Project Future looks to teach students respect, humility, self-discipline, honor & courage

Article and Photos by Benjamin Joe

Known as Project Future Center, the small building in the Town of Wheatfield, at 2720 Niagara Falls Blvd., sits patiently for those who want to learn the tenants of bushido kai.

Developed by Project Future founder Robert Heisner, bushido kai is a style of martial arts that combines the styles of tae kwon do, shotokan, Itosu Ryu, wado kai, kyokushin kai, bo-jitsu and aiki-jitsu.

Heiser died in March, but Project Future, the nonprofit he founded, continues to spread the tenants of bushido kai, which is what students hope to achieve starting with a time every October called Future Week, when interested visitors can come and see what these followers of bushido kai are doing.

Future Week included a free self-defense seminar on Thursday, Oct. 16; and a Halloween party for children who train at the Project Future Center on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Also, during that week, a month of free instruction was offered to visitors.

So, what is the value of bushido kai, and what are its tenants? Paul Colson, director of the Project Future Center, explained. “We look as them as guidelines for life. Respect. Humility. Self-discipline. Honor. Courage. Those are our tenants we live by.

“You certainly have to learn respect for one another, because we’re very lacking in respect in our society today for one another. The humility is that you don’t think you’re something great. You’re just another person. Just because you get martial arts knowledge doesn’t mean you’re any better than anyone else. Always be humble.

Students at the Project Future Center demonstrate some bushido kai techniques.

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“Self-discipline is learning to control yourself. That doesn’t just mean learning how to hit – it means controlling yourself when someone’s attacking you. You don’t have to hurt somebody. Control yourself. I can subdue a situation without having to hurt somebody. Sometimes things get out of control, but you want to have self-discipline.

“Honor is just about having character. Don’t be a liar. Cheat. Steal. Anything wrong. Have honor in your character.

“And, of course, courage is being courageous despite the circumstances. Because a lot of times life will hand you things that are dangerous. Ugly. That go beyond the norm. And if you don’t have courage, you cower away and you shrink. Then you’re no good to nobody.”

Classes are available for youths and adults. Colson said the lessons of the karate studio are brought into the outer world. Students of bushido kai are taught to avoid conflict and listen to their teachers.

“How you act here is life. How you act here is how we expect you to act within the community,” Colson said. “With the right mind-set, the right attitude.”

The classes don’t just help the young. Colson noted he struggled with anger issues when he first started training.

“One of our black belts here who’s not here right now … every time I walked in, said, ‘Paul, empty the cup,’ ” Colson said. “Because I have a stressful job at times, especially different times of the year. And he said, ‘Empty the cup. When you walk in the door, let It out.’

“Lose the focus of what you’ve just come from, enjoy the time here. And it took me awhile to understand that, but after a while I was standing there and my mind wasn’t thinking about my day anymore. I just ‘emptied’

“I actually was doing it.”

Marty Drake, a teacher at the center and eighth-degree black belt, noted he is still helped, even at 70 years old.

“It helps, especially older people with mobility issues like myself,” he said. “I have severe arthritis and, with the stretching and all the things I do, I’ve learned the structure of physical therapy … and keeps me active. If you don’t move, you lose.”