Creeds and Affirmations

Kenpo Creed

The Karate Pledge of Honor (or Kenpo Creed) is a pledge as it relates to the 'staircase' of the belt ranking system.

The use of the voice is an essential part of our training program. The voice represents a seam, as it were, between the mind and body; the mind chooses to say something and uses the body to say it. The continual reinforcement of the mind/body connection throughout the lesson counteracts the tendency to “space out” because of the increase in endorphins in the blood brought about by the body’s reaction to exercise.

Just as important are the things said in the pledge, affirmations and directive responses. The pledge and affirmations focus the class on the values and intentions that we feel one should bring to serious training in the Martial Arts. Though the good intentions and high values of our students are an assumed fact, we feel it is important to reiterate those same values and intentions to each other whenever we train together. The directive responses help to focus the student’s mind on the task at hand during each part of the lesson.

Kenpo Creed

With honor, we will apply ourselves

to the study of Karate,

placing foremost the improvement

of both mind and body,

to develop a better understanding of our fellow man.

Striving for the ultimate serenity

that can only come through a

complete understanding of ourselves,

we approach life's problems

with the patience Karate has given us.

Never will we unjustly dishonor our fellow students,

our teachers, the AKKA organization

or the art of Karate

through misusing the secrets we are learning.

To this, we the students of AKKA do swear.