Quotes by Martial Artists - Page 6

Mastery does not exist.
Chris Matakas
I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.
Bruce Lee
Jiu Jitsu uses us to express itself, and the best thing we can do to is to become a vehicle capable of expressing Jiu Jitsu with all of its perfection minus our imperfections.
Chris Matakas
Don't seek to be respected by everyone, rather seek to be worthy of being respected by everyone.
Bohdi Sanders
True mastery transcends any particular art. It stems from mastery of oneself--the ability, developed through self-discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the surroundings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself.
Bruce Lee
Using the combined, integrated force of the mind and body is more efficient than using one without the other. Since the body can only exist in the present, that’s where the mind should be too (unless we deliberately choose to contemplate the past or future). At the same time, the body needs to be healthy and in optimum operating condition so that it can respond effectively to the mind’s directives.
H.E. Davey
Jiu Jitsu provides a place of fellowship that, unfortunately, our society has largely failed to create.
Chris Matakas
Let's live our lives with great meaning and purpose in the attempt to influence the world to whatever degree our circumstance allows.
Chris Matakas
Mind and body are in many ways opposite from each other, and mind and body must each act according to its own principles. Nonetheless, while the mind and body are different in disposition, they are complementary opposites that form a single whole. For us to sustain mind and body harmony, and function as whole human beings, we need to discover the actual nature of the mind’s characteristics.
H.E. Davey
You can't do wrong right, but you can do right wrong.
Bohdi Sanders
Humankind has accumulated generation upon generation of knowledge, the culmination of which is the vast and useful technological array we see everywhere in modern society. Despite this great accumulation of knowledge and technology, we still suffer from starvation and war. The difference between the past and the present is the difference between throwing rocks and shooting missiles. We are still in conflict. Suffering on a fundamental level hasn’t ceased. But we nevertheless persist in the notion that if we just amass a bit more knowledge, we’ll all be o.k. Maybe a new philosophy will do the trick, or a new system of government. But all of this has been tried many times.Knowledge builds on the past and has its place. Wisdom is beyond time. It’s the direct perception of reality as it is. And in this direct seeing of what is lies the potential of transformation—a transformation that is not merely a redecoration of the past but a transformation of humanity that embodies the eternally new.
H.E. Davey
An intelligent consistency is the foundation of genius.
Chris Matakas
That nagging state of constant thought that exists somewhere between the ears and behind the eyes is the self.
Chris Matakas
Learn today so that you may live tomorrow
Chris Bradford
When we know our values, we can easily measure whether or not our actions are in accordance with them. Values are the measuring sticks with which we determine the worthiness of our actions. To be better associated with one's own values is to remove a lot of the needless activities of daily life.
Chris Matakas
Our most valuable victories are those which go without praise.
Chris Matakas
I have been given the rare opportunity to teach Jiu Jitsu for a living. This is a privilege that I wake up everyday grateful for, and a responsibility that I hold dearly. I understand how rare it is to be employed through a labor you genuinely love, and one which can be used as a vehicle for positive change in the lives of others. Even rarer still, I am often reminded of the quality of Jiu Jitsu I have learned, and the opportunity to have learned it.
Chris Matakas
Every opportunity with another was an opportunity to serve my fellow man. Every moment alone was a chance to grow and become more of who I already was. I instantly felt how great a life could be, and that was only made possible by service toward others.
Chris Matakas
Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else; it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being... There are NO limits. There are plateus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.
Bruce Lee
When you recognize or experience the truth about yourself you automatically feel love, because love is a quality of your true consciousness and true ideas.
Tae Yun Kim
We are just too busy trying to appear smart to realize how intelligent we actually are.
Chris Matakas
I train Jiu Jitsu because I recognize that I am a piece of the whole, and as I grow so does that which contains me. The whole of man advances with the growth of a single individual. Every life I influence is benefited from the fact that I have devoted such a large portion of my life to this pursuit. I will be a better husband, father, and whatever other future roles I may hold because of my time in this sport. In making me a better man, I know that society as a whole is improved.
Chris Matakas
The major events in our lives receive the entire spotlight, but ultimately your life will be defined by the same handful of choices you make each day.
Chris Matakas
All these men recognized what they themselves valued, and lived according to these values regardless of their relationship to the values of their community. Each lived according to what brought them happiness and peace rather than commonplace prescriptions of the multitudes.
Chris Matakas
There is an undeniable truth that as one progresses further in his understanding of a craft the rest of his life progresses along with it. This symbiotic relationship between all things is experienced on a daily basis, but rarely articulated through conscious thought.
Chris Matakas
Only those who have tasted the bitterest of the bitter can become people who stand out among others. -Guanchang Xianxing Ji
Matthew Polly
Most inherent beauties are hidden, as are precious stones in the rocks
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
Life is a constant build up and release of tension. If we go too far in either direction bad things happen.
Chris Matakas
Think for yourself at all times.
Bohdi Sanders
Maintain an attitude of anticipating success!
Tae Yun Kim
Imagine a true master of the art, someone with complete skill in every aspect of Jiu Jitsu. This master would not force anything. He would simply allow the roll to take whatever form it does, and in every position would act in the most efficient way based off what the circumstance dictates, and not what he himself prefers.
