Helpful handful: 5 lessons from judo

If you wanted to pick up a handful of ideas from judo to complement your martial art, what few ideas should you look at?  Here are a handful of lessons that comprise the heart of judo - worth thinking about how these ideas apply in the context of your martial art.

• jita kyoei - you and me going forward together - the point of a martial art is to improve the self in the context of society. "The teaching of one virtuous person can influence many; that which has been learned well by one generation can be passed on to a hundred."
• seiroku zenyo - make maximally efficient use of the powers you have in order to get the biggest bang for your buck
• ippon/yuko - strive toward both ideal and pragmatic - perfection and good enough
• ukemi - learning to fall safely is the most powerful self-defense there is
• randori/shiai - martial arts are meaningless outside of the context of randori- free practice against opposing players. If your martial art does not have competition or sparring, you don't have to drop it, but you might highly consider finding some adjunct that does involve live competition

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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