Extracts from 'Kyu Book' (unpublished)by Sensei Ray Wood, edited by Gary Robinson

Unfortunately the basis of modern martial arts teachings is that victory will go to the person who is more skilled, stronger, faster or naturally more aggressive. Such victory is merely one of difference in degree rather than in any real difference in quality.

Within the practice of Kyushindo Budo it is recognised that the stronger, faster, and more violent an attack is, the simpler it is to deal with, providing that you are not seeking to meet it with a similar action to defeat the attacker. A very violent attack naturally gives the appearance of great strength and power, but this conceals the deep moral weakness in its inner core, just as steel becomes brittle the harder it is tempered.

Kyushindo therefore cultivates the required physical courage to face a violent attack without opposing it, be it in a physical action, mental attitude or even in spirit.

Training should start with simple illustrations of the ease of non-opposition to strength and violence. In the same way it is shown that simple physical power can be easily negated with a moderate knowledge of the mechanics involved. By this means the novice pupil can quickly overcome the instinctive fear generated by aggression and violence, and you come to see and understand this basic weakness in the very act of attacking another person. No matter how trained, strong or quick an attacker is the very act of such attack brings about its own defeat - if it is not opposed. This is similar to a structured building that collapses under its own weight because it lacks foundations.

From this point it is possible to cultivate techniques that employ the force of an attack to defeat itself as a physical parable of the moral law of the Universe. The super-normal efficiency of the Kyushindo method is founded upon personal integrity and moral correctness, rather than the many years of training normally required attaining such skills. When this moral principle of attack and defence is grasped, any technique is actually superfluous and the long years of training are not required.

As a result of this method, students can progress as much as ten times as fast as under other ordinary systems. You rapidly gain the ability to perform techniques at a high level of skill, as well as evolving into a highly confident and morally conscious person. The novice also comes quickly to understand the meaning and direction of martial training, recognising and applying within a few months profound principles which normally require years of dedicated practice and discipline to master. Continual practice has the objective of self-development, rather than just grasping for skill which is in fact the very thing that stands in the way of progress.

Therefore, in a Kyushindo technique there is always an illustration of moral principle, and such principle cannot be divorced from technique. The two concepts go hand in hand, like two wheels turning on a single axle. Techniques radiate outwards from the principle like the spokes of a wheel fanning out from the hub. Techniques are infinite in number, and ten thousand lifetimes would be too short to study and master each technical application of any art. By entering into the heart of the principle, from which all techniques derive this same principle can then be applied in an infinite variety of directions according to appropriate circumstances.

Kyushindo should not be studied simply in order to gain techniques, or even to become a better person, although such maybe the initial attraction. The true student studies and strives to discover and understand the self in relation to life and the Universe. When the self is discovered then all other things become clear. The fact that you will acquire and gain various skills with confidence during practice is considered a bonus; it is not the true objective.

The long-term practical objective is to create a better human society through natural understanding and education, rather than through persuasion and force. Universal laws, and principles, are not the prerogative of Kyushindo method, they are duplicated in many other fields and are the very nature of the Universe itself. The "Way" itself remains what it is regardless of what you may choose to call it, or the method you choose to approach it.