Shu-ha-ri is a Japanese concept that describes the phases of learning of a traditional martial art from beginner level to master level.  Learning a traditional martial art is a process that cannot accurately be measured in units of time, such as months, years, or decades, but in phases that are known as shu, ha, and ri.

     Shu means to abide by, protect or obey.  During this first phase, the student is responsible to learn, observe, and strictly abide by the rules, regulations, and etiquette of the traditional martial arts.  The student will learn the basic techniques, theories, and concepts that comprise the style of martial arts that he is studying.  At Dragon Moon Martial Arts Association, the student receives the ranks of 10th lower level through 1st lower level while in this phase of training.

     While in this phase, a student is considered a beginner even if he has ten or more years of training.  Some instructors like to measure the number of years that a student has trained as an indicator of progress in the arts.  While the number of years trained does show a certain level of dedication, it does not necessarily show competence in all areas of the art.   Some people can train one year, twenty times instead of training for twenty years.   I have seen long time practitioners with excellent physical technique unable to exemplify basic spiritual concepts contained in some of our advanced codes because they never passed through this phase.

     The ability to just make fighting techniques work is not enough to pass through the shu phase.  The student’s ability to apply higher level teachings to his life and interaction with the world is actually more important than “fighting technique”.  In fact, “fighting technique” is not as important as the character building aspects of the traditional martial arts.  The ability to be humble and eat bitter are developed during this phase of training.  If the student never learns to give up his ego and adopt a beginner’s mind, his mental judgments and self-imposed limitations will keep him in this phase forever.  An unmovable faith in the teaching must also be acquired by the student while in this phase or he will never progress past it.

     During this phase, the teacher’s methodology of teaching is unquestioned.  It is, however, necessary to have an enlightened teacher who has the student’s best interest at heart in order to avoid exploitation due to the unequal power dynamic in the student-teacher relationship during the shu phase.  The shu phase can best be described as learn the rules and follow the rules. It is an exemplification of the classic Confucian philosophy of life.

     Ha means to break, detach or find new ways.  This is the phase where the student, knowing the basics and core philosophies of the style, makes the art function based on his individual expression and understanding of the art.   It is not for the student to copy the techniques of his instructor, but learn how to execute his own techniques that function at a high level.  The student must gain personal experience with all that he was taught in the shu phase.  At Dragon Moon Martial Arts Association, the student receives the ranks of 1st higher level to 4th higher level while in this phase of the training.

     This phase of training can be difficult for both the student and the teacher.  There can be exceptions to every rule.  The student who is used to getting his questions answered by the teacher will be told to figure things out for himself.  He must find the exceptions to the rules for himself.  The student can feel abandoned, but a wise teacher can subtly guide the student through this phase.  An unenlightened teacher can feel threatened by a student who is developing his own voice in the martial arts.  The empowerment of the student may seem like a threat to the previously uncontested personal will of the teacher.   I have seen teachers who have not transcended the need for exercising their personal power and control over their students to intentionally try to keep students in the shu phase who have actually moved into the ha phase.   If the teacher has properly taught the students in the shu phase with love and compassion, he should welcome this phase and enjoy seeing the fruits of his teachings blossom in his students.  However, a student entering this phase cannot forget how he got here.  His level of gimu for the teacher should be immense at this point.  The old Chinese proverb “Do not forget who dug the well from which you first drank water” reminds those students entering into this phase that they should never forget the efforts of their teacher who got them this far on the path.

     The ha phase can be described as an exemplification of the Buddhist philosophy of life.  The student knows the rules and can follow them to the letter.  However, he understands how and when to break the rules when it is in the highest good of all to do so based on his personal understanding and experience.

     Ri means to transcend. This is the final phase of learning and mastering the traditional martial arts.  The student has a continual unconscious competence in applying the art with minimum effort and maximum effect.  At this phase, the student and the art are one.  At Dragon Moon Martial Arts Association, the student receives the rank of 5th higher level and the title of Master.  This does not mean that the student is finished with his training.  It simply means that the student is plugged in to the stream of consciousness that embodies the ancestors of the style.  He no longer practices the art, he is the art.  He has achieved the mystical union with the art itself.  He has transcended the need for the finger pointing to the moon as he understands the true nature of the moon itself.  As such, this phase can be best described as discarding the rules.  It is a classic exemplification of the Taoist philosophy of life.