Chris Matakas
Jiu Jitsu has given me something to pursue. We all need something to work towards. For people, as well as every piece of matter in the universe, there is no such thing as maintenance. If you are not growing you are decaying. The insidious nature of modern times is that it is so easy not to pursue anything. Societal norms pressure us into jobs we do not like, and the daily comforts of televisions and computers offer much in the way of distraction. If that isn't enough, there is always the numbing effects of alcohol coupled with attention-grabbing sporting events which conveniently run year round so one is never short of stimulus.
Chris Matakas
As a human being, I know of no greater example of success than someone who is self-sustaining through using his passion in the service of others.
Chris Matakas
Face your fears and you will be able to conquer them.
Bohdi Sanders
Will doesn't have to be struggle!
Tae Yun Kim
A saw by itself holds no value, but when coupled with your labor can clear forests.
Chris Matakas
Our actions are guaranteed to affect others. Because we are not alone in this world, much of our learning about ourselves comes from our interaction with others. Our relationships are our teachers. We learn from each other.
Tae Yun Kim
We must strive to become more daily. We must honestly assess our weaknesses and overcome them. We must work toward the highest possible version of ourselves. This is a worthy use of our time, but it is only when we do so with the ultimate aim of service to our fellow man that we really connect with something greater than ourselves. To contribute to the world in a positive way, this is the gift of life.
Chris Matakas
Your job as a young adult is to become as valuable to the marketplace as you can. Your job as a human is to do so without working a day in your life.
Chris Matakas
A core group of guys, all sharing similar goals, can move mountains.
Chris Matakas
Anyone can be tough for a season. It takes a special kind of human to rise to life's challenges for a lifetime.
Chris Matakas
Just know that the achievement of anything grand takes consistent effort year after year. Motivation can uphold you intermittently, but it has too few calories to sustain a life.
Chris Matakas
Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
Bruce Lee
Jiu Jitsu is meant to serve us, not the other way around. It is meant to make you more of whatever it is you already are. It is meant to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is meant to bring to conscious attention all that once went unseen. It is meant to make you more loving. It is meant to make you more wise, but less certain. It is meant to make us humble, yet supremely confident. It is meant to remind us of our frailty while simultaneously making us feel invincible.
Chris Matakas
During times of persistent hardship is when the warrior learns the most about his fortitude.
Bohdi Sanders
All respect is earned, even self-respect.
Bohdi Sanders
On the other side of self-doubt comes a confidence from faith in the process. Even though our destination may be a long way off, each day we rise with a subtle smile as if we have already achieved it, because, when we are truly committed to a task, we already have.
Chris Matakas
The road from white belt to black is long and arduous; most never reach the end. There are simply too many obstacles of daily life, and too much effort and attention required, for this to be something that the majority of practitioners achieve. This is why a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, especially from a reputable source, is the pinnacle of martial arts rank. It is valuable because of what must be traded for its achievement.
Chris Matakas
Through Jiu Jitsu I have developed many of the most meaningful relationships in my life, and if that were the only benefit of my practice, Jiu Jitsu would still be the best endeavor I have ever undertaken.
Chris Matakas
We see that the vast majority of our suffering is needless, and simply arises from the misidentification with our thinking mind.
Chris Matakas
Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it.
Bruce Lee
I wanted to get to the most essential aspect of my being, and look around for a while. I wanted to explore what I am in my most basic self. I wanted to chip away at all of the nonsense I have acquired through my twenty-nine years on this earth. I wanted to find truth. Thoreau went to the woods. I went to the mats. Jiu Jitsu has peeled the veil of daily life, and has shown me what lies beyond the curtain. We willingly accept the chains that circumstance forces upon us, and we grow to find comfort in them. We attach various fetters of day-to-day living to our being, and we do so with a smile. We accept these constraints for they come in the way of comfort. We accept conformity for it appears the path of least resistance. We strive toward the middle, and we run from ourselves.
Chris Matakas
I train jiu jitsu because I love jiu jitsu. But I also train knowing that my practice in this art will allow me better practice in any art. If you have learned one thing, you have learned all things, because you have learned how to learn. I can think of no more worthwhile pursuit of education.
Chris Matakas
Regard mistakes as teachers, not judges!
Tae Yun Kim
I believe the real reason we pursue anything in life is not for the thing itself, but for who we become on the way to its accomplishment. We strive to accomplish things in the attempt to mold ourselves. The greatest benefits Jiu Jitsu will have in your life will have nothing to do with Jiu Jitsu. It is this simple understanding that allows me to persist in my study. Even on the rare days when I may not have a burning desire to practice Jiu Jitsu, I am reminded that my practicing Jiu Jitsu is more accurately my practicing to become a better human being. The lessons I learn on the mat will serve me in every area of life-- personal development, relationships, business, and the like.
Chris Matakas
An open mind, is the best weapon, in the fight between light and darkness
Soke Behzad Ahmadi
Every interaction with another is an opportunity to serve.
Chris Matakas
The best indicator of a man's philosophy is not what he reads or says, but the way in which he lives his life, the way in which he acts.
Chris Matakas
The best yardstick for our progress is not other people, but ourselves. Am I better than I was yesterday? This is the only question worth asking. As long as you go to bed at night a better practitioner than the one who woke up that morning, you have succeeded. Your worth should have nothing to do with how your progress stacks up relative to another.
Chris Matakas
Relationships formed through Jiu Jitsu are deeply rooted in respect for one another, and this is often not the case in matters of modern society.
Chris Matakas