“Martial Arts begins and ends with…RESPECT,
sir!”
The Martial
Arts have always been rooted in courtesy and respect. We know the importance of
respect from day one because we learn that the Martial Arts begin and end with
Respect. It is a huge part of our Dojo.
Students are
taught from the beginning to respect their instructors and the higher-ranking
students because they have achieved something these students have yet to reach.
Respect is not a one-way street in our Dojo. Instructors hold their students in
the highest respect and higher-ranks respect those lower than them. After all,
it wasn’t that long ago that they were in the shoes of the lower-rank.
We urge our
students to take this idea of respect and practice it outside of the Dojo as
well. Our students have a reputation of being more respectful to their parents,
teachers, friends, and co-workers. Respect is something that must be taught at
a young age, until it becomes a habit. We’ve been able to teach these lessons
to our young students.
It is
important to understand that to get respect we have to first give respect. When
you give respect to others, they will recognize that and, in turn follow the
golden rule and treat you in the same way.
Additionally,
in order to be able to give respect you have to respect yourself. Although it
can be hard sometimes, it is important to recognize why you should respect yourself—to
fulfill
your potential, develop healthy relationships, and make everyone around you see
you as a person who is worthy of respect. In order to respect yourself, you
must accept yourself and work toward being the person you want to become. When people don’t respect themselves they
give up on trying to reach their full potential and often resort to “stinkin’
thinkin’”—they become down and negative, and ultimately, they become a person
that others don’t respect.
We want to
reach our full potential as Martial Artists and to do that; we must respect
ourselves and the people around us.
