It is tragic to witness what is happening in Ukraine. Regardless of the outcome, which we pray is positive for the Ukrainian people, i.e. keeping their independence and sovereignty, there are many lessons this needless and brutal attempted Russian takeover can teach us. Following are just a few. Reality This world is truly a cauldron of evil. Saint Mirabai (ca. 15th/16th centuries) How lovely would it be to think this world is a beautiful place?
Valentines Day, 14 February 2022, was a sweetheart moment in time for Shaw Shahriari, aka “Wind.” Why? Because he received his Kiado-Ryu Purple Belt ranking! So … a well-deserved CONGRATULATIONS to you, Wind! Shaw “Wind” Shahriari: Purple Belt Test—14 February 2022. Shaw loves kata. He’s very good and if there were open (all comers) karate tournaments today his precise form would have won him many championships at the Orange and Purple Belt levels.
From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master. Perfect Masters throughout time, in all of their addresses, state that in pursuit of truth Concentration Coalesces If you don’t concentrate, you’ll end up on your rear. Tai Babilonia To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement. Bertrand Russell The stages of the Noble Path are: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Behavior, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master. Humility is the highest form of strength; Arrogance the highest form of weakness. As a silo sits vacant of fodder, A Black Belt Without Humility Is Like A Well Without Water. We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate, Literature 1913 To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
Without a doubt, the current global pandemic and its manifestations—physical, mental, financial, familial, educational, social and tyrannical have, sadly, spawned depression in a large swath of the world’s population. Understandable. The question arises, “How can people manage this pandemic without depression?” Martial Arts training, especially that of the Karate Institute of America™ (KIA) and the Kiado-Ryu™ system of martial arts, offers the following thoughts. The first chapter of The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master is entitled, “Martial Arts Is Life.
It was another great day for Tristan “Raptor” Ligtvoet, the 64th Black Belt of the Karate Institute of America, as he ascended to the rank of 4th Dan, an accomplishment few have achieved in the forty-two year history of the Kiado-Ryu. Raptor joins Dan “Basai” Asay (KIA Black Belt #8) and Chris “Growler” Grau (KIA Black Belt #36) as the only other two KIA 4th Dan Black Belts—a remarkable feat considering that over thirty-three hundred individuals have studied at the KIA since its inception in 1979.