Martial Arts Quotes

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
― Bruce Lee

“The best fighter is never angry.”
― Lao Tzu

“Never respond to an angry person with a fiery comeback, even if he deserves it...Don't allow his anger to become your anger.”
― Bohdi Sanders, Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior

“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do

“The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.”
― Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

“Preoccupied with a single leaf you won't see the tree.”
― Vagabond

“To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.”
― Bruce Lee

“The Talmud states, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
― Bridges McCall

“You Have the Power to Fulfill Your Dreams!”
― Dr. Tae Yun Kim, Seven Steps to Inner Power

“... but to remain historically accurate, I would have had to leave out an important question that I felt needed to be addressed, which is, 'What if Jesus had known kung fu?”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

“The warrior learns of the spiritual realm by dwelling on the cutting edge of the sword, standing at the edge of the fire pit, venturing right up to the edge of starvation if necessary. Vibrant and intense living is the warrior's form of worship.”
― Stephen K. Hayes

“In Japan, a number of time-honored everyday activities (such as making tea, arranging flowers, and writing) have traditionally been deeply examined by their proponents. Students study how to make tea, perform martial arts, or write with a brush in the most skillful way possible to express themselves with maximum efficiency and minimum strain. Through this efficient, adroit, and creative performance, they arrive at art. But if they continue to delve even more deeply into their art, they discover principles that are truly universal, principles relating to life itself. Then, the art of brush writing becomes shodo—the “Way of the brush”—while the art of arranging flowers is elevated to the status of kado—the “Way of flowers.” Through these Ways or Do forms, the Japanese have sought to realize the Way of living itself. They have approached the universal through the particular.”
― H.E. Davey, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation

“Unfortunately, religion often works to shrink and tame the very wild and mysterious forces that first drew our wonder. In the process of making the inexplicable safe for the masses, the possibilities for real illusion-piercing insight becomes reduced. One might say that they are only available to those who dare to ride the breaking crest of direct life-altering experience.”
― Stephen K. Hayes

“The most difficult part ot traditional taekwondo is not learning
the first kick or punch. It is not struggling to remember the
motions of a poomsae or becoming aquainted with Korean culture.
Rather, it is taking the first step across the threshold of the dojang
door. This is where roads diverge, where choices are made that
will resonate throughout a lifetime.”
― Doug Cook, Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence

“I’ve learned to fall like the BJJ player, to protect the body through controlling the distribution of force by slapping the mat with hands open. With hands open. Hands open. Open. O Pen.”
― Cameron Conaway, Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet

“I can show you the path but I can not walk it for you.”
― Master Iain Armstrong , Get Your Health Back FAST With Chinese Chi Kung.

“The Destructive Arts are exactly like Martial Arts, except they don't have uniforms or usefulness and the end result doesn't resemble art in any way.”
― Jim Benton, Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers

“The Chinese words ‘kung fu’ translate more or less as ‘a man hard at work over a long time’. If you want to unlock the full power of kung fu, it is not going to be easy: you are going to have to work, you are going to have to sacrifice and you are going to have to suffer – over a long time. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.”
― Master Iain Armstrong

“Tenderness relieves strength that encumbers.”
― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

“The historic beauty of BJJ rests not with its ability to allow a smaller man to maim a larger man, but with its ability to allow any man of any size to survive.”
― Cameron Conaway, Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet

“He landed on cheap shot, but I knocked him out of the tournament.”
― Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence

“I think all artists struggle to represent the geometry
of life in their own way, just like writers deal with
archetypes. There are only so many stories that you can
tell, but an infinite number of storytellers.”
― Henry Mosquera, Sleeper's Run

“If you take a bus, you should know when to get off!".”
― Master Iain Armstrong, Get Your Health Back FAST With Chinese Chi Kung.

“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.”
― Carlos Gracie, Sr.

“Η δυνατή γροθιά κατά την γνώμη μου, δεν είναι αυτή που θα πετάξει τον αντίπαλο τρία μέτρα μακριά, δυνατά γροθιά είναι εκείνη που οταν την δώσεις θα φύγεις πίσω και εσύ ο ίδιος.”
― Γιώργος Μ.

“Two people throwing each other. That's a blast.”
― Gary Mayabb

“The primary thing when you tweet is your intention to gain clout, whatever the means. Whenever you tweet, RT, QT, or reply, you must gain clout in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of flexing, dunking, virtue signaling or signal boosting, you will not be able to actually gain clout.”
― The Book of Five Birds

“The plan is to never pick a fight, but the promise is to never back down from one.”
― Lakshya Bharadwaj

“Governments cannot ensure the safety of women, law enforcement cannot ensure the safety of women, the only people who can are the women themselves, so destroy all expectations from law, policies and politics my brave sisters, and become your own defense - learn about the human anatomy, make martial arts a part of your life and teach your daughters the same, for I am ashamed to say this but I must, we are yet to become a civilized society - so if and when the unfortunate moment arrives that some misogynist buffoon makes a pass without consent, you will be able to not only defend your own dignity, but also teach him a lesson never to forget - the lesson of not just respect, but civilized human behavior.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent

“Fight or flight. Fight or submit. Defend territory. Defend your loved ones. Defend honor. Defend yourself. These are the patterns. A failure to defend any of these is a failure to perform the basic duties of man.Did anyone even teach you how to throw a punch? Teach the young this basic skill.”
― Ryan Landry, Masculinity Amidst Madness