Dear Master Ron, Rusty, and Kha,
I wanted to share this piece I wrote in honor of my father, who peacefully left this world yesterday.
With respect and gratitude,
Master Thinh
True Karate Training: A Path to Inner Clarity
In the heart of true Karate training lies something far deeper than punches, kicks, or forms — it is the art of becoming fully awake.
As practitioners, we often move through life on autopilot. If we take a moment to quietly observe, we may notice how our thoughts, emotions, desires, fears, and attachments rise like shadows and subtly shape our decisions. We follow them unknowingly — a whisper of anger, a flicker of doubt, a craving for approval — and yet we believe we are in control.
But if the mind is constantly being pulled by these conditioned patterns, how can we say we are truly free? How can we say we are living, learning, or training — if we are simply reacting?
Zen teaches: “Observe your mind like watching clouds drift across the sky. Do not become the cloud.”
This is where meditation enters, not as an escape, but as a return — a return to the present moment. Through stillness, we learn to observe without judgment. We begin to see the arising of thoughts and emotions without being entangled by them. The breath becomes our anchor, the body becomes our temple, and awareness becomes our sword.
In the dojo, this clarity becomes practice.
Every movement, every kata, every strike becomes a mirror. We begin to ask: Am I moving from habit, or from presence? From ego, or from essence?
True performance in Karate — or in life — is not about perfection. It is about presence. The greatest warrior is not the one who never fears, but the one who sees fear arise and chooses to move with stillness and clarity.
Bushidō, the Way of the Warrior, reminds us that the path is not about domination, but about honor, discipline, and inner mastery. To train in Karate with true spirit is to train in letting go — of ego, of tension, of distraction — until all that remains is the moment itself.
When we are free from preconditioned thought, action becomes spontaneous, natural, and whole. This is the meaning of mushin — “no mind.” Not empty of awareness, but empty of interference. A mind like still water, reflecting exactly what is — no more, no less.
True Karate training is not about becoming better than others.
It is about remembering who you are when there is nothing in the way.
