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This Month's Story

Previous Stories

The War Prayer

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 cups of coffee...

The Fisherman and the Samurai

Shake it off and step up

Walking Zen

A Young Man, an Old Man, and a Drunk

Musashi's Disciple

The Warrior's Eye

The Four Flies

Just Two Words

Matajuro and the Art of the Sword

The Challenge

Good Luck, Bad Luck

The Tea Cup Lesson

The Stone Cutter

Ninjai - The Little Ninja

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Stories

Life Lessons in the Martial Arts

Throughout the year, we will be adding stories pertaining to the nature of Martial Arts philosophy and practice.

This Month's Story: Good Luck, Bad Luck

An old man and his son worked on a small farm, with only one horse to pull the plough. One day the horse ran away.

"How terrible," sympathized the neighbors "What bad luck."

"Maybe." the farmer replied.

A week later, the horse returned from the mountains leading five wild mares into the barn.

"What wonderful luck!" said the neighbors.

"Maybe."

The next day the son, trying to tame one of the horses, fell and broke his leg.

"How terrible, what bad luck!"

"Maybe."

Later that week, the army came to all the farms to take young men for war. During the battle that followed, many of the village men lost their lives. Because of his broken leg, the farmer's son was of no use to them so he was spared.


The Moral of the Story

Often, luck is what you make of it, and bad luck is simply a matter of perspective.

- Study this