Philosphy of Instruction...and living

Martial arts is one of the oldest formalized methods of training in existence. The benefits of training in martial arts include improving your physical shape, learning defense skills, increasing flexibility, and improving focus. There are many aspects of martial arts training however that surpass the sum of its parts. In time a martial artist can achieve a sense of calm, direction, and insight that is nearly impossible achieve through any other training. The makes martial arts unique in what it can contribute to ones life.

Kaizen

At Gendai Budo, the concept of kaizen is promoted to help give direction in our training. Basically meaning "continual improvement", the concept not only supports our training mindset but also reflects our approach to barriers we encounter or errors we may make. When one focuses on continually improving, things like past mistakes, perceived deficiencies, and other negative aspects that hold people back seem less significant.

Zen

The zen approach of training is deeply rooted in traditional martial arts. Although instruction and guidance is provided at Gendai Budo, learning by experience is used heavily at the dojo. Repetition of technique and execution is used to fully develop the martial artist. Instructors organize class and provide gradually increasing resistance to aid in the experiential realization. At the same time, this hones the martial artists ability to defend and withstand increasingly more intense defense situations.

Application

At Gendai Budo, our instructional approach greatly values the use of our training specifically as it applies to defense. There are numerous lessons to be learned in martial arts training, and we learn those lessons through the study of defense training. At Gendai Budo we use resistance and application as the final test as to our progress in technique, execution, and growth. Utilizing the foundation of traditional Okinawan karate, students are given the tools and training methods that apply directly to defense or whatever objectives the students choose to take on.