• The Martial Way begins and ends with courtesy. Therefore, be properly and genuinely courteous at all times. ~Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama

• A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times. ~Anonymous
  

•  Philosophical ideals in the martial arts:

To strive for perfection of character

To defend the paths of truth

To foster the spirit of effort

To honor the principles of etiquette

To guard against impetuous courage ~Kauz
 

•        "A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." ~Samurai Maxim

• Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself ~ Chinese Proverb

• A martial artist is dynamite packed into flesh and fiber, and is measured not only by the power of his potential explosiveness, but also by the length of his fuse. Good martial artists have very long fuses. Great martial artists have none at all. ~Tony Annesi

• I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. ~ Confucius

• I have not failed 700 times, I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work ~ Thomas Edison

• Mental bearing (calmness), not skill, is the sign of a matured samurai. A Samurai therefore should neither be pompous nor arrogant.~ Tsukahara Bokuden

• Only a warrior chooses pacifism; others are condemned to it. ~ Unknown

• Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is why so few engage in it. ~ Henry Ford

• When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you. ~ Lao-Tzu

• The obstacle is the path ~ Zen Proverb

• It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. ~ Vince Lombardi

• Follow not in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seek what they sought. ~Unknown

• All Martial Artists are beginners; Some of us have just been beginning longer! ~J.R. West

• The black belt is not a mark or symbol of the end of the journey to ones mastery of the arts; rather it is the mark that one is done packing for their journey and may now take the first step in their true journey. This a journey which can not ever be complete, only traveled... ~Unknown

• It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. ~Confucius

• It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. ~Sally Kempton

• In a fight between a strong technique and a strong body, technique will prevail. In a fight between a strong mind and a strong technique, mind will prevail, because it will find the weak point. ~Taisen Deshimaru

• The key quality that anyone has to develop - a regular person as well as a warrior - is humility. If you don’t try to develop humility, what you end up developing is pride, and that’s destructive; it destroys yourself and it destroys the world around you. ~Vladimir Vasiliev

• The final purpose of all the arts is self-development. ~Tony Annesi

• Suppose a boat is crossing a river and another boat, an empty one, is about to collide with it. Even an irritable man would not lose his temper. But suppose there was someone in the second boat. Then the occupant of the first would shout to him to keep clear. And if he did not hear the first time, nor even when called to three times, bad lanquage would inevitably follow. In the first case there was no anger, in the second there was -- because in the first case the boat was empty, in the second it was occupied. And so it is with man. If he could only pass empty through life, who would be able to injure him? ~ Chuang Tzu