Empty Hands

"I come to you with empty hands. I greet each day with purpose, enthusiasm and with humble thanks. I greet each living being with respect, for having learned to respect myself, there is no fear within me. Because I am in total harmony with myself, I am in harmony with the world around me.

Many thousands of years ago my teachers met. They sought meanings for life and studied the lessons it had to offer. The things they learned were shared with a chosen few, at first limited to priests within the Oriental Temples. Each lesson was passed to others...and ultimately to me.

These lessons have been proven through constant testing over many centuries. Only those principles which have stood the test of time have been passed on; thus what I have been priveleged to learn has been passed not on theory but on constant application.

My body is under my control. Countless hours of practice in basic skills have given it strength and vitality. Hours of discipline have developed graceful movement, effortless speed, and devastating power.

As my body developed, my mind developed also. There is unity between the two. They are blended as a single unit. Whether my fundamental skills were developed through training in Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Jujitsu. Akijitsu, Judo, Ninjitsu, or other form of martial arts, my purpose is the same...understanding myself and understanding life. I will achieve the maximum possible with the skills I have been given, for my mind too is under my control.

Though I have been priveleged to share lessons taught by the greatest teachers in the world, greater lessons still will be taught by life itself. Through life, the meaning of each lesson will be made clear.

Each day is an opportunity for greater understanding. Thus, of the principles I have learned, the most important is that there is yet much more to learn. I am a student of life, I am a student of Martial Arts."