Dojo Values

 

A horse stance should be painful.
Let me say that again, a horse stance should be painful.
I find that once we come to grips with this, the particulars become easier to accept.

Your feet should be one-and-a-half shoulder widths apart. The heels of your feet should be pushing outward, causing the blades of your feet to be parallel. This position should cause a stretch in the outside of your ankle.
Your knees should be bending and pushing out over your feet; the goal is having them over your big toe. This emphasis should open your hips and fatigue your quadriceps.
Your hips should be pulling forward, straightening your lower back and further stretching your hips.
Your shoulders should be pulling down and your fists should be pulling tightly against your sides, as high and as far back as possible. You should feel a stretch across the front of your chest and fatigue across your back.
Your eyes should be focussing straight forward at shoulder level despite all distractions.

None of this should be comfortable, comfort is not the goal. The goal is to train the body to be strong and well-balanced, the mind to be clear and focused, and the spirit to be steadfast.

Chris Santillo
Circa 2004

I originally wrote this for a newsletter more than ten years ago. I was more than a little flattered to learn that one of my students had kept a tattered copy all of these years. After rereading it I found that I still liked it and wanted to share it again.
In particular I enjoyed the use of the active voice. Instead of suggesting that your feet should be apart it emphasizes that your feet should be ‘pushing’ outward. A horse stance is not a static position, it is a dynamic masterpiece that you must create in each moment.
I also appreciate the emphasis on the horse stance being a anvil for forging the body, mind, and spirit. The physical benefits of a horse stance are obvious, but are dwarfed by the benefits for the mind and the spirit. Gaining the ability to focus amidst life’s distractions sharpens the mind. Forcing your body and mind to persist when they want to quit develops your spirit.

The horse stance was a integral part of our training a thousand years ago, ten years ago, and very much still today.

Chris Santillo
2015

Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.

 — Unknown

We pursue excellence in a thousand different ways, but for simplicity let’s just consider a person who wants be able to do more push ups — a noble goal to be sure. Let’s call him Jim and assume he can do ten push ups but he wants to be able to do twenty.

The pursuit of excellence is a long and arduous process. It can also be fun and enjoyable — but don’t forget that it is long and arduous. The first step in attaining excellence is to do more, and the second step in attaining excellence is . . . . doing more. If Jim wants to be able to do twenty push ups he won’t get there by practicing ten. He will only get there by doing twenty. How is that possible if he can only do ten, you ask? Perhaps the first time he tries to do twenty he will fail, perhaps he will only do twelve — that’s okay. The next time he tries to do twenty perhaps he will do fourteen. The important thing is that he is trying to do twenty, not trying to do fourteen, and certainly not trying to do ten.

People very commonly practice the same thing over and over assuming they are getting closer to their goal. By doing ten push ups every day Jim will become quite skilled at that task, but he will never reach his goal of twenty. There is great appeal in continuing to do ten push ups because it is much more gratifying — in the short-term — to succeed at doing ten push ups than to fail at doing twenty. However, in the long-term, getting to twenty is worth all the work. As Zig Ziglar put it, “Happiness is not pleasure, it’s victory.”

If you want to climb a mountain you need to climb the mountain, not a number of small hills. So pack up your gear, put on your boots, and start climbing the mountain. If you fail, take a rest, reflect, and then get up the next morning and try to climb the mountain again.

Oh, one other thing. If it’s easy, you’re not trying hard enough.

Master Chris Santillo

You can’t always get what you want.

But if you try sometimes,

well you just might find,

You get what you need.

— Rolling Stones

Devin studied Kempo many years ago. I knew his Sensei and enjoyed reports from both of them about how well Devin’s training was going — until it wasn’t.

Devin was an early bird and always got to work crazy early in the morning. He would then schedule Kempo lessons in the early afternoon to make sure that he didn’t get pulled in to any meetings. With great joy he would say “Sorry, Joe, I can’t today. I have an appointment this afternoon. Make sure someone sends me the minutes.” A Kempo lesson is a much better way to spend your time than in a meeting, to be sure.

This worked really well until there was a meeting that he just couldn’t miss. Devin called his Sensei to apologize and canceled his lesson. His Sensei didn’t seem phased, “No big deal, maybe we can do it tomorrow.” he said. Devin thought this was amazingly kind and thanked him profusely. Unfortunately he stopped studying Kempo just a couple of months later.

