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FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

How does your martial arts training help you to understand the mysterious teaching of the Empty-Handed Masters?

If you understand this then you too will be an Empty-Handed Master.
This book is for you young people who are concerned with understanding conflict in the world—both individually and globally.

FOR ADULTS

This book's intent is to help create an understanding of the Martial Arts as a way to peace. Reading it together with young people can assist them in their education about relationship—what it means to live with dignity, caring and beauty in their daily lives.

The stories and teachings in FLIGHT OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE can be used by:

• Martial Arts Instructors—as required reading for rank advancement.
• Parents—as examples of healthy and humane alternatives to conflict.
• Educators—as curriculum resources for relationship-building skills.
• Counselors—as a context within which young people can learn to understand themselves.

No Sound You Can Hear —No Image You Can See

The student was about to punch when he found himself on the mat, surprised but not hurt. How could this have happened? His stepping punch was invincible; it had always worked before. He was incredibly quick and could always score with his well-worked-out technique. His opponent had come in just as he was thinking of attacking and had somehow swept him off his feet!

This student also had a formidable spinning back kick, especially for opponents who liked to come in on him. He would create an opening by faking a high punch, leaving himself wide open. As his opponent began to take advantage of this opening, he would spring with a fast back kick to counter. It was a sure winner.

He was back up again. The two students slowly circled each other. He saw his opening and faked his punch. "Oh, no!" he said out loud as he flew through the air and landed on his back again! He never saw it coming. He jumped up quickly in order to meet his opponent again and was about to charge forward with a thrusting front kick when — at that very moment of anticipation — his opponent was on top of him, jamming his kick and scoring with a reverse punch.

"You have a well-developed sixth sense," the teacher told the student's opponent. "Can you see what has happened here?" he said to the two of them and to the class.

"Teacher, I tried my best technique, but every time I was about to attack, I was dumped."

"What did you do to defeat yourself?" the teacher asked.

"Defeat myself? I don't understand. I was doing everything to win!" the student replied.

"Please stand up," the teacher directed. "Now attack me! Don't hesitate, just do it!"

The student moved toward the teacher and in a fraction of a second he was down on his back again. With good spirits, he jumped up quickly and asked, "How did you do that? How did you know what I was going to do?"

"Because you told me!"

"I didn't say anything, Teacher. I only thought it. Can you read my thoughts?" he asked.

"Yes and no. I cannot see into your mind but I can see what your thoughts are by how you display them. For instance, just before you are ready to attack, your eyes narrow slightly and your mouth becomes tense. This is a sign that you are about to move. Then you usually look at your intended target — for instance, at your opponent's chest. So now I have two pieces of information, two clues as to what is going to happen. One is that you are going to move and the other is where you intend to strike."

"Please tell me more. This is amazing. I never realized that I did this!"

"You also tell me what technique you are going to use. For example, if you are intending a stepping punch, you start to tense your right leg for springing forward. Also, if you are bout to use your effective spinning back kick, which everyone is well aware of, you let your opponent know this by dipping your right shouldre in preparation. All those small signs add up to tell your opponent a lot about you."

"But how come no one before today has seen this and defeated me?"

"Some people have not yet developed this sixth sense. Some may see but are too slow to respond. But if a person practices awareness, over time he or she will begin to develop this capacity. It's really not that difficult," the teacher told him. "We will try two small experiements so you can see this for yourself. Please freestyle with your opponent again, but this time go slower and stop when I tell you."

This time the student was more aware of himself, but in an awkward, self-conscious way. As he was about to move again, his teacher yelled, "Stop!"

"Now what just happened? Did you see anything? Please, you other students watching, join in."

The student he was fighting spoke up first. "Your face became tense. This was the first signal."

"Do it again," the teacher commanded. And each time there was a signal, the teacher stopped the match and someone pointed the signal out. After a while, the student himself began to notice when he tensed his face, or gave another sign of his intentions.

In the next experiment, the teacher had this student face a large mirror and shadow fight an invisible opponent. The teacher would call out when the student was to attack, and when he did, the student was to attack, and when he did, the student began to notice how he signaled his intentions — how he dropped his shoulder, moved his foot, tensed his face, or gave some other tiny message.

"You see, students, how this is crucial to your free form. You see how you can defeat yourself before you start. If your opponent has developed this sixth sense, he or she will be in a state of readiness. You, on the other hand, will be at a great disadvantage. In the Martial Arts, there is an expression, 'See the unseeable and hear the unhearable' — which means be aware of what the other is not aware of and act before he or she does. This is important, not only in free form but in daily life. If you can stop conflict before it happens, then you are mastering the real intent of the Martial Arts: to end conflict.

"See how this works in your daily relationships — for instance, when someone is about to attack you verbally. This is an important skill to develop in every area of life: the skill of observation and deduction. By seeing what others are not aware of and being able to understand subtle signals, you can be a winner without ever having to fight!"

The students all bowed to end the class. And the two students who had free-styled together shook hands and smiled.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Craig (13)

The book I was required to read is named “Flight of the Golden Eagle.” This was a good book. One of the best I’ve ever read. This book was about kids handling problems and dealing with situations or obstacles. They were setting goals and being s.m.a.r.t. about them.

