National Martial
Arts Awards
(Welcome to Bushido, The Way of The Warrior)
Recipients of these awards (Click on the titles below to view)
Samurai
Is a common term for a warrior in pre-industrial Japan. A more
appropriate term is bushi (lit. "warrior or armsman") which
came into use during the Edo period. However, the term "samurai"
now usually refers to warrior nobility, not, for example, ashigaru or
conscripted infantry. A samurai
with no attachment to a clan or daimyo was called a ronin
(lit. "wave-man"). Ronin are also samurai
who have forsaken their honor or those who fail to commit seppuku,
which means belly-splitting, in order to reclaim their clan or family's
honor. Samurai in the service of the han are
called hanshi. Samurai were expected to be cultured
and literate to a certain degree, and over time, samurai during
the Tokugawa era (also called the Edo period) gradually lost their military
function. By the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai
were aristocratic bureaucrats for the daimyo, with their swords serving
only ceremonial purposes. With the Meiji reforms in the late 19th century,
the samurai class was abolished, and a western-style
national army was established. The strict samurai code
called bushido still survives, however, in present-day
Japanese society, as do many other aspects of their way of life. "When
you fix your intentions on the "Four Oaths" and put selfishness
behind you, then you cannot fail."
Four Oaths
- Never be late with respect to the way of the warrior.
- Be useful to the lord.
- Be respectful to your parents.
- Get beyond love and grief, exist for the good of man.
Bushido
"Bu-shi-do literally means Military-Knights-Ways- the ways
in which you should be observed in daily life as well as in your vocation;
in a word the precepts of Knighthood. Bushido
is the unwritten code of laws governing the lives and conduct of the Knights
and Nobles of feudal Japan, which were the samurai.
Bushido is a code of conduct of the samurai
which arose during the wars of the 12th century around the
Tokugawa period." Bushido in Japanese ("way
of the warrior"), was the warrior code of the samurai.
Bushido was a strict code that demanded loyalty,
devotion, and honor to the death. Under Bushido, if a samurai failed to
uphold his honor he could regain it by performing seppuku
(ritual suicide). Bushido is an
internally-consistent ethical code. In its purest form, it demands of
its practitioners that they look effectively backward at the present from
the moment of their own death, as if they were already, in effect, dead.
This is particularly true of the earlier forms of Bushido
or budo.
There are seven virtues associated with Bushido:
- Gi - Rectitude (Right Decisions)
- Yu - Courage
- Jin - Benevolence
- Rei - Respect
- Makoto - Honesty (Truth)
- Meiyo - Honor
- Chugi - Loyalty
Types of Crosses Today
Bushido
Cross Designs ,Cross design is of Finland descent. The original
square cross is the Finish cross of bravery. The style of Zen Do Kai
Martial Arts, where we came from, started this concept of presenting
silver crosses to black belt student in the early 70's. Mainly to recognize
the strength and loyalty of the senior black belts working security
every night with Kyoshi Bob Jones the founder. The gold cross was generally,
only ever awarded or worn by a Sensei or higher.
-
In
Japanese terms “ISHOA” circular in shape does not
exist (!). I think the Chief took this directly from Peter Urban's book,
where it reads "Zen-Ken-Ishoa = Mind-Fist-Oneness". This is
just Urban Sensei's poor Japanese translation (he calls Tensho, TENSHOA).
The 'O' sound in both should be pronounced long and are usually written
as an 'o' with a horizontal line on the top (which you may or may not
have seen before, on Karate-Do for example), or spelt 'ou' (as in Toudi
or 'China Hand', the old Okinawan pronunciation of Karate). Urban's
use of Ishoa comes from the term 'issho-ni', which means 'all together',
as in "Issho-ni itte kudasai" or "Please say it together".
So, at the very outside, it should be spelt 'Issho' or 'Isshou' (yes,
2 esses). Ishoa means self enlightenment.
The
Kyunnin (Administrators) Cross, triangular in shape and seen
held by the Red Dragon is a recent addition to the cross family. It
remains a rare award today and stands for exemplary business acumen
demonstrated in pursuit of advancing the standing of Bob Jones Martial
Arts and its ideals. No one to this date has earned the right to wear
one. In many ways, this cross represents the ultimate ambition and success
as person, as an individual and as a member of society.
