Ethics and Philosophy - The Accademia Karate

The salute
respect
Summer activity
Dojokun
Master Funakoshi

The salute

The Salute is a ritual. A ritual that needs, at the same time, discipline, form, respect and integrity. In the daily life, in the “normal” life, we are, very often, judged by the first impression that we give to the other people. The salute to the external world, to the people, is our business card. An act, a word, a phrase, the way of looking, a shaking hands, each of these acts send informations outside and inside of us. A respectful salute shows dignity, care of form, kindness and friendship. All of these values work, at the same time, inside and outside of us, creating inside of us, a sort of mysterious power, outside a strange kind of wave that reflects all these qualities and consequently, all the positivity connected to them. Salute must be honest, felt in deep of us, carry by heart and again, the influence of all these qualities will be felt inside outside..

The karate salute shows, first of all, respect and that’s why it’s so important in a deep and serious practice of karate. Master Funakoshi was used to say:” The practice of karate begins and finish with the salute”. One of the first purposes of the karate is the research and study of what the Japanese use to call GI-SHI. Gi-shi means Right man. The rightness must be reflected to the external world. A right salute reflects this kind of study. It’s my opinion that with salute begins the study of gi-shi. The very first step.

Respect
	The Gi-shi study and research takes, among other things, to a more profound idea of respect. I believe that in our modern society, the concept of respect is very weak. We have a very low level of respect towards external world, but especially towards ourselves. Even worst: sometimes we respect wrong values and we don’t care about the right ones. A good practice of karate means respect for ourselves as a human being in constant study and evolution. A good practice of karate means respect for our father and our mother and for all the good things that allow us to have a healthy style of life. In my opinion, a life without a good sense of respect takes us to do especially what is more easy or more comfortable for us to do and not what should be right.
Respecting of right values ( sometimes more difficult to follow and realize) we keep a line, and we are able to behave ourselves. Our actions are not influenced by any kind of fear or by negative feelings like egoism, egomania, resentment, envy, jalousie …. all kind of feelings that can create a bad wave of energy that influence, first of all ourselves, then all the world and people close to us. This negative wave can, in the beginning, take away us from all the good and simple things that life can give us, then in a second moment, can get ourselves more close to things, people and situations really bad and negative. Deciding to follow the right way of respect could not be easy, but in the same time, can create a great inner energy to trust and follow in the most difficult moments. Because, in the deep of our heart, we all know what is really right what is really wrong.

Sunset Training

In summer time, I take great part of the training at Lido beach. At least half of all the classes are taken on the seaside, on the sand. It’s a wonderful experience, after a hard day working day, be able to practice an hour and half of good karate on the sand. Fresh air mixed with good sweat and in the end an incredible and unique refreshment in the water of the Adriatic sea. Of course, lots of people from other towns out of Venice reach us and is a very good feeling practice all together when the sun is, little by little, coming up from the sea.

At the last Saturday of july, at the sunset ( about 04.00 A.M.) we do what I called: “ The sun Salute”.

It’s a bit hard, wake up in the morning at 03.00 A.M. but the spirit is every time good.

Someone didn’t even slept and after a good ITALIAN coffee, at the first open bar, we meet all together in the dark, at the seaside. At the first light of the sunset we do the salute to the rising sun; it’s a strange, beautiful, absolutely out of order experience. Very refreshing air, bare feet on the sand, when they are not in the water …. It’s a strange kind of karate, without borders( inside and outside). You feel free to do your own Kiai towards the open sea. We pass, little by little, from the dark of the night to the light of the sunset, everybody full of energy.

In my opinion it’s like daily life. Yes … because this is karate for me: before starting the practice, everything is black, foggy, not clear; then, thanks to the regular practice, comes the light.

It’s up to us to keep it on.