Daisho

coming from the same home-town as joesteph, I too am aware of anti-loitering laws in parks at night. Back in high school me and another student from my dojo took our bokkens to Hudson County park at night, and were trying to make a video with the river in the background. Police came down and really got on us for trespassing, including throwing both of our brand new bokkens into the river. It was completely uncalled for, as we were being very respectful... yet being in the park after hours gave them an excuse to act like a jerk. 2 funny points from that incident: number 1, the night before we were in the park and stopped a group of skater kids from accosting 2 drunk girls that were walking home after drinking at the park with friends. After repeatedly warning the other kids to knock it off, one of them lifted his board to us, and we squared up with our bokkens. At that they made some ninja jokes, but didn't have the nerve to test out our ninja skills, lol. Secondly the cop that threw both bokkens into the river came into our dojo about 8 years later to try a free class. I reminded him of the event in jest, and instead of laughing about it, he made a comment about that we were asking for trouble, and too bad for us we'd found it. At that I offered him to be his sparring partner, whenever he wanted one. He never bothered coming back to train.

If it's not a sucker punch, then I generally try to get inside when I'm fighting. A trained boxer is not going to launch the cross at the same point as he's aiming the jab. He's using the jab, then anticipating your head movement to land the cross, so it makes it difficult if you're not trained in getting "under" the cross. As far as technique to defend it, I'd probably react similar to explained above, hand check the jab and dodge the cross.

I like the vertical punches better for close quarters, because you can fire them off like pistons in an engine, since it allows you to retract so quickly. Against a moving target, it might be easier for you to throw a twisting punch, cause for me, it's far easier to make minute adjustments while it's being thrown.

I'm in the gym 3 times per week lately, and all I do are regular cleans, romanian deadlifts, bench presses, military presses, squats, and a few ab exercises. people there are always on me about never doing isolated biceps, and that ladies like big guns, lol. I just don't have the time to do a million isolated exercises, so I try and keep it limited to power, and strength down the middle.

After learning a technique, we tend to follow the instruction of the student who has best grasped how to effectively utilize it. So many times it will be a lower rank, but our sensei is always walking around making sure we're getting it sunk in properly.

I fully agree bushido. Our sensei is very well liked by all the other schools in the neighborhood, and he's never had a problem asking them to send a student, or even providing them with dojo time when one of them had a major water leak issue. I spoke to another dan about it today after class, and he loved the idea. He said they've also been toying with the idea of bringing in a hojutsu teacher in from the local Isshin-ryu dojo, considering we haven't had an instructor for that in near 2 years.

WHen you feel prepared to bring this to your congregation, you may want to email the priest from Morning Star Zendo and see how he implemented it in his church/college. Jesuit priests are among the most fanatical defenders of the Catholic religion that exists. They're all highly educated and highly motivated, and would not bring anything into their worship that they felt was anti-Christ. Remember these are the guys that headed up the Spanish Inquisition They're also the Catholic faction that promotes the idea of developing the mind and the body as well as possible. They run some of the top Catholic institutions in the world, and considering they were started by SPanish military officers, they take physical conditioning pretty seriously when a new clergyman comes aboard. Here is a link to their site: http://kennedyzen.tripod.com/

Yea, most of the stuff we've been doing lately in preparation for a demo has been Katana plus wakizashi. I like doing a JJ or Judo throw then finishing with the tanto a lot more. but we have two students that are amazing swordsman, that both participate in fencing outside the dojo as well, and the stuff they do like a low technique with katana followed by an upward slash with the wakizashi looks quite impressive.

god I'd missed so many payments in the past, I thank god our sensei tends to become very involved in our personal lives. I spent consecutive months handling the books and scrubbing mats to make up for not having the money to help with our mortgage. I've also helped paint the dojo twice, and tear up the floor and lay down a hardwood floor when our sensei first bought the property.

this may not be a popular opinion here. But if he were to truly study hand to hand combat, and put the time in to not only perfect the techniques, but also grasp the bunkkai. If he were to then solidify all of that with an overall philosophy of strategy that fit the style, and was willing to test his system versus other established systems, then I see no reason to not accept his expertise at fighting. Every style we train in was once invented by mortal man. Yet, from your explanation, it seems he's just a skilled fighter incorporating and mimicking stuff that he sees and is having success. That may make him a very good fighter, but traditional MA is not limited to being a very good fighter.

7 years to the day that I started my training. That's with me missing less than 15 classes throughout those 7 years. I had the opportunity to take my shodan test about 9 months prior, but despite the fact that I keep myself in very good shape, the shodan test is extremely strenuous, and takes serious dedication to pass.

Finding a really good JJJ school, with good students to train with (against), and top quality teachers has become very hard to find. The explosion of students looking into BJJ as a first choice for grappling due to it's effectiveness in MMA, has cut significantly into the amount of money that JJJ schools can generate. To deal with that many of the JJJ schools these days have cross trained and incorporated much Judo and Aikido into their curriculum. In tournaments I've met TKD students that have grappling as a traditional part of their system. Which would probably be beneficial for you, considering they already know the techniques you have trained, and their system is probably centered around using those strikes and blocks to set up their grappling.

