One of the standard principles of the Karate Institute of America is persistence. What KIA student has never heard these powerful words from the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the world’s most memorable military and political leaders. His experience taught him that …

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.

“Endurance of Fatigue.” Excellent food for thought. For example, what Karate Institute of America Black Belt does not understand this worthy insight? None. To get through not one but two days of grueling testing after years of arduous effort and struggle and emerge as a Kiado-Ryu Black Belt is a most notable accomplishment, to be sure. Only sixty-four of three thousand three hundred students in the KIA’s thirty-eight year history have succeeded in reaching the coveted Black Belt level. They are certainly the ones who can sincerely acknowledge Napoleon’s words: The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue.

The following is the author’s preface from The Karate Consciousness: From Worldly Warrior to Mystic Master, available from Amazon.

I began my martial arts journey in 1967 with the Tracy Brothers Kenpo Karate organization in San Jose, California, eventually reaching a fifth dan Black Belt rating in their system. I also achieved a first dan Black Belt rating in Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate system, having studied with their organization for a time.

Captain Lou Gacs, United States Marine Corps, Retired, has been a student and dear friend of Mr. King and the Karate Institute of America for nearly forty years. As is well known, the motto for the U.S. Marine Corps is semper fi (short for semper fidelis) meaning “always faithful,” and if there is one quality describing Lou Gacs more than any other, it is “always faithful.” No doubt about it.

Principle #4: Balance Is Primary

From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master.

Anyone can teeter-totter but not everyone can balance.

Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance.

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.

The Karate Consciousness: From Worldly Warrior to Mystic Master is dedicated to the philosophy that karate is both an excellent system for the integration of body, mind and spirit as well as an excellent vehicle for the evolution of one’s consciousness of life from a mundane perspective to a more elevated and edified reality.