Our Philosophy

It is our feeling that when you study one form of fighting, you will become aware of both your aggressiveness and your inhibitions. This is neither good nor bad, it is you; know yourself! You must learn how to control, channel, and direct your feelings in accordance with your principles, values and ethics.

The Commandments
1. Know yourself
2. Control yourself
3. Know the protagonists, antagonists, i.e. the world around you
4. Know your place, function, and purpose
5. Love your enemy as you love yourself
6. Then you will know and love completely
7. Then you will be able to reach out and act in love


Let's look at the line of thought prompted by: "When you study any form of fighting, you will become aware..."

Presently, our feelings and experiences are limited to one small aspect of Eastern Fighting Forms, namely an obscure Okinawan style of karate and the study of Yang Style Tai Chi Ch'uan. Through contact with Korean, Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese fighters, a number of hypotheses develop:

1. When you study fighting forms, you come to know yourself.

2. When you know yourself, you seek meaning for your life.

3. Life is meaningful and relevant only when viewed together within the context that there is a loving but just God.

4. A weapon or fighting style is only an extension of you (your will). Please note this well; you have heard: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."



Be it known, it is the intention of the Yudansha of Heiwa-Ryu that our students adopt the philosophy of Heiwa-Ryu and allow it to become a way of life.

This can be best explained by the following:

The Way
PERSEVERANCE - HUMILITY - LOVE

The Torch
Support a man when he is right, counsel him when he is wrong, have firmness of conviction, be tenacious in action, live religion, and respect others. In so doing, the ability to know yourself, and learn your place will come through deep meditation and prayer.

The Life
UNITE AND OVERCOME
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
BE AWARE OF NOTHING

The Fight
Respect your obstacle - contend by not contending - live what you believe every moment - this is our "dance" - this is Heiwa-Ryu

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
A person without spiritual direction and spiritual commitment is like a rudderless boat in the sea of life - it may be able to move quickly but goes nowhere. A person who does not love is like a boat with its hull caved in; it can never even start its journey - so, let us patch our hulls, fix the rudder, consult our charts, and follow our compasses as we hear our respective drummers. Always remember, "It is difficult to enlighten the unconscious."