Akira Hino's Martial Arts Sayings: Becoming a Master of Life Book

• Extracted and condensed from 17 years of popular serialization - long-awaited book publication!
• Selected from over 40 essays from "Martial Artist's Walking Record" (武道者徒歩記) serialized in monthly martial arts magazine "Hiden" (月刊秘伝) starting in 2007
• Philosophy: Opening with provocative statements like "You don't need 'determination'" and "Those who do it are already doing it before that"

Contents:

Chapter 1: Body Secrets

1. Even as the body ages and declines, some things evolve
2. With wrong approaches, there are things that are absolutely impossible
3. Body and martial arts are made up of things that cannot be analyzed
4. You cannot easily "touch" another person
5. Just doing what you can do as you can leads to quick limits
6. Interaction with people outside your specialty deepens your practice
7. You need the strength to "never give up" and intense will
8. Masters' "hands" are commonly terrifyingly soft

Chapter 2: Words of Masters

1. "Attachment is death, non-attachment is life"
2. "If your foot itches, scratch your foot; if your head itches, scratch your head"
3. "You must realize it yourself, mustn't you?"
4. "Using the body's function"
5. "It's the power of 'absolutely never giving up' and concentration heightened to the extreme"
6. "Always seeking only mysterious secrets, the sadness of not knowing what's right in front of you"
7. "Truly understanding the intention of not being hit by the body, not being surprised, being struck by the enemy"
8. "On the battlefield, if you don't learn, you simply die"

Chapter 3: Tips for Learning and Growth

1. "Assumptions" lower the precision of "your own way"
2. Keep doing until you understand, even if it takes 1-2 years
3. What exactly are you trying to do?
4. There's a big wall between understanding words and actual practice
5. Don't aim to "be able to do it"
6. Consciousness and words stop growth
7. Don't set time frames. Don't become a slave to time
8. What does "being able to do it" mean? What constitutes "being able"?
9. When I concluded "it's good if you're not hit," I realized "it's good to let them hit"
10. Rather than whether you can or cannot do it, it's about whether you're approaching it in a way that enables doing it

Chapter 4: Overseas Workshop Case Files

1. I always question myself: "Will this work?"
2. Foreigners can only understand "what they can see"
3. "What are you showing off for? Go away!"
4. What's the point of these guys becoming able to do this?
5. If you haven't been educated, it's natural that you can't do it
6. People who can't answer for themselves about what they're working on cannot accomplish anything
7. Isn't the inside of a mosque actually outside?
8. Unexpected things test your environmental adaptation ability

Chapter 5: So, How Do You Live?

1. I was already doing it
2. Mother said "Thank you"
3. Daily life often requires much more composure than martial arts
4. We who live in modern times are fundamentally strong
5. As a result of putting all passion into what the eyes see and ears hear, it became something universal
6. Making nothing of stress, or taking in stress as nutrition, fulfilling "life"
7. Do every job earnestly. Because you do it earnestly, you taste various conflicts
8. It's not "child-rearing." It's "human-rearing"

The book bridges practical martial arts instruction with broader life lessons, emphasizing that the principles learned through martial arts practice apply to all aspects of living. Hino's approach seems to challenge conventional thinking about effort, determination, and achievement, suggesting that true mastery comes from a different kind of understanding and approach than commonly believed.

The overseas workshop anecdotes suggest cross-cultural teaching experiences that provided insights into different learning styles and cultural approaches to martial arts and personal development.

About the Author: Hino Akira (born 1948 in Osaka) was selected as an Olympic training athlete for gymnastics through self-study during middle school. He also mastered jazz and martial arts through self-teaching. He currently runs the Hino Martial Arts Research Institute, dividing his instruction into "Martial Arts School," "Body School," and "Martial Zen." He maintains schools in Tokyo, Osaka, and Wakayama while conducting corporate training and lectures.

Language: Japanese

Length: 288 pages

MBHIN8