BSDNewsletter

Bendigo Self Defence
Newsletter

Hapkido, Taekwondo, Mu Sa Yu Sul/BJJ
Association News – November, 2009
Welcome to our newsletter for November 2009
Hope all are well and training hard. Enjoy our newsletter and email me any questions
and are always looking for input from our vast student base as all have a wealth of
knowledge to share.

Announcements
We have Grand Master Julian Lim attending our head Dojang on the 21st November at
10 am for a 4 hour seminar. We will be holding the seminar at White Hills Primary School
and will go for 4 hours.
If you are attending all fees must be paid by Friday the 20th November
Grand Master Lim now is our guiding Master in the Arts
Of
Hapkido: Sang Moo Kwan and Taekwondo: Chung Do Kwan
Important Announcement!!
Friday Adults class will be held from 6.30pm at White Hills Primary Hall with GM Lim as
goodwill classes please attend and support.
Juniors will be still in the Quarry Hill Hall 5pm.
Thank you!!

OK Our Schools!!!!

Bendigo Self Defense KMA
KJN May heads this school and is the home dojang for our group teaching
predominately Hapkido also offering Taekwondo, MuSa Yusul/BJJ being our submission
grappling component.

SBN Shaun Symons is now working in Melbourne as an electrician. Shaun has been
teaching since April at Boort he has been successful in starting this club from scratch. I
have previously been tied up with work at St Lukes Anglicare and have now resigned to
focus on my Clinic “Alive and Well” and Bendigo Self Defense KMA and Boort Hapkido

Boort Hapkido is now a stand alone Hapkido school headed by KJN May and
administration duties headed by Kim Brown.

First Strike Taekwondo is going along well headed by SBN Stefan Garmey. Stefan has
been teaching Taekwondo at Kangaroo Flat since February this year.

Ballarat Hapkiyusul has been going for many years and has been associated with us for
2 years to share training and ideas. Ballarat Hapkiyusul is head by KJN Jason Ibbotson.
Jason is an example of technical prowess and is ever evolving as a hapkido master. I
for one consider it an Honor to be part of his journey.

SBN Nick Conduit has also made a big move for work as a prison officer and will be
starting his own school in Melbourne under the guidance of KJN Jason Ibbotson we
wish Nick all the best and look forward to visiting his school

Master Alan Gyumer will be attending the seminar with 9 of his black belts. We welcome
his knowledge and experience as a prominent Gojuru Master.

As you can see we are evolving as a great training group
Sharing ideas and training tips. Thank you every one!!

Bendigo Self Defense KMA Timetable

Tuesday
5pm juniors
6 pm seniors

Wednesday
5 pm juniors
6pm seniors
7 Grappling
7 Freestyle matt time

Friday
5pm juniors
6pm seniors

BSD KMA Christmas Timetable
Final Session 2009 22nd November: Presentation Night
Recommence 5th January 2010

Tuesday
Seniors Only 6pm to 7 pm

Wednesday
5pm juniors
6pm seniors
7 pm Grappling
7 pm Freestyle Matt Time

Friday
5 pm juniors
6 pm seniors
An Interesting article please enjoy!!!
The Sunbi Spirit
By: Jeff Hindley

Humility

Last month I spoke about Arrogance, a pervasive and commonplace personality trait
shared by all of us. However, the impact this has on ourselves and others, personally
and professionally must drive us to both recognize and understand how to deal with the
behavior better in others and to accept ownership when we exhibit this behavior.

Reading between the lines of last month’s editorial, one must understand that any of
these behaviors do not in and of themselves, indicate one as arrogant. Actually, it is
quite likely that one will exhibit some of these behaviors at varying times and have no
arrogant mindset attached to them. However, I do think we should be aware of how we
are perceived in the world. Ultimately it is a matter of the heart so we should not judge
too harshly. Simply put, one who is indicative of this type of behavior is obvious as it is
manifested on a regular basis.

The good twin of arrogance though is Humility. I think perhaps the most noble of all
traits. A quality I think should be most inherent in a person. It is the opposite of all
things that draw attention to ourselves; opulence, attention-seeking, boasting; these
things are the least measure of a man. The converse of these of course; moderation,
reservation and modesty are desirable traits.

There is a quote from the Warrior Manifesto that I would like to begin with that states;

A warrior is also humble. He knows that true humility shows proper character and he is
never arrogant over his abilities or knowledge. It is his understanding of his own true
inferiority in the whole scheme of things that keeps him humble and he is always
mindful of this.   He knows that humbleness models the proper mindset to students.
He also knows that the converse to humility, arrogance, is ultimately self-defeating
because it pushes people away.   The warrior knows that he will be humbled eventually
should his arrogance persist…it is just the way of things. Most importantly, the warrior
is aware of the fact that it is his humility that allows him to grow beyond his own
projections as he takes knowledge from others. True humbleness is noticed by the
warrior’s mindset of being a “perpetual student”. Consequently, he does not wish or
seek to be a master of his own style, a holder of great rank or accolades from others.
His desire is to internally understand his ability and knowledge and have no ego-
investment in others knowing this about him.

