Beyond The Physical

Conti's Martial Arts Academy
New Jersey Aiki-Kai & Budokan
Shorin No Tora Ryu Karate - Aikido & AikiJujutsu
522 North Avenue Route 28W
Dunellen, NJ 08812
Tel: 732-752-7030
email: Sensei@NJAikikai.com

Welcome to the NJ Aikikai and Budokan. You will learn many things while training here at the Budokan (martial arts school). If you are consistent and devote time to your training and invest three or more years in yourself, you will develop in three distinctive areas: physical prowess, character, and enlightenment (becoming aware of the reason for your existence, how to live properly in harmony with nature, and how to cope with humans physically, mentally, and emotionally.)

Physical

In the physical category besides: losing unwanted weight, gaining flexibility and speed, developing strength and endurance, your pain threshold will be raised. This means that you can endure more physical pain. No, you do not become a Masochist. You are simply functioning at a higher (different) level in the area of physical abilities. This higher level (different level) becomes your new "normal" level. The difference or different levels become apparent to others but not to you in the early stages of your development. You assume that everyone else is or should be like you. The "higher" level exists only due to comparison to other humans who do not train in these esoteric methods.

The ability to block, parry, blend, punch, kick, throw, defend against muggings, defend against club or stick attacks, knife attacks, gun attacks, and learning how to use weapons are simply the physical skills that you will eventually master. In China the arts were initially considered simply, discipline teaching. There is much more to the study of the Martial Arts than the physical!

Character

Life is a changing process. Some people change to a small degree. Some people change drastically regardless if its for the better or worse. Some people don’t change at all! The Dojo is a changing place. You will change in mind, body, and spirit. If you were wondering, no this is not a cult. It is a place where you can develop and grow mentally, physically, and spiritually.

As your physical abilities improve (change with time and effort) your character is also being altered for the better. You will change physically and changes in your character will occur proportionally. These changes will occur in relationship to the amount of time spent in the Budokan training. What do I mean by changes in your character? Regimental physical training at the Budokan will change and develop your character in the following areas which, most importantly, can be applied to all of your daily activities:

1. the discipline will cause you to learn to discipline yourself (self discipline)

2. respect yourself and others

3. raise your attention span

4. develop an energetic personality not lazy and lethargic

5. an alert and eager presence

6. a newly developed interest in honesty and honor

7. a new sense of humility

8. promptness, and preparedness for all things in life

9. self denial and concern for others

10. reliability and dependability

11. a happier personality and outlook on life

Therefore, we ultimately develop peace of mind which is the basis of enlightenment.

Remember: I can afford to be the nicest guy in the world because of five very important reasons. I want to be. It makes me feel good about myself. I must be because I know the way (I am doomed). I am so proficient in my physical abilities that I have lost the fear of what others will say to me or say about me or try to do to me for being Mr. Good Guy or Mr. Goodly or Mr. Godly. So I can afford to do what is right, not what is expected of me or imposed upon me by society. I can not be or will not be forced to do wrong out of fear. Last, but not least, I know that if someone is so offensive and obnoxious as not to accept my kindness or apology and insists on an inevitable confrontation, I will win physically due to my training. I will know that I originally tried to win without fighting (which works 99% of the time). Remember that God is all good and so good because he is all powerful and can afford to be all good! Who is more powerful than he? And I think he knows the way. With time we can change the following negative characteristics around to positive attributes: being withdrawn, introverted, violent, hostile, inconsiderate, paranoid, negative, abrupt, defensive, unreliable, inconsiderate, THOUGHTLESS, lazy, lethargic, unmotivated, contented, irritable, and so forth, but this will takesome time.

Enlightenment

The physical abilities and character developed over the years will be the foundation for the road to Enlightenment. Without these two prerequisites it is virtually impossible to reach our final goal. We will assume that your physical prowess and character have improved over the years. You now have a strong foundation on which to build as Musashi has taught us. You are on a different level of Awareness than most. This is a higher level like the higher level of physical abilities. In addition, your mental and emotional pain thresholds will have been raised. Think about this.

With our newly formed byproduct, known as peace of mind, I can now work on the Enlightenment stage. People have flaws in their character. These flaws prevent any development towards Enlightenment. We must discard the flaws and then we will understand what Enlightenment is! It is not being perfect, but striving and vying for perfection in all things. Enlightenment is knowing why we are alive, how to live a good, proper, and truly enjoyable life in harmony with nature, how to cope and deal with living with and amongst irrational and disrespectful humans without allowing them to adversely affect our peace of mind and happiness. Enlightened people are the only truly happy people in the world. This level of awareness is the final stage of your training and most students never reach this level of sophistication! Why not? Because not many students invest enough time and effort in this area. Most people do not invest enough time, effort, and money in anything.

Students eventually leave the Budokan knowing how to fight and defend themselves. So they feel good about their accomplishments and themselves. This is good. They have developed self confidence. This is also good but not good enough. Some students eventually leave the Budokan and have been changed and exhibit good character and are successful individuals in their respective fields. This is even better, but still not good enough! Too many people are contented. Very few ever reach, and therefore enjoy, the state of mind known as being Enlightened. Reread this and the many great works that have been written concerning Enlightenment if you have already forgotten what it is. I wonder how many people are even aware that it exists?

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