What does Shin Gi Tai Mean?

Shin represents mind, heart and good spirit – When we train we should always be aware of what we are doing and need to consider our approach to the techniques we learn. Perhaps more importantly learn and practise well the strategies in our own mind to prevent us ever having to use our martial arts skills outside of the training hall. Shin can also mean spirit and this is the ‘fighting’ spirit that we show, we never give up and always try our hardest.

Gi represents skill, knowledge and experience – We must work hard and strive to perfect our techniques in order to be able to perform them effectively. Many of us find certain techniques difficult, and with these we must work extra hard to become good at them. With each skill we learn, we refine it to work for us as an individual.

Tai represents the body and physical effort  – We must be able to take every movement we make and make it part of the whole body in order to maximise its effectiveness. It also means that our bodies must be healthy enough to practise and to be able to adapt quickly, if necessary, to a changing situation.

On our logo there are four waves coming off the circle, these represent Shin – Gi – Tai and the fourth is the concept of each of these coming together into one, Mind, Skill and Body in harmony which is one of the highest ideals in any Martial Arts practice.

The waves are illustrated as a circle because as we progress as a Martial Artist practitioner or coach, we strive to continuously re-develop our knowledge and skills to reach the dream of perfection. This is the never ending journey for the Martial Artist that takes a lifetime to get close to reaching.