The Yin Yang symbol is known throughout Asia and represents the extremes in nature. Such as light and dark, male and female, hard and soft, good and bad.
It is desirable in life to try to find the middle way or path and to stay away from the extremes.
In designing the Yin Yang Do Logo Shihan Foster United the Philosophy of the Far East with the Philosophy of Christian chivalry.
The Bamboo on the lower part of the patch signifies the strength and resilience of the people in the Far East.
The top of the patch shows a knight with a broken lance. The knight represents Christian Chivalry and is Reverend Foster’s family crest (though broken, fight on).
The main code of Christian Chivalry is to serve those who are unable to defend their selves.
Reverend Foster’s family motto is “though broken, fight on”. This is where the broken lance on the knight’s helmet came from.
When the karate association was being formed, one of Shihan’s Foster’s students, Earl Pfarr, was the secretary of the Association. Earl Pfarr suggested the name Yin Yang Do since he had read a lot about the philosophy of the Yin and Yang. Reverend Foster thought this was a good idea and they built upon this thought to form the patch that we wear today. Earl Pfarr went on the teach martial arts at the University of Wisconsin Parkside.
An early design of the Yin Yang Do patch.