This book about martial arts was well written and very understandable. I know how to handle problems better now that I’ve read this book. I am looking forward to brown belt. One day I will be honored to wear a black belt. This book has taught me to think for myself, care for all living things on this earth. The day I get my black belt placed in my hand only then will I understand what respect is, but I still have a long way to go.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Joshua (11)

I’ve read the book Flight of the Golden Eagle and I feel that this book has a lot of hidden meanings. It speaks about war. And how we can work together to solve our differences. That war is not always the answer to our problems.

The one part of the book that I liked was when the instructor said to the students, “Everybody has a certain animal inside us.” And that you should try to figure out what animal you are. I feel this is true. I think I have the snake.

I also learned that kids know how to stop a war and some adults do not. Children have an open mind and are willing to see the other side of the issue.

Another part of the book I enjoyed was when a boy saw a tiger and her cubs in the woods. The tiger was alarmed to see the boy. But then the boy remembered a lullaby he learned from a young boy a long time age. Then he sang it to the mother tiger. She calmed down and the boy went down the path. This shows how to handle a bad situation with a positive attitude. This book shows that discipline and respect can go a long way.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Kailey (14)

This book teaches us about the values and importance of Karate. Some people think we take karate for fun and others think to beat people up when they don’t do what we want them to do, but neither of those things is what I take karate for. This book lets me realize that there is more to karate than kicks and punches it also teaches me lessons on understanding karate more deeply.

This book also helps me deal with conflicts in the world and with my peers and gives me ways to deal with them with not having to fight. I like this book and think that we should have to read it for black belt club because that is part of showing our commitment to becoming a black belt.

This book was the best one I have read in a while, the author really knows what he is talking about and what to say to get to people and children.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Daniel (14)

I think that this book is exactly right. The problem with most people today is they are scared to try new things, they have routines that they never break because they have never done anything else their whole life. I liked when the book talks about people making fun of martial artists because they don’t know anything about what is really being taught. My favorite part of the book was the sparring, when the really powerful sparring student was sparring the student who was calm and observant. In this part I learned that the most powerful or fastest student does not always win. I thought that when they were close to nature they were more focused because of the peacefulness that nature has. This book has also taught me that when everyone says there will always be war, and nobody can stop it, they’re wrong. War can be stopped but people choose not to, instead they just go with the crowd. That is where martial artists need to step out of the crowd and make a difference. This book has taught me many things that someday I will teach to somebody else. Martial arts isn’t just about kicks and punches, but also about being a better person in every way.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Devon (11)

Flight of the Golden Eagle can help you understand war. War is simply caused by dumb things like since you stepped on my property I will kill you. So then the person who stepped on the property gets killed and then the brother will want revenge so the brother will kill the person who killed who killed his brother. Soon they will gather up more people to fight. All that happens in war is that many people get killed. War is also started because someone is jealous like Adolf Hitler. He started a world war because of 2 things, they are because Hitler wanted to have absolute power of the world and that he didn’t like other people’s religion. So war is very dumb. The book can also tell you about the beast inside. The beast inside us is like the dark side of your mind. Most people spend most of their life running away from it. But if you face the beast inside and make friends with it you can do amazing things. People like scientists, musicians, writers and painters have already made friends with the beast inside them and they have done incredible things. The beast inside is a part of you so it is good to make friends with it. The book also tells you about Shuhari. Shuhari is a form that you make up. Shuhari is to help you break a habit for example, if you know a form so well that if someone attacked you and you defended yourself by the form it would not match the attack. So it would help the attacker more than you. I have told you some things that this book tells about but if you want to know more read the book and find out.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Doug (14)

I would recommend this book others. The book was very educational for me. I liked this book very much. I thought that this book was so very very good. I liked the whole book, but there are some parts in the book that I really liked a lot. Here are some examples, like the one called No Sound You Can Hear—No Image You Can See. It was about a student sparring another student and he was about to make his move when all of a sudden he was on his back on the mat and he thought to himself, now how did that happen, that move always worked before. Then he sparred the master and the same thing happened again. Then the master told him that he was giving certain signals that let people know what technique you are about to throw. And I thought that was a really cool story. I also liked the story called No War, No More! It’s about a ship that was on the enemy’s land and they were about to fight when a little boy who was in danger was about to fall off a roof. They all stopped to help and saved him, and they lived happily ever after. And became friends and tried to stop the war between the two countries. But anyway, I liked this book and told my sister to read it.

Flight of the Golden Eagle
Joshuah (14)

This book helped me to understand martial arts better. It made me realize martial arts is more than kicks and punches. The instructors can help us with problems we have, along with karate. I also learned that you can telegraph moves by tensing your face and dropping your shoulders to do a spin kick. We all have a beast/animal inside of us. If you develop a sixth sense, you will be in a state of readiness. Martial arts represents loyalty, bravery, trust, achievements, dedication and excellence. I also learned kiai is a Japanese word. I learned that our forms should be sharp, powerful and explosive. Each strike should be free of restrain. We should have respect for the instructors and everyone around us. I also learned that no one is perfect. We should not hurt one another, be kind and free. Peace is uncovered while learning how to fight. I learned that if we lose a fight we should show good sportsmanship and say to the other guy “good fight.”

I liked reading this book!