We must remember that, if we are to change who we are and what we are capable of doing, we must first convince ourselves and no one else that it is possible. For many of us, this task is not an easy one as years of habit-based actions and preprogrammed conditioning have taken it's toll on who and what we think we are. We must remember that we are today, sum result of all that we have learned, experienced and, yes, believed in past.

The reciting of Student Creed is a tool for reminding ourselves - for reprogramming our subconscious, habitual thought processes - in a way that creates new habits conducive to producing results we are after.

As stated by John Mills, "One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests." The question is, are we merely 'interested' in changing to become person we say we want to be, or do we desire benefits of having attained our goal - we feel it in our very heart and soul - we believe in ourselves, our plan of accomplishment and our willingness to do what must be done - so much, that it literally moves us at our very core?

The true test of gaining results we seek is in our response to statements themselves. We may be able to convince others - for a while - that we speak from truth, but we will never be able to lie to ourselves. Eventually, we will drop our guard or conveniently 'forget' path we're on and promises we made to ourself and revert back to same lazy, sleep-walk' living that was 'us' before we began training.

Ask yourself these questions:

A. "When I recite Student Creed, does it move me?" (Do you get chills, a welling in your chest or an empowered feeling or do you feel like you're reciting Pledge of Allegiance from school?)

B. Do I have to think about Creed when reciting it or is it so natural to me that I have feeling, "of course this is true?"

Through power of belief, true, heartfelt drive to become words we are speaking, Student Creed takes on a life and power capable of transforming you into confident, successful, disciplined, respectful and proactive person you were meant to be.

Go for it!

At one point, I realized that his right arm had wrapped around my left forearm and that a 'musha-dori-like thing' (uplifting elbow - shoulder dislocating technique) was happening. I remember moving to capture his balance and laid him down when suddenly his feet went out from under him. Later I found out that, in an attempt to help, my partner chose that moment to sweep my assailant's legs out from under him. I felt soldier's shoulder give way as I applied lock and took him down. This didn't help with anxiety and emotional pressure I was dealing with as I was now worried about a possible 'police brutality' charge for excessive force.

This injury didn't deter his aggression though as he continued to fight against our restraint. We were finally able to subdue him and get him onto his stomach to be handcuffed when his wife and young child entered building. I don't know how they found out about situation but there they were. I felt sad for them and was only able to give a look of apology for having to do this. Again, more stress was added in that I didn't want to have to physically hurt this man in front of his family.

Unfortunately, their presence only served to escalate problem. When soldier became aware of his wife and child, he blamed my partner and I for his "embarrassment" and began to fight against his restraint again. I am not a big man and this soldier's build was easily 150% of my own size and weight, so holding him was a serious problem. Having to improvise and immobilize man, I placed my night stick between handcuff chain and his back and applied leverage against his spine which created a situation where he would only hurt himself with his continued resistance. This was only necessary for a moment or two, as he passes out from his exertion.

*************

As I related during my initial telling of story at Hombu Dojo ('main training hall'0 in Noda-city, Japan, my legs begin to shake and I can feel my breathing change as I recall this situation and many others like it. It does not control me or way I go through my life in ordinary sense that I am not afraid to associate with people or like. What it has done is imprinted on me much more than just a step-by-step memory of events, and I'm sure that my recollection of these is less than accurate because experience was much more emotional and from what Soke has called "budo-nerves" orientation or perspective than from any sort of memorized technique string.

I will simply end this by saying that, this situation is one that has forever changed my perspective on how I should train, and as a teacher, how I should train my students. It has taught me that kata-like, step-by-step training is only a piece of training puzzle but, anyone who believes that they will fight this way is deluding themselves. Conversely, it has also taught me that training that is just henka-based, where basics like cover, distance and like are not drilled until they become second-nature and student just "does whatever" in an attempt to imitate (his or her teacher) is also deluded. This type of practice is necessary but, again, only a piece.

I am in complete agreement with Soke when he points out that it is ability to go between animal instinct response required for surviving an attack and returning to civilized state to live a happy life, unstained by fear, defensiveness or antisocial behavior because of attack that should be goal.

Let me also say that, I respect Soke and Shihan master instructors that I train with. But, not simply because they are Soke and Shihan. I respect these people and continue to train in this art precisely because my own experience with having to handle danger tells me that what they have to offer is authentic and "on mark" with that experience. Because I know that should I ever be attacked again, it will be lessons that I have learned from them and not my admiration of them or their abilities that will help to insure that my family gets to have me around a little while longer. In a world filled with martial artists and instructors who want trophies, admiration and to 'look good,' it is comforting to know that there are still those who have what true warrior needs to create a life worth living and power to protect that life from whatever might harm it.