The philosophy and symbolism of Kyuki-Do
Our philosophy starts here. Each student joins Kyuki-Do for different reasons, hoping to gain something different from it. Some people join for practical reasons such as physical fitness or the desire to learn self defense. Others joined in order to develop discipline, self-confidence, and self-esteem. Still others joined simply out of curiosity about the martial arts. There is no single unifying purpose common to all students and there doesn’t need to be; Kyuki-do offers different things to different people. This is one of the great strengths of the art.
Kyuki-Do; for your own personal philosophy or spirituality
Kyuki-Do can be seen as a method or a vehicle for the attainment of a student’s unique physical, mental and spiritual goals. Kyuki-Do provides dedicated practitioners with the impetus, the drive, the Spirit and the fortitude to forge themselves into the people they want to be. It is neither a simple system of training and techniques intended to make people into outstanding fighters, nor is it a religion or a philosophy that seeks to impose its own truths on the student; rather it is a tool that students can use to find the strength to achieve their goals while acting in accordance with their own personal philosophy or spirituality.
Set your goals
This is useless however, unless the student has clear goals that he or she is striving to achieve and a personal philosophy by which he or she is abiding. Too many people drift through their lives with no sense of purpose, with no idea of what they should do, with no guiding philosophy to help them make sense of their lives.
Know your goals
It is therefore necessary for each student to have a purpose or dream or goal to strive toward and a personal philosophy to guide them on their path. This is true of all students both young and old, but is especially important for young people today.
“Full of energy, fire, life and potential”
Youth is a powerful time, full of energy, fire, life and potential. If this energy can be focused, it becomes a powerful force capable of helping the student attain great things. However, if the energy of youth is not focused, it is wasted or worse it becomes misapplied toward inappropriate or destructive goals.
For this reason, each student should strive to do the following:
- Develop a personal philosophy
- Determine their personal goals
- Use the teachings of Kyuki-do and the strength of character development through the martial arts training to achieve their goals while remaining true to their personal philosophy.
It should again be stressed that Kyuki-Do is not in and of itself a religion or a system of spirituality. Kyuki-Do is a tool for personal growth that is compatible with each student’s own religious, moral or spiritual background. Kyuki-Do strives to teach the students certain basic elements of moral behavior (such as the tenants), but the arct’s primary purpose lies not in the teaching of set moral rules, but rather in helping the practitioner develop their wisdom to determine right from wrong on their own, and the strength of character to always choose what is right
Credit: The Art of Kyuki-Do [third edition] pg. 22
