To mark the 20th anniversary of the IKKF Newsletter, we bring you an excerpt from an article that was featured in the very first newsletter--volume 1, no.1, January, 1984.    Ed

     Traditional martial arts training is of great practical benefit to all people.  The lessons which are learned during the study of martial arts can be applied to every area of our lives.  Karate is an efficient fighting art, and the self-defense benefits of karate instruction are obvious.  How often are we called upon to use this knowledge?  Luckily, most of us are secure in our lives.  We hope the odds are very good in this day and time that we will never have to fight for our lives.  Why then do we study karate?  By mastering ourselves in our training, we can learn to master all other aspects of our lives.  A complete martial art must offer every student the opportunity for physical, mental and spiritual growth with no hindrance to personal growth.  All students should be aware of how the many benefits of martial arts training can enhance their lives, and should be encouraged to settle for nothing less than success.  This is the Way of Kojosho.
     Nearly 2000 years ago, the Chinese believed that sickness and untimely death were caused by physical debilitation.  These bodily ills could be alleviated, if not altogether prevented, by regular practice of certain curative exercises.  These exercises were aimed toward the acquisition of a strong and supple body which enabled the mind to think clearly and provided the soul with a strong abode.  The prevention of illness hinged on the total development of the human being.  Each person was treated as a complete, separate and unique entity.  The Chinese idealized the sage, a venerable person of sound judgment who possessed a strong body, an active mind, and a tranquil spirit.
     Hua-T'o, a Chinese philosopher and physician who lived in the third century A.D., is generally credited with the creation of a series of exercises based on the movements of various animals and elements.  Repeating the characteristic movement for each animal combined with certain elemental movements fully exercised each part of the body.  In the sixth century, the warrior monks of the Shaolin Monastery spread the Eighteen Lo Han Postures throughout Asia.  The Eighteen Postures became famous as both a means of physical culture and an effective fighting art, a combination of heath benefits and self defense applications in the same exercise.
     The advent of our Kojosho System, founded on these legacies and the work of past masters, encouraged the development of a non-nationalistic method that represents the classic tradition of martial arts.