Home

Ethics open pathways for internal understanding and energy awareness.

1. Honor your family, your teachers, and the organization. Honoring them is a lifetime responsibility. They are to be treated like a father or mother who give the art of life. Give and sacrifice without expecting to receive.

2. View classmates as brothers and sisters. By giving and helping them become better, you too will excel.

3. Senior students practice humility. Treat junior students as equals, which in turn will earn you the respect and position of a senior.

4. Junior students are respectful to your seniors. Their treatment of you as an equal is a sign that they are beginning to find humility and are worthy of senior respect. The senior's humbleness is to be honored.

5. Never consider yourself knowledgeable regardless of time in training. You, as all of us, are on a long staircase and with no apparent end and which will lift you to the highest attainments you seek.

6. Recognize everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses, regardless of their time in the art. Try to help their weaknesses; and, in turn, your weaknesses will eventually be strengthened.

7. Students are responsible to demonstrate the code of ethics in and out of class. Such demonstration will clearly indicate you do not consider your art to be separate from your life; your art is part of everything you do.

8. Rely on your teacher's judgment to the greatest extent possible. Many times you may not agree with policies or actions, but you are responsible to try to stand behind your teachers and strive for better understanding as junior students do toward you. Remember, take one step at a time; experience will bring enlightenment.

9. Teachers and fellow students are human and may make mistakes. Respect their weaknesses and appreciate their gains toward self-improvement. They will learn from your kindness and understanding which will strengthen both of you.

10. Never criticize your teacher. Criticizing is considered to be a poor code of conduct and in essence you are saying you need another instructor. Analyze your doubts and your viewpoint may possibly change regarding the matter; if not, discuss any situation privately with your instructor.

11. Listen to suggestions from anyone including lower ranking students. They may offer suggestions from a unique and helpful angle. Receptiveness will help you grow.

12. Be an example of courtesy, regardless of what step you are in your journey to seek growth. Courtesy in and out of class is a sign of strength.

13. Pride. Carry yourself earnestly and try your best. Other people's expectations of you may be important; but your own expectations of yourself are more important. Doing your best will give you honor and pride.

14. Contain your ego. The showing of too much power demonstrates you have a low level of ego containment. Use of techniques with kindness and appreciation is a sign of strength.

15. Tenacity. It is your responsibility to do your best in class. Do not allow yourself to simply follow or stand idle. Practice regardless of your level of ability or comprehension in a technique. Tenacity is the ability to keep trying with or without your teacher being present.

16. Cleanliness. Refined cleanliness means refined mind. Clean clothes and body show by example the honor and ethics you possess.

17. Do not ask to be taught more techniques. Let your instructor decide when you are ready. To ask is a sign you have perfected that, which has already been taught to you. Techniques require a lifetime of perfecting. By working hard on what you have already learned is the first sign you are ready for more.

18. Remember your teacher and loved one's birthday and special holidays. No matter how small, show them appreciation that truly comes from the heart. A sign of thoughtfulness allows a bond to develop making the teacher feel appreciated. Wanting to show his or her gratitude, your teacher will reciprocate by genuinely wanting to further your knowledge.

19. When visiting your teacher it is proper to bring them a small gift. A gift can be food for casual visits or present for formal visits. When a teacher is invited to your home or anywhere else, be sure to have proper food and drink available thus demonstrating good manners. Traditionally, the teacher partakes of food and drink first and then others follow.

20. If you have had an argument with your teacher and later desire to reestablish your relationship, bring a gift upon your first visit and extend a humble apology, regardless of whether or not you feel it is completely deserved. A good teacher will always accept a genuine apology without regard as to who might have been wrong.

1. Address, introduce, or write to your teachers with their respected title. They should not be addressed by their first names unless your teacher says you may.

2. Bowing to your teacher, to other students, and when coming in and out of your training area is a sign of respect.

3. Be timely with payments of your tuition. Teachers in turn will be timely with their instruction.

4. Try diligently not to be late for class. If you are late, wait on the side for the instructor to bow you in. Once bowed in, do not walk through lines but enter the class through the back. Talk to your teacher if you cannot routinely attend class on time or if you must leave class early. If you are absent, you are responsible for techniques missed; furthermore, only practice techniques you have been taught.

5. Each martial art is a complete system with traditions. Observe carefully the traditions because they represent the heart of the system which you study. Proper acceptance and usage of the traditions demonstrate your skill level.

6. Regardless of rank or time in school, voluntarily clean the dojo. Doing so shows humbleness and respect. If you see your teacher cleaning the dojo, you should take such action as a hint and immediately sign to help.

7. Do not wear your gi top out of class. Come to class wearing any shirt and change in the dojo to your gi top. Wear no jewelry in class.

8. Do not talk to anyone outside of class while in class; keep talking to a minimum in class, and resist the urge to constantly teach your classmate. Also, do not joke or fool around in class.

9. Bow out of class early if you become fatigued and feel sick, but do not bow out early because you are tired. Discipline yourself not to show tiredness and complete the class. This creates tenacity and discipline for other things.

10. If a student is injured, inform the instructor immediately.

11. Maintain upright body posture throughout the class.

12. Senior students should know and feel comfortable with the teacher's rules and be able to explain them clearly to junior students.

1. If you desire to visit and participate in another school, ask permission from the teacher of that school before attending. If allowed to participate, pay for the class or leave some kind of tribute in appreciation, regardless if the teacher says it is not necessary. Also, do not wear your gi or rank in a dojo of different style karate unless given permission to do so. Wear something neat and comfortable to workout in.

2. Always bow when entering and leaving another dojo. Using the bow you are familiar with is acceptable until you observe how the other style's bow is done.

3. When inviting a teacher or senior from another dojo or system to dinner, open doors for them, offer them a seat first, wait for them to begin eating before you do, and offer to pay for their meal. Be attentive to see their cup is always full. The cup of the most senior is checked first followed by the cup of the second most senior and so forth down the levels of seniority. Serving your honoured guest properly is considered a good code. Tipping well is also a good sign of ethics and demonstrates your genuine gratitude and respect for the occasion. These acts reflect your organizational training and give "face" to you, your dojo, and the organization. Undoubtedly, seniors will analyze your actions and decisions in their minds what level of training you have attained.

Although the foregoing rules may seem overly proper, the fact is they are rules of ethics many systems and societies consider to be an art and a major factor of proper attitude towards one another. Remember, most systems originated in the Orient and carry Oriental traditions. There exist many more rules that are more subtle than what has been discussed so far, and much could be learned from them if one has the desire to do so. There are those who tend to shun the traditional values of other countries as being impractical; but, by understanding their values as a way of life and grasping their true inner meaning as internal arts, one can determine the difference between an art and a sport.