What happened was simple. He could no longer skip meetings with the explanation that he had an appointment — he knew that he could reschedule it whenever he wanted. He got pulled in to more and more meetings and eventually stopped even protesting. His attendance at the dojo became abysmal and he eventually quit. Once he saw that his Sensei did not prioritize his lessons, he found it hard to do so himself.

It’s unfair to blame his Sensei for his quitting but we can’t ignore the effect his actions had. At the end of the day the goal — unrealized in this case — is for a Kempo student to reach their highest potential and everyone involved needs to support that goal or it won’t happen. This includes the student and Sensei — of course — but also friends, family and classmates. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well I say it takes a village to help someone earn a black belt.

Master Chris Santillo

Dojos exist for a lot of people and for a lot of reasons. ‘Dojo’ literally means ‘Training Hall,’ it is a place where you learn martial arts. Nothing could be more mundane. But somehow — and I don’t claim to fully understand it — a dojo is something more, it is part of people’s lives.

A dojo exists because of, and for, the students. A sensei is merely a facilitator, the one who knows how to punch and kick. It is the students that create the essence of a dojo. A sensei with no students is not a sensei at all, but a student without a sensei is a still a student, one seeking guidance.

Potomac Kempo opened its first dojo on July 7th, 2003. On that day, we had no students and no essence. Each day takes us further from that day and closer to where we are headed. Today only gives a vague impression of where that might be. Those impressions, however, leave me optimistic.

I see students spending time before and after class getting to know their fellow students, exchanging views of Kempo and their reasons for studying it. I see students helping other students to learn; adults helping the kids’ class and students — adults and kids both — helping their peers. I see students helping to make the dojo a place that we can all be proud of, cleaning up after themselves, and helping their classmates who haven’t figured it out yet . . . I keenly remember one student with a light in his eye saying to me, “I finally realized, this is my dojo.”

Remember, it is your dojo.

Master Chris Santillo

Potomac Kempo

 

Let me tell you a story about a 9-year-old girl.
Yesterday morning, her alarm went off. She got out of bed and went to school. She got there on time because she has learned to be disciplined. While in class other kids were talking and passing notes but she remained focused on her lessons because she has learned how to focus. When it was her turn to present to the class she stood up calmly and spoke effectively because she has learned to be confident. After school other kids invited her to hang out and watch TV; instead she did her homework and went to the dojo to practice Kempo because she has learned the benefits of nourishing her mind, body and spirit. Later, after she had studied and exercised, she relaxed and visited with her friends and family. Then she went to bed with a smile on her face.

Let me tell you another story, this one is about a gentleman in his mid-thirties.
He got up this morning and went to work. He got there on time because he has learned to be disciplined. . . . .  Well, you can probably figure out the rest.

Perhaps these stories sound contrived but the point they make is a valid one. The paths of our lives don’t happen by accident. We make choices every moment of every day and those choices affect everything. Choosing to read a book today will affect the chance of you getting into college or getting your next promotion. Who you choose to spend time with today will affect who your friends are 20 years from now. Choosing to work out and be healthy today will affect how you feel on your 80th birthday.

If this sounds like pressure, it shouldn’t. It’s opportunity. There are choices you can make right now to help you become healthier, happier and better.

What are you waiting for?

Master Chris Santillo

Potomac Kempo

Trace Adkins has a song with the line “And she thinks we’re just fishin’” which obviously made me think of Kempo. . .

I think sometimes people misunderstand the goal of Kempo training. They often think the goal is to perfect a technique or a form. They strive for the perfect kick or the perfect punch. These are all noble goals and working towards them is what hones what we are really working on — ourselves.

We are the goal of our Kempo training. We are trying to make ourselves perfect. Not just our ability to deliver a kick but our ability to improve our ability to deliver a kick. Not just to control our body but to control our mind. To go beyond knowing things to actually understanding them. Punching and kicking are a means to an end. Which brings be back to country music. . . .

In the song “Just fishin'” by Trace Adkins he tells of a father who is fishing with his daughter. As they spend time together they talk about life and develop a deep bond, but the little girl doesn’t understand this, she thinks they are just fishing. In the same way I think that most people practicing Kempo think they are “just training” rather than understanding the magnitude of what they are taking on and the benefits that they can achieve. That’s okay, it still works.

Some people go fishing to catch fish and some people go to bond with their friends and family. Some people practice Kempo to learn to punch and kick and some people practice to become better people.

So, like I said. Kempo is like fishing.

 Master Chris Santillo

Potomac Kempo