OUR MISSION

PURPOSE STATEMENT
The purpose of ATERU WORLDWIDE ASSOCIATION (AWA) is as follows:

To join the martial population together for the purpose of sharing knowledge and history while creating camaraderie and growth and becoming a positive force in a world that needs unity. All of this can and will be accomplished with honor and respect while allowing all stylists to maintain their respectively distinct heritages, lineage and charters.

MISSION STATEMENT
It is our goal to provide a fertile environment both on the web as well as at venues across the globe that will all the following activities to thrive and expand:

• To allow free discussions within each division and amongst divisions for the betterment of AWA and its membership as a whole.

• To provide yearly and life membership for individuals, groups, and organizations which will carry rights and privileges thereof. (See membership benefits pages)

• To provide ranking for individuals according to their document based merits.

• To make available world class training in the way of seminars, camps, testing and educational tools to its membership

• To provide a meeting place and home for all warriors to ask questions and share life based knowledge one on one or in larger forums.

 ATERU WORLDWIDE ASSOCIATION GUIDING PRINCIPLES

TO PUT

•  The principles of ATERU in action to promote, preserve, protect and promoted the many facets of AWA, its divisions and factions. To put aside the “my dog is better than your dog” attitude so we may grow within our respective methodologies as well as together as a martial family. To put TRUE RESPECT, not robotic or thoughtless respect, back into the forefront where it belongs. To put our techniques to the test with extreme scrutiny so they may become undeniably effective. To put the world on our shoulders as a group so we may lift it and its people to a higher place.

TO PLACE:

•  Ourselves, our students and our colleagues in the position of adherence to the highest standards of AWA and our individualized arts. To place HONOR and RESPECT first and foremost in our daily martial lives and practicing these ideals when communicating with members of our association. To place ourselves and our students in a fertile state for the sharing of techniques and applications, remaining solid and without the fear of diluting the roots and foundations of said arts.  To place ourselves in front of harms way to protect the weak by delivering force when necessary and remembering to control our attack amplitude when the threat does not merit such significance. To place the betterment of our children at the top of our list.

TO APPLY:

•  Our years of “real-world working” and learning experience to every situation we encounter in an effort to continually raise the standards that we all constant strive to improve and redefine. To apply our work ethic in practice so that the young may learn and understand the old ways of hard work and the level of expertise that come as a result of it. To apply our techniques with all the reality that comes with true martial combat – not to be confused with the temperament used in kumite or sparring. To apply all we know and will know for the betterment of the world today.

TO HIT:

•  The books hard: i.e. continue our individual education as a Samurai would by reading about our individual disciplines’ history and that of many others, studying the writings of great poets, learning other languages and diving into art forms other than martial arts in an effort to become a true well rounded artist.  To hit our basics, physical training, and forms HARD: i.e. train harder than anyone has ever asked us to train. Keep our bodies fit, stretched and functioning at peak performance level.

TO STRIKE:

•  Out against prejudice of all kinds. To strike down bad mouthing of other styles, practitioners and their claims but instead bring challenging conversation to task so that they might educate. Acting in this fashion, the liars and the bad will find they are uncomfortable and move on while the rest of us can maintain dignity in discussion.  Remember to keep respect in place and consider what Huunjin calls a warriors mindset: “I enter into battle with no fear, malice, prejudice or distrust. The moment that calls me holds only microseconds of the now.  No future or past but for the execution of my art.”

TO MOVE FORWARD:

•  Constantly as to defy stagnation. To move forward in our walk toward martial knowledge and keep our senses engaged so we do not miss any opportunity to learn or share. To move forward as a group so that we can remain a living organization that can react and respond to the changing times VERSUS getting entangled in a web of politicism. Good works merit good returns- period! To move in a forward motion in addressing an attack versus a retreating motion, even if it is only occurs in a mental state.