Ichinichi Issho is a famous saying in Japanese, which means ‘One day one lifetime’. The first time I heard it was training at the JKA (Japan Karate Association) in Japan many many years ago. To me, this philosophy is a maxim for our human lives, and of course, karate training included. Why? Because before life, there is nothing - that is, we can’t achieve anything. And once our lives are over, it goes without saying, we have no control. Obviously all that matters is our ‘lifetime’. If we treat ‘each day’ as a lifetime, like ‘Ichinichi Issho’ implies, we will make the most of our lives in all areas. I’ve found that regularly revisiting this philosophy (on a daily basis) greatly helps me ‘to give my very best’ each time I practice karate.

Training first - philosophy second, if at all…

I’d like to add here that I HATE KARATE PHILOSOPHY WHICH IS NOT RELATED TO ACTUAL TRAINING (there are far too many ‘karate-wafflers’, with all the theories under the sun, who can’t do high-level karate, and never could ). We must talk with our waza, and establish philosophies/strategies to help us to ‘physically’ keep achieving results (better put - ‘keep improving our technique’). Train first… Talk and/or write later! That is, if you are blessed with the time, and desire to do so. Personally I find making posts and discussing karate is really beneficial when recovering from fatigue, and those inevitable muscle pains, strains, impact injuries etc. But we must always remember, someone who only talks, and perhaps teaches karate, is not a karateka, unless they seriously train themselves.