Walking up to the Dojo for my observance of the martial arts discipline JA-SHIN-DO I noticed a man running quickly across the hot sand to the building. My watch said 9:55, five minutes early for the training period. When I got inside, the workout had already begun and the clock read 10:05. Unknown to me, I had just entered the JA-SHIN-DO zone where time changes and ancient rituals like respect and courage reign supreme.

The students working out in this particular Dojo are fortunate to have Master Andrew Bauman, the Grandmaster and Director of all JA-SHIN-DO schools nationally and internationally, as their guide and instructor. Master Bauman created and developed the discipline after studying martial arts for dozens of years and training in Korea, Japan, and the United States.

"JA-SHIN-DO means the path of self belief or the way of self confidence. But the real meaning the deeper meaning underneath is the strength that's inside you," says Master Bauman. He explains that JA-SHIN-DO "has a very deep personal meaning and everybody is different in the way they interpret it." JA-SHIN-DO facilitates a form of self awareness it means that you find the strength, the courage, and the spirit which you already have. "What we do is hone it, refine it, and develop it and give you a path to send it on." One of Master Bauman's student says, "It demands my best. It encourages me to recognize my abilities and it keeps raising the marker to higher and higher levels. Just when I think I'm about to get there, he (Master Bauman) moves it up again, and in that climb I have experienced and learned great levels of discipline, respect, endurance and confidence. It has effected all that is important in my life in the most positive way."

JA-SHIN-DO is unique in that the course of study not only conditions one physically and teaches a solid knowledge of protection, but also and very importantly, incorporates a teaching of self-esteem, determination and self-discipline - all qualities which evidence themselves into daily life situations and create an overall sense of competency. Cris Nelch, another of Master Bauman's students, says that "In JA-SHIN-DO I am a child doing what I'm told. Not burdened by outside responsibilities, I am free to feel the experiences of my fifteen years of multi-sports training come together in JA-SHIN-DO. I marvel at challenges I never imagined and rewards that are never-ending and the spirit that emanates from all the students and teachers. Truly, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

"People forget the basics and instincts in this society," says Master Bauman. "So many people, especially today, get caught up in this fast paced world we live in and forget the basics and loose track of our instincts. When we are several steps ahead it causes energy blockages and a lot of stress and tension and what we do with JA-SHIN-DO is find the way, teach the way to have an outlet for and to rid the body of toxins and at the same time balance energy." "What we do takes a lot of courage, just as any endeavor. Any endeavor can be scary when you know its an uphill battle, but the way to succeed at those battles is to look forward to the climb and not look at it as 'oh my goodness I can't believe this is happening and that is happening', you almost have to thrive on the difficulty and when you do that the difficulty actually becomes easy." Master Bauman makes a comparison to high school and college athletes doing their sport and enjoying themselves. Their working hard and training hard and they get into the pro's and suddenly they call it work and this is their job and how hard it is. "You have to look at life challenges as the good times and not the difficulties I think that's a major key to start balancing. People say 'well that's easy for you to say', but you have to say it first, then you have to believe in it, and then you have to make it happen. If you say it and believe in it enough times, its going to happen."

"I have had students here in very incredible situations and what we think is down is very up to the positions they are in. And even on the way down I'd say to them 'there is a bottom and you just have to kind of enjoy that ride and slide along it until you hit the bottom, because then, once you hit the bottom there is only one way to go and that is up', so you kind of laugh at the situation and again it's easier said than done sometimes but I have a feeling its easier done than said." Sean Russel, another student of Master Bauman, says that "Six days before I started JA-SHIN-DO I was arrested for shoplifting. Three years later I am more at peace with myself than ever before. I'm 25 pounds lighter and most important I am happy. JA-SHIN-DO has completely turned my life around."

Many martial arts cast an aura of religion around their disciplines. Belief being a major power in JA-SHIN-DO its control comes from within. "There are no religious overtones in what we teach, but the spiritual aspect of yourself and your being, which has to come out in order for you to be happy and be successful, is powerful and present. Many times in life we fight a lot of things we are doing when we should, not necessarily go with the flow, because sometimes you go with the flow and there is a big rock in the way, but you have to go with the flow to a point and be in control of it so that you can go around the rock or over the rock. Sometimes you have to chip away at the rock, but accepting that it is there and that you have the capacity inside you and the strength inside you to overcome it just makes you feel good."

JA-SHIN-DO is also very good for children that are hyperactive. Master Bauman makes available a children's class that is about thirty strong, teaching them lessons that seem to be lacking in our society. "We teach them concentration, respect, focus, not in a hammering way but to be respectful of others. If you want respect, you have to respect others." Master Bauman admits that there are many good forms of discipline around "but this form exceeds the others. Kids respond very well to what we do."

Master Bauman points out that his JA-SHIN-DO discipline is not like the others. "All martial arts are teaching a discipline, centuries ago the discipline took time, in our style it still does." Master Bauman has been in Arizona since 1978 and many of his initial students are still with him today. "I started in the 50's with wrestling at a YMCA and a gentleman used to close his eyes and do at will what he wanted to and I realized that everything comes from feeling." He then moved on to judo, "I trained in Korea for awhile and then in Japan."

"JA-SHIN-DO is totally different from anything you've ever done, you get such a feeling of peace, tranquillity and accomplishment that no other sport can give you, it not only makes you feel good about yourself but it makes you feel good about other people." One student remarks that "he (Master Bauman) takes you to points that you feel are your limit, then he helps you relax and take it one step further."

When I asked about his accomplishments Master Bauman said, "I could stand here and tell you about all the bricks I broke, all the kicks I've done and the people I've fought. My accomplishments are what you saw (during a workout), people that push themselves beyond the limits and take themselves to higher places that they didn't think they could go. Now that they know they can go there, taking another step beyond that is just a matter of taking another step. My real accomplishments in martial arts or in training has been seeing the growth of people, seeing people come to that fork in the road and take that turn aggressively and go to higher levels, seeing people that were set in their lives take another step, seeing people who weren't set or that felt like everything was on their shoulders 'I cant do this or that' , finally decide 'well I'm gonna try', and once they tried say 'I'm not gonna give up', and that staying power is the difference between making it and not making it. I can't emphasize enough that the accomplishment and the rewards are in what I see people do with their lives and what they have become." End "The only time you step down is to help someone else up." .... Master Bauman