The idea that humility and arrogance can be morally classified began with Aristotle some
2,300 years ago. They were ideas likely pondered before his time but in addition to his
contributions to science and political theory, Aristotle did some of the most in-depth
study of morale behavior. Specifically, his ideas around humility were as follows…”the
prominent virtue of this list is humility, which, as being a kind of ideal self-respect, is
regarded as the crown of all the other virtues, depending on them for its existence, and
it in turn tending to intensify their force”

We all do ebb and flow out of the two paradoxical states of arrogance and humility
though not at measurable intervals necessarily. More than likely, they are situationally
based and are reflective of a variety of variables that may be going on around us…and
more importantly, inside of us. The trick comes to, as mentioned last month, self-
analysis. Ultimately, we are looking for the natural display of humility in all situations
and the extinction of the converse, arrogance. We need to habituate ourselves to
humility. Why? Because our nature is often driven by ego, subtle or obvious, it is
always there with us and a constant companion. Therefore, like many behaviors, we
must train ourselves to act in a way we desire if it is against our nature. Thus the term
habituate.

Again, here are some thoughts from Aristotle, “our idea of the ultimate end of moral
action is developed through habitual experience, and this gradually frames itself out of
particular perceptions. It is the job of reason to apprehend and organize these
particular perceptions. However, moral action is never the result of a mere act of the
understanding, nor is it the result of a simple desire which views objects merely as
things which produce pain or pleasure. We start with a rational conception of what is
advantageous, but this conception is in itself powerless without the natural impulse,
which will give it strength. The will or purpose implied by morality is thus either reason
stimulated to act by desire, or desire guided and controlled by understanding”.

Therefore, understanding our behavior is important but does not precipitate our doing
it. We must practice and train ourselves to act in ways that we and/or society find
desirable. As children it is our nature to be selfish, egocentric and to lash out in anger
when hurt. We must be trained to act properly and this behavior must then be
reinforced positively while negative actions are punished. This forms our view of the
world as we grow. Even then, as adults, we must continue to work on this, that is, if you
believe Aristotle’s views because he echoes this thinking in this excerpt:

First, he argues that the ability to regulate our desires is not instinctive, but learned
and is the
outcome of both teaching and practice. Second, he notes that if we regulate our
desires either
too much or too little, then we create problems. He also argues that desire-regulating
virtues
are character traits, and are not to be understood as either emotions or mental faculties.

The core of Aristotle’s analysis of moral behavior was his doctrine of the mean.
According to Aristotle, virtuous behaviors are self-regulating which lie at the average
(or in between) more extreme character traits (or vices). For example, in response to
the natural emotion of fear, we should develop the virtuous character trait of courage.
If we do this to an excessive point, where we curb fear too much we would said to be
rash or impulsive, which is a vice. On the other end of the spectrum, if we attempt to
curb fear too little, we are said to be cowardly, which is also a vice. The virtue of
courage lies at the mid-range between rashness and cowardice. More interestingly is
Aristotle’s view of how we arrive at these, he is quick to point out that…”the virtuous
mean is not a strict mathematical mean between two extremes. Instead, the mean is
rationally determined, based on the relative merits of the situation. What he means is
"as a prudent man would determine it."

For all morale behavior, Aristotle posited the same view. In regards to what we are
talking about here with Arrogance, he viewed Humility as the mid-range between
Arrogance and Self-depreciation. Either extreme is unacceptable, but the mean of
Humility is our desired state. It is important to understand that being in an “ego less”
state places us in a position of strength. It prohibits, in many situations (not all),
manipulation, anger, jealousy, greed, hard-heartedness, depression et. al. All of these,
obviously undesirable states, can be manifested due to arrogance or a challenge to our
feelings of superiority in a given situation. These are the cause of so much grief,
negativity and physiological problems that to reason this further is unnecessary.

Therefore, we must choose to do right and habituate ourselves toward it. Very few of
us are pillars of virtue and for those that are, this exposition is lost on them. Most of
us, fall somewhere around the middle of the scale as our generosity and high-
mindedness is often counterbalanced by our personal failings and selfishness as
individuals. As Aristotle puts it…and from my own experience, to be virtuous takes
work.

In closing, there was an axiom I was taught a long time ago that seems to be quite the
paradox in terms of a cursory reading, however it makes a lot of sense in light of what
we have been talking about. It simply states,

“Your not as good as you think you are and your better than you think you are.”

Lastly

Stay Safe!!

Train Hard!!
and
You Will Achieve your goals!!!!!!!

In the Arts
Master Nigel May