A 2011 Holiday Message to Members, Families and Friends of the

Arizona Karate Association

By Shoijro Koyama

(With Lisa Anderson and Jackie Martinez)

  As the saying goes, time flies!  2011 is almost gone.  We survived this year because of all of your contributions to the dojo.  I think you help because you want to continue karate forever.   Please continue the energy and power of your efforts no matter if I survive, if I quit, or I retire.  I am confident you will carry on this wisdom and spiritual learning.

Because you continue in training, I want to give this little idea as a small present.  I hope it will help. First, I want to give you the idea of “mirror neurons.”  Mirror neurons are “a special class of brain cells that fire not only when an individual performs an action but also when the individual observes someone else make the same movement.”  Mirror neurons let us “simulate not just other people’s actions, but the intentions and emotions behind those actions.”  Thus, “you don’t have to think about what the other person intends by smiling.  You experience the meaning immediately and effortlessly”  (Society for Neuroscience).

Put a picture of yourself smiling in a frame and place it someplace so that when you wake up you can see your beautiful smiling picture.  Talk to your picture: “”Today is a nice day,” “Good things are going to happen today,” etc.  Smiling and happiness are basic—this is white belt and colored belt training.  For brown and black belt level have a self-dialogue of modesty and humility; be calm and composed; consider whatever problems you face objectively by giving yourself distance from them. Seek to understand how your problems impress themselves on you so that you can deepen your understanding of yourself.

When I was young, someone taught me about mirror neurons.  When I came to the United States in 1964, I knew the concept of mirror neurons, but I thought it was useless.  Today, I know better and I see the great benefit of this concept.

I will give you another gift with a suggestion.  Why not keep a Diary?  Not a diary with dates for everyday writing because then if you forget to write one day or another you will have blank pages.  Therefore, not a normal dated diary, but a notebook. Put dates with your goals and notes about your improvements.  Write down the proverbs I share with you at the dojo.  Review them from time to time to remind yourself.

Albert Einstein, one of the world’s most brilliant scientists and humanitarians said, “It is high time the ideal of success should be replaced with the ideal of service.” One day I read this quotation from Einstein. It impressed me, and influenced how I think about our tournament.   I have held this tournament for 47 years—and each of those years everyone helps, and therefore it has been very successful. Our Western States tournament in 2011 was very successful, but I believe we are close to achieving the ideal of service, thanks to everyone’s contributions.

Another quotation, this one conveying Oriental cultural wisdom, comes from Okakura, a famous Japanese author who lived from the middle of the 19th to the early part of the 20th century.  He writes,  “A special contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition that the mundane is of equal importance as the spiritual.”  This is very important and useful for our everyday life.

Japanese history is very interesting.  We all know about the Tokugawa Shogunate, who had ruled Japan for more than 400 years, and the revolution that ended the Shogunate about 150 years ago. It was a revolution, but it was not as bloody as some revolutions in other countries.  The new government leader, Prince Mutsuhito, was 15 years old when he became Emperor.  How could such a young leader succeed?  He succeeded because the children of his era had an education that really began when they were still in their mother’s wombs. 

Today we know through medical science that the when a child is born the brain structure is 80% complete.  After the age of 15, most of our brain is unused and begins to decline. Geniuses are those who use more of their brain than the average person, but all of us can learn to use more of our brain.  I demonstrated this with our students. I gave a monologue form Shakespeare’s Hamlet to one of our young students.  After 2 weeks, he memorized it and gave a beautiful recitation.  It was amazing.  He did it!  Even to this day he can still recite it beautifully.  He is not a genius.  He is just normal, except for his effort.  This effort was great.  Even adult students can do it with enough effort. 

I hope my gift of the notebook will help you learn to use more of your brain.  Please, on the first page of the notebook please write this:

“You are very noble, but you are so much more than you might think.  Even more than what you think, you are much more brave.  Some of you have more power, which has not been discovered just yet.  Eventually, continuing to discover yourself, you will have a vigorous life that is full and generating more power.” 

But don’t forget to appreciate your own accomplishments.  Happiness is my greatest wish for all of you, for this coming year and the many, many more to follow.