Tomadachi
meaning " friendship " rectangular in shape
was a cross that was given or purchased by students who felt they wanted
to be apart of this brotherhood and to identify that they had great
friendship in their hearts for the club and fellow students and instructors
alike.
Cross Presentation
We now present this highly prestigious and honoured award to students
(irrespective of age, sex or rank) when it is felt that student, as an
individual person is of good character and understands and follows the
way of the warrior. Once presented you now belong to this elite family
of warriors following the code of bushido. ( Note ; You should never take
of your cross, to do so would be a sign of disrespect to your teacher
and fellow members.) So it is with these people listed below they are
the modern day Knights or Samurai trying to be the best they can be in
the dojo of life. These people have shown what it is to be a modern day
warrior in these times.
The Speech on Presenting Crosses
"I present this .............cross as a sign
of what represents good, and the bond and friendship that exist between
us. If this bond or friendship was to ever cease, I will expect to have
the cross returned, or I will come asking for the cross back. "
"Sensei Rod Catterall"
Cross
Presentation
Names of Honored Karate Recipients Awarded the Bushido Silver
Cross
Ronen Lipshutz, Jason Vandersluys, Sam Battaglia, Elie Laz,
John Moumas, Nick and Tony Antonidies, Charles Parry, Jandan Uge, Denis
Levin, Edward Willenberg, Chris Hart, Drew Barrett, Kevin and son Ben
Jacobs, Robert Overell, John Jones, Rakkhi Samarasekera, Steven Barnett,
Terry Tambakakis, Ben Tran, Andy Gerard, Marco Vogel, Michael Lionakis,
Isaac and Peter Kipnis, Arie Spivak, Brent Donelly, Trevor Graham, Nick
and Travis Holland, Rick Partridge, Ryan Bell, Andrew and Paul Syle, Darren
Young, Rod Nowlan, Johnny Loizou, Paul Conroy, Patrick and Tom Ferraro,
Steve Love, Denis Hancock, Joseph Polimeni, Steve Ralph, Wolfgang Vogel,
Dean Mc Fadden, Darren Mobbs, Steve Bursell, Steve Mackay, Jaime Urrutia,
Ross Anderson, 66, Kevin Peat, Michael Colombo, John Di Losa, Michael
Martino, (No specific order) , Duncan Warden, Thierry Moran, Graeme Johnston,
Bernard Lastro, Steven Castle, Paul Anderson, Michael Shatter, Don Culliver, Steve Walker, David Castellino, Mark Richardson,
Names of Honored Recipients Awarded
the Ishoa Cross
Astrid Kivits, Sumudu Samarasekera, Sonya Jubb,Teresa Caruso,Fiona
Vogel, Cathy Hart,Karen Jones, Samantha & Vanessa Lastro,Steanne Mackay,
Karen Zelenic,Sue Giezzendanner,Angie Mandalis,Sharon Lang, Taylor Anderson,
Arora Archard, Anita Lionakis,Rebecca Ticli, Marni Reese, Marina Gvozdetsky,
Amy Carra, Rhonda Nooroa.
Names of Honored Kickboxing Recipients Awarded
the Bushido Silver Cross
,Robert Laratta, Tass Georgas, Bill Tambakakis, John Diakomanolis,
Kon Grivas, Savas Varsamis, Arron Giorno, Darren Holden, Dave Donovan,
Nick Andrianis, Sam Alexandrou, John Catton, David Clarke, Leong Lay,
Craig Mitchell, 16, Mark Anderson, Chris Mihan, Mark Verves, Peter Nowlan,
Rhonda. (No specific order) , Nick Yokarinis, Stephen Walker, Dean Murray, George Hatzi, Abdulah Afram.
Names of Honored Recipients Awarded the Privilege of
Wearing the Tomadachi Cross
Jo Lastro.
Note that while this is a prized and much sought after honour it is still very much a subjective opinion from the club instructor. If you feel that you should have been presented with a cross but have not yet been, the fault may be at either end.