Taken from the cover of a book, Adam Mitchell purchased at an antique book store in Japan, the "Kikusui" logo literally translates to “Chrysanthemum water”. It's original reference is to a Chinese legend and Japanese noh theater play, attributing eternal youth to...
I want to continue the discussion about the fundamental difference between right and wrong. If you read the previous article, we talked about Bushido The Soul of Japan, written by Inazō Nitobe.
I’ll be sharing each one of the (8) tenets that Nitobe presents as the tenets of...
I got off the train from Kashiwa and rode one of the clunker bicycles back to the Dojo. Actually, they’re not really clunkers, in fact they’re respected machines that provide transportation to students who visit the Dojo from all over the world. We actually like them alot. They are...
"The best budōka can do sundome (寸止め) at any time. So, I have never injured a training partner so far. We say "Oteyawaraka ni onegaishimasu" before we begin keiko."
Unsui
Quote from a discussion about proper training I had with Unsui Sensei. Sensei went on to explain further how my students...
A wonderful gift in the mail that arrived from fellow budoka who travelled from Vancouver, BC to train with us in New York during Unsui Sensei's 2015 Seminar. Peter Haddad arrived on Tuesday to attend the weekday training, sleeping at the Dojo he did not miss a single training the entire week....
I’m not a football fan, but my oldest son is. For that reason, I’ll sit with him and endure what I find to be a quite over-rated sport. Last February, I took the night to sit with Adam and watch the Super Bowl XLVIII when the Denver Broncos faced off against the Seattle Seahawks. My...
Kyoei no Kamae 虚影の構え. The feeling is of one showing 突きor opening to the opponent with either the left or right shoulder.
We began this training this spring at Sensei’s request.
This weekend, I overheard a local martial arts guru discuss with a kind man the difference between the martial art he studied and the one I study. I usually don't dabble in this type of talk, but there was a sincere curiosity from the man's question so I felt obligated to offer some honest...
The Dōjō is a place you can come to when your life is over crowded. But it's no get away. There is no cold drink cooler, no candy machine, nobody to pat your bottom and tell you how hard you work. It's a Dōjō.
There are no lies here. It's hot as hell in the summer, cold as ice in the winter....
“Kata is an embodiment of teaching, therefore it should be learned correctly without preconception. Kata is also like a “container,” with which we pass its “contents called Ryuha” from teachers to learners strictly. After having instructed the teaching, we can throw...
A master of calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts, among other arts, is held in the Japanese tradition to be “acting from tanden“. Following is a segment from an email correspondence I’ve recently had with Unsui Sensei regarding tanden in our study of Kobudō. I...
By Brian Vaughan, 3rd Dan (photo above, teaching jojutsu)
Both words, with a minimum of verbiage, epitomize how I have led my life and my approach to martial arts. The first, Shoshin, a beginners heart…to maintain a simplicity of vision, clarity and openness. To al ways...
