Publisher's Synopsis
Are you looking for a fitness program; weight loss; self-defense; self-discipline; self-confidence; etc., then you should consider a martial arts class? Your first lessons will include the correct way to bow; how to address black belts and instructors; and that the name of your art means "the way of . . . something." This means little other than a bit of trivia to be memorized on the way to your first colored belt. But, is it trivial? Why did the originators of the art include that innocuous little word "do" (pronounced doe meaning way, discipline or art)? There's taekwondo - the way of the hand and foot (Korean); jeet kune do - the way of the intercepting fist (Chinese); tang soo do - the way of the Chinese hand (Korean); aikido - the way of harmonious spirit (Japanese); hapkido - the way of coordinated power (Korean); bushido - the way of the warrior (Japanese); neukdaedo - the way of the wolf (American). Shared by these unrelated arts is their understanding that they are a way. Likewise, all martial artists, through pursuing this way of their art, share a deep connection. Once we, through our own discipline in training, glimpse this connection, our next question is inescapable. "What is this way of . . . the way to?"
