General Words of Wisdom

Views of Sifu Norman Mandarino

On Martial Arts

Martial arts is a way of life. A true martial artist does not train to become the ultimate warrior, the world’s most physically fit specimen, or the greatest sage of all mankind. A true martial artist trains to be a better person.
Traditional martial arts places no emphasis on competitions, record breaking or championships. Traditional martial arts focuses on the ultimate aim of self-perfection.
A true martial artist does not limit his training to the kwoon or dojo. A true martial artist trains every minute of his existence.
Ask yourself the following question every time you train: How would I feel about my school if everyone trained as I train? This query has nothing to do with your skill level. It refers to the amount of effort you put into your workout.
Always devote 100% of your heart, mind and body during training. Negligence in any of these categories is a serious impediment and will limit growth in your art.
When striving for excellence, complacency is not an option.
What comes out of your training depends on what goes in.
Growth in the martial arts is seldom achieved without countless failures and frustrations. Overcome these setbacks with proper practice, perseverance and a positive attitude. Failures and frustrations are learning experiences and should be treated as such. Development in this area will not only assist your physical art, it will also serve to strengthen your mental facilities.
Progress in the martial arts is made by refusing to accept our limitations.
Do not let anxiety defeat you. Overcome fear; start to learn.
Martial arts, grants us the inner-fortitude to deal with personal issues that need to be changed and the dignity to accept those which cannot.
Train with one hundred percent focus and train regularly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act; it is a habit.
Our martial arts experience predicts how we think we would react to a violent confrontation. However, one does not know for certain what his response will be until he is actually involved in the situation. To be properly prepared, one must include mental and physical development as an integral part of their self defense training.
Going to your martial arts school and not training, is like going to a library and not reading.

On Goals

The ultimate aim of kung fu is the unity of mind, body and spirit.
The hardest thing is not attaining your goals; it is setting them. Know what you want.
You can do the things you want to do or not do the things you want to do.
Successful people have the habit of doing what failures don't like to do. They may not like doing them either, but their dislike is subordinated to the strength of their goals.
If you find 10,000 ways something won't work; you haven't failed.
A superior thinker possesses the ability to anticipate the consequences of doing or not doing something.
Future intent should influence present actions.
Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.
Advance daily throughout your life, becoming more skillful today than yesterday.

General Words of Wisdom

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
To study & not think is darkness. To think without study is dangerous.
The person who doesn't read is no better off than the person who can't read.
A person runs three to four miles per day, bragging about the extra ten years of life it creates, unaware that he is spending them running.
Chasing after the poisonous snake that bit us will only drive the poison throughout our system. It is far better to take measures to immediately get the poison out.
To see farther than others; stand on the shoulders of giants.
One should never display a weak attitude. If a man loses his courage, his associates will lose their respect for him.
A victorious person in this life is not a superman but one who, while knowing which conditions are the causes of failure, also knows which conditions are the causes of success.

Visionaries

Courage is resistance to fear and mastery of fear; not absence of fear. Mark Twain