Martial Arts and Self Defense Articles, The Self Defense Company

The word “kokoro” is literally defined as “heart” but, as with many Japanese words, can be translated as “heart of things” or “feeling”. When I contemplate what kokoro means to me, there is one person that has embodied the essence of that word-Shinan Carl Cestari. I first met Shinan approximately five years ago. He was a thin man in a long sleeve shirt with a wispy beard. He was not a physical imposing man. He spoke with intensity about martial arts, training methods and people that he had met through out his life. At that time, I did not realize what he was all about. I now know more about him and what he was trying to impress upon his students.

Approximately, four years ago a few of the students from the ZenShin dojo went to move some gym
equipment from the basement of a deli to Shinan Cestari’s house. We moved weights, heavy bags and other
various equipment down a narrow flight of stairs into the basement. After we had finished moving the equipment, we sat in his living room where he regaled us with stories about training and various people that he knew from martial arts. I vividly remember watching him on the couch smoking a cigarette and telling a story about a man he had recently met. That individual had trained with Applegate and Fairburn and related some of his stories about training with them. During one ofthe stories, Shinan’s eyes lit up and he quickly rose from the couch, left the room and came back with a brick. He sat back down and said that we (as students) should consider the brick as a training tool. As he said that, he unbuttoned his shirt and started to hit his chest with such force that the thud it made was a bit sickening to me. He then hit the brick with his edge of hand; I thought the brick was going to break in front of me. He looked up with that intensity in his eyes and face much like he did after showing us techniques during filming or training; then a smile crept onto his face. It was perfect.

Shinan Cestari continued to train his body until it gave out. His life was not an easy one but he persevered
and moved forward. His legacy lives on in us. We must continue to train with intensity and honesty. What does it mean? In my estimation, it means that we are teaching and training in reality; if it looks good in the dojo it won’t work outside of it. Shinan Cestari always said that a fight is messy; your assailant’s breath, blood, sweat, saliva will get onto you, dirt, sand, snow, gravel, stones will get imbedded into you. Shinan made that clear to us; he experienced situations that most of us never will (and be thankful for that). He stressed the real aspects of fighting for your life; it is not a show and it is not a joke; if you need to protect yourself you better be ready. While I did not know Shinan that well, having only spent time with him on a few occasions, he was an interesting man; he was dedicated to his study of martial arts. He held various degrees of black belts in karate, jujutsu, kempo, judo and founded our school of jujutsu. It is our responsibility to maintain the integrity and level of competence that Shinan set for us. It is a shame that
many of our current students never had the opportunity to meet him. He could be gruff but charming, intense yet caring, strict and loving. He had heart- he personified kokoro.

About the author:
Roger Jones is a lifelong athlete and martial artist. He was a competitive wrestler and football player for F&M University; he is also a practicing lawyer in the state of New Jersey. He is one of only 4 recognized Black Belts in Carl Cestari’s Tekkenryu Jujutsu and holds a Black Belt in Kodokan Judo. He is also the head instructor at the ZenShin Dojo in Pompton Lakes, NJ (www.zenshin.info) He’s also a staff instructor and author for The Self Defense Company (www.theselfdefenseco.com). HE can be found any day of the week, teaching and training in the dojo.

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