

Simonides

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

Oscar Wilde

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself.

Thomas a Kempis

Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself.

African Proverb

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

Alfred Adler

Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

Henrik Ibsen

In accordance with our principles of free enterprise and healthy competition, I'm going to ask you two to fight to the death for it.

Monty Python

The way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and run.

John Barrymore

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Remember... you are expressing the technique, not doing the technique.

Bruce Lee

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.

Bruce Lee

I have not failed 700 times, I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.

Thomas Edison

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

Lao-Tzu

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

Lao-Tzu

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Antoine de Saint Exupery

In a fight between a strong technique and a strong body, technique will prevail. In a fight between a strong mind and a strong technique, mind will prevail, because it will find the weak point.

Taisen Deshimaru

Just because you can rip someones eyeball out its socket or spin kick an apple off a guys head doesnt make you better than them.

Richard Ryan

All in all, martial artists are just people and some of us need to be reminded of that from time to time.

Richard Ryan

A martial artist is dynamite packed into flesh and fiber, and is measured not only by the power of his potential explosiveness, but also by the length of his fuse. Good martial artists have very long fuses. Great martial artists have none at all.

Tony Annesi

Understand the history and traditions of a style but do not be a slave to them.

Tony Annesi

The final purpose of all the arts is self-development.

Tony Annesi

Natural movement is the shortest way to an effective result. Like the way the water runs, it always finds the right way.

Vladimir Vasiliev

To any situation the reaction may be different. Thats why its useless - in a way - to memorize patterns, because the possibilities in life are endless, and you cannot be prepared for every single thing. Therefore its better to be able to move in a natural way, and not even physically but intuitively.

Vladimir Vasiliev

The key quality that anyone has to develop - a regular person as well as a warrior - is humility. If you dont try to develop humility, what you end up developing is pride, and thats destructive; it destroys yourself and it destroys the world around you.

Vladimir Vasiliev

Relaxation is the key that unlocks speed and power.

Bob Orlando

What it does determines what it is.

Bob Orlando

Master the principles and you master the techniques.

Bob Orlando