I always believed that by studying the Martial Arts, I could break through my personal limitations and become a fully realized person. I was fortunate to discover a man who had a traditional, yet somewhat eccentric method of teaching and way of being. And a year after meeting this man, fortune once again touched me when my wife Marina walked into my life. Together, they helped foster the feelings that stir inside of me today, that inspired me to write this book.

I have practiced Okinawan GoJu-Ryu Karate since 1974, attending classes several times a week. However, I have taken several “breaks” from the Dojo. My first break occurred after learning Sanseiru Kata, a Kata of “projection”. Kow Loon Ong, known to his students as “Kayo”, has been my tutor and friend since 1981. He taught traditional Okinawan GoJu-Ryu Karate as a deadly fighting art. Karate’s purpose was not exercise or spiritual development; it was for brutal combat.

I started imagining fights in every location I found myself in and soon realized that I would be attracting the very thing I did not want… to fight. Out of this fear, I stopped training at the Dojo for a couple of years.

During that time, I continued to research the Martial Arts and practice at home. I came to understand that in order to reach the highest spiritual level through Karate, the techniques in Kata must be brutal and deadly. I understood that the masters of old who created this art did so after surviving many life or death encounters and therefore developed their art to be deadly. Only then could they attain the “enlightenment” that I was seeking.

So, I went back to the Dojo and rededicated myself to training and fill the void in my knowledge.

Throughout this time Marina, a professional director, producer and performer, enabled me to get in touch with my emotions, something I always had trouble expressing. The merger of the physical art with free flowing, yet controlled emotions, took my understanding of the Martial Arts to a new level.

Then, one beautiful summer day, it all came together. I experienced a profound spiritual realization, connecting the past to the present and giving me further insight into the purpose of the art I had been studying for over 40 years.

This book is my way of passing on the lessons learned during my journey to understand the “spiritual” side of the art and to use them to impact my life in a positive way.

Many of the ideas set forth herein may be hard to grasp for the many Martial Artists who have been raised “in the box” that Karate is a physical fighting art and nothing more.

My hopes are that a few will follow my path and find a deeper meaning in Kata and, therefore, in life.

My art is traditional Okinawan GoJu-Ryu Karate, a half hard, half soft style. The commonly held understanding is that in GoJu-Ryu we strike hard with strong and direct attacks (Go means “hard” in Japanese), while we block softly with circular and deflective movements (Ju means “soft”). I have come, however, to understand an alternative view that the “hard” of GoJu-Ryu is everything physical; that which we can touch and see, including all movements of the body. The Ju, or soft side of the art, is all the stuff we cannot see, or touch. It is the emotional and spiritual side; the part of the art that few acknowledge, understand or train to develop. Without this Ju or soft side, Karate is only one half an art form.

Most traditional Martial Arts schools contain Kata as part of their curriculum. A Kata is a dance-like pattern of fighting techniques containing specific hand and foot positions and movements, specific breathing patterns, vocalizations, and visualization of imaginary opponents. Physical, emotional and spiritual energies are generated, absorbed, redirected and projected. Kata is essentially a combat-based energy management system. Throughout a GoJu-Ryu Kata, many hard and soft techniques are incorporated.

There are three types of GoJu-Ryu Kata; Bible Kata, Hookyu Kata (Training Kata), and Koryu Kata (Classical Kata). Students learn the Kata in a systematic approach where each progressing Kata is more difficult than the previous one. It takes many years to master all of the intricate movements and fighting strategies contained in the Kata.

So how does this lead down a path to enlightenment?

The Bible and Koryu Kata of GoJu-Ryu Karate hold the secret. These Kata have ancient roots containing advanced fighting techniques, fighting strategies and deep spiritual meaning. By passing through the various Kata of the system, a student gradually progresses through physical, emotional and spiritual states that ultimately provide a roadmap to becoming a fearless and compassionate human being; a person who can give freely, because he can fight and is not afraid of losing anything, including his life.

The rigorous training Martial Artists suffer through, as we learn to fight by mastering the Kata, elevates our character as we overcome our physical, emotional and spiritual limitations. The lessons we learn through training increase our compassion as we teach our juniors, whom are themselves suffering through the training.