The Martial Arts are Universal because they deal with the Self.
ICHIREN: Singleness of Purpose. A passion or faith that all Martial Artists must have.

Lesson of Inye the Spear Master:
1. You must have singleness of purpose.
2. You have to expect failures sometimes.
3. When you have failure, don’t build a case against yourself.

Must-have Ichiren:
1. Go into the endeavor you like, the one that is compatible with your nature.
2. Meditation. Live in the moment totally.

The First Step Toward Awareness:
1. You must know every part of your body.
2. You must be able to control every part of your body.

“It is slavery to live in the mind if it is not part of the body."

A Further Step Towards Awareness:
One of the most important things in the Martial Arts is, once your Sensei teaches you and you don’t understand, admit that you don’t understand and ask for clarification.

A Martial Artist behaves truly to himself. A man who is master of himself – an artist of life – behaves truly to himself. (This becomes true love.) He loves his fellow man and believes all men deserve respect. A Martial Artist lives for the moment.

A Martial Artist must develop mental pressing from the tanden. Press out at the opponent. First you must learn breath control – and then catch cosmic energy. Breathe out on the syllables “Aum”. First the density of the bones changes. This change begins in the marrow and works out.

The way to teach a person not to kill is to train him to kill quickly and efficiently.

Poem taught by Kami Iidzumi Hidetsuna, called ‘Ise-no-Kami’:
If you are thinking (dreaming) of something,
And another dream interposes on the first dream,
You must be able to return to the first dream.
Stay with the first dream.
When you sleep.
Your intellect sleeps.

Why learn so many katas? As you train in the Martial Arts you will become one of two things. You may hit Kufusuru and become an artist of life and have self awareness or, you may become a teacher; then you will need the katas to give public knowledge. You will eventually learn one kata that particularly suits you. This kata will help you achieve awareness.