YELLOW BELT
Distance is your best friend.
Whatever the attitude, so is the response.
When blocking on the inside of an opponent's arm, do so below the elbow, never above it.
When blocking on the outside of an opponent's arm, do so at or above the elbow, never below it.
The ankle is the wrist of the foot.
A knife edge kick is a chop with the foot.
Deflection; then infliction of pain.
ORANGE BELT
Let time be your measurement to skill and experience.
To hear is to doubt, to see is to be deceived, but to feel is to believe.
In every offense there is a defense and in every defense is an offense.
Forms and sets are expressions of basic skills.
One becomes humble when he comes to the realization that what he knows is very little.
Condition and guts take over where knowledge and skill end.
When circular moves end, linear begin; when linear moves end, circular moves reoccur again.
Many answers lie in a single move, but many moves do not necessarily give a single answer.
There are no pure styles of karate. Purity comes only when pure knuckles meet pure flesh no matter who delivers or receives.
He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position.
PURPLE BELT
To beat action, meet it.
Fair play is when your opponent's definition of fair play is equally matched with yours.
It is not the size of a man, but the size of fear that has been the cause of many a defeat.
Slow to learn, slow to forget.
Anger can often constipate your retaliatory efforts.
While there is a difference between the terms "opposite" and "reverse", both provide answers to thoroughly understanding the effects of motion.
Always strike from where the natural weapons are found during the time of an attack.
Wasted inches are wasted time.
Knowledge is bound when one is compelled to tradition. Knowledge is endless when tradition is bound.
BLUE BELT
Reaction can beat action if the target to be reached last is the first object to move out of the way.
To aid your action, feed it with your opponent's reaction.
A check, in most cases, is an application of, whereas a cover is used in anticipation of.
Shuffles and crossovers are movements of adjustments.
Flow first, power later.
Guts are the anesthesia that deaden the pain of fear.
The ultimate aim of Kenpo is to elongate circles and round off corners.
Low kicks are excellent weapons to neutralize your opponent's aggression. Knock out his support, and you weaken his aggressive abilities and desires.
An ounce of logic can be worth more than a ton of tradition that has become obsolete through the weathering of time.
Refinement too much time and often too little progress.
Never send an opponent's weapon into orbit to only have it re orbit back to you.
Devote time with a particular move before deciding whether it does or does not work for you.
GREEN BELT
Action with effect keeps an opponent in check.
Accuracy must accompany speed, for it takes both to secure victory.
Although belt colors show, it is no proof that you know.
To desire something does not mean to accomplish it. To perspire for it makes accomplishment a reality.
The man who knows "how" will always be a student, but the man who knows "why" will continue to be the instructor.
When a man's mind is occupied with his own injury, he is not apt to think of retaliation.
Principles of motion take precedent over the sequence of motion.
Whether it is a big ship or a little ship, the same size hole placed correctly in the hull can sink it.
Sophistication is no more than simplicity compounded.
Will power is the hammer that drives action.
THIRD BROWN
There are only a set number of basic moves all else are variations of the same.
What is truth for one may not be truth for another. The real truth for both lies in the moment of actual combat.
When you exaggerate a move you can build an offense into a defense. When you condense a move the reverse holds true.
You must earn what you learn.
Environment involves what is around you, on you, and in you at the time of confrontation.
While practice locks in our knowledge of basics, instinct is what makes it free.
Mastery of the Art comes when the tiger is seen, but the dragon prevails.
A leg that kicks can be hurt just as easily as it can hurt.
The Kenpo system is based on the outer limits of simplicity and the starting point of complexity.
Principles are the roots of a technique. Unless you have a thorough understanding of them your boundaries of limitations will always be restricted.
SECOND DEGREE BROWN BELT SAYINGS
Strikes are intermissions of relaxation.
The ears are the eyes of darkness.
Transitions are the conjunctions that bridge techniques.
Not until the brain shifts into gear with the body will the
intangible become tangible.
While the term approximately does not mean exactly, it can
lead to exact findings applicable to you.
Explosion from within is really implosion to without.
Separating your direction can also mean separating your power.
Never discard knowledge that is not applicable to you, but store it.
SAYINGS FOR FIRST BROWN
Deprivation breeds appreciation.
Desperation often hinders inspiration.
Don't look for answers beyond your realm of understanding for
more often than not, many answers are before you that have
been overlooked.
Logic, as it applies to the times, is the key.
Motion is the language of the body; properly executed, it can
be used to save your life.
Glory disrupts, power corrupts.
There are three types of motion: MOTION, EMOTION and
COMMOTION. All three can be effective, depending upon how
they are used.
Style is what an individual eventually molds for himself.
Categorize your moves as either: useful, unuseful, or useless.
First control the use of the weapon, then take control of the
weapon.
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