CalgaryRakushinkan

Do you turn on the heel or the ball of your toe?

I would say that for most bo styles (of Japan, anyway), the standard grip is with the thumbs pointing at each other, palms on the same side. The terminology can be confusing in Japanese - maybe a separate post. The bojutsu I practice now works this way. However we use slipping hands; they are not fixed. Here is a video on my instructor and some of his senior students practicing the basic suburi (swings). They should be practiced moving forward, moving backward, and on the spot with a switch-step, and also jun-tai and gyaku-tai. The purpose of this kind of training is body integration - hads/weapon and feet, cultivating leg and tanden power, etc.

Hi everyone, My name is Josh MacDonald. I’m based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and currently run Calgary Rakushinkan, where I teach Aikidō along with elements of classical Japanese martial arts, including Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu, kenjutsu, and iaijutsu. Before that, I spent many years training in Chitō-ryū karate. I moved to Japan in 2004 intending to continue karate, but wasn’t able to find what I was looking for. That led me to my current instructor and opened up a completely different approach to jūjutsu (Aikidō) and sword-based arts. My karate background still informs how I think about martial arts—especially in terms of structure, kata, and how technique relates to practical application. At the same time, my perspective has changed quite a bit through exposure to both gendai and koryū systems. I’ve become particularly interested in pedagogy—how these arts are actually taught, how principles are transmitted, and how different systems approach that problem. I spend a fair amount of time writing and thinking about these topics—things like the relationship between jūjutsu and Aikidō, the role of weapons in training, and some of the differences between “dō” and “jutsu.” More recently, I’ve also been reflecting on my earlier karate experience in light of what I practice now—what carries over, what doesn’t, and why. Looking forward to the discussions here. Regards, Josh