Miyama Ryu, 3 times per week. Ogawa Ryu once per week.

I agree with bushido on making sure to be very skillful in speaking about zen, when you first approach them. Out of the various practitioners that come into our zendo, Christians are very rare. I've been on sesshin with Muslims, Hindus, and Jews quite often, but its only the theologically educated Christians that wind up dropping by. The most important thing to stress to a Christian audience, is that zazen is the only part of zen that matters. And zazen is nothing more than sitting still, and keeping the mind as clear as possible for as long as possible. We do this to experience the universe in the purest way. We sit still and attempt to do nothing more than just exist. This way we are on the exact same state of being as not only humans, but the rock, a planet, the air, empty space, the tree, etc. They may come to understand it as experiencing God's work in a way of absolute appreciation and love. For that brief period they are stopping their inner narrative, and shutting out the self-centeredness that comes with daily life, and devoting themselves to remembering that God has created many wonderful things, and that attempting to identify with this universe, is attempting to identify with God's own works, and therefore with God him/herself.

lol, 3 times is quite impressive. Damn, I spend half my waking time in the gym/dojo, and I don't have a waste-line like that. I like the kaku better for sliding the wakizashi through when we arm ourselves full daisho. Double looped katana sling with Wakizashi slung through the Kaku blade up. Also holds the tanto in place more snugly when we go katana - tanto.

Yea, I've only had the chance to see a kenjutsu kata once before, and it was pretty interesting. My sensei dropped much of the kata when he came back to the U.S., which is when I began my training. Looks practical enough, but I've never trained in a system with kata included, so I don't really know when it comes to the speed. Did seem weird to me that all of the slashing strikes were done with a chopping motion. I've been taught that the katana is primarily a slashing, and when need be a stabbing weapon. We always make sure new students drag the blade along the point of impact to simulate slicing muscle and tendon. Maybe such a final action is unnecessary in a kata?

nice video wa. never seen anyone in grey hakama before. Looked nice enough with the black top. That was some odd kenjutsu technique. Never seen arcs that end in chopping motions. Guess thats some type of kata or such?

heya tray, makes sense for iaido... we wear the kaku as well due to our kenjutsu

hmm, interesting. I don't even know if thats how it really works for us. Throughout 10th to 4th kyu we wear standard belts/white judo gi. at 4th kyu you have to pass your kenjutsu test, and you can then wear your green tasuki. Shodans wear black top, black hakama, and black tasuki After that they usually wear white tops, black hakama, and red tasuki Our former top student, who went on to open a Shiden'issen Jujutsu school in Phoenix. I remember he used to like wearing a white top, white hakama, and red tasuki.... but I was pretty new then, and don't know what rank dan he was.

luckily I've studied in mostly "sport training" dojos, so we basically are squared up with another student 99% of the time. We hadto study a few katas for certification within the main M-R community, but that was about it. So pretty much when we learn a technique, whichever of the two people squared up that seem to grasp it better helps teach the other. At bluebelt/green tasuki you can lead the class in warm-ups. Bluebelt/green tasuki comes about 5-7 years in our dojo, and that seems to be where most students tend to stay. Our greenbelt test requires extensive training outside the dojo in cardio and strength, which many don't seem to have. 1st kyu (our brown belts) are typically getting 1on1 training the entire year or 2 they remain there in preparation of their shodan test, and they tend to remain outside the normal class until they become shodan. Our 4 nidans generally run the technique training while our head sensei walks around and gives us tips or makes sure we're applying correctly. The head of our dojo holds the rank of yodan, either he or our top student the only sandan always run any type of formal or ceremonial classes.

3 days per week at Miyama Ryu dojo. 1 day per week with my Ogawa Ryu trainer. 4 days per week at the gym. 99% of the money I make is devoted toward training bills, lol.

can't help you guys here, after shodan, we do not receive stripes on our belt at all. The only difference is beyond nidan the tasuki-sabaki (the cord we tie around our shoulders to keep our sleeves from getting in the way during kenjutsu) goes from black to red, and you then have the option of wearing a white hakama.

well turns out my digi cam doesn't actually make videos, but tallgeese i think you're right. Everyone in my dojo is JJJ trained, and the technique works flawless when following a judo throw, or if I have to apply it on the way down after a failed JJ takedown. But rolling into stuff has been a problem of mine, and even the other dans are generally uncomfortable with the way some of the techniques apply to that. We've started applying ground game to our work, when it isn't exactly natural to it. Maybe time to bring in a BJJ guy on one of our off nights.

here is a koan that may or may not be fitting for the convo: There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all this time. To find out, she obtained the help of a girl rich in desire. "Go and embrace him," she told her, "and then ask him suddenly: 'What now?'" The girl called upon the monk and without much ado caressed him, asking him what he was going to do about it. "An old tree grows on a cold rock in winter," replied the monk somewhat poetically. "Nowhere is there any warmth." The girl returned and related what he had said. "To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!" exclaimed the old woman in anger. "He showed no consideration for your needs, no disposition to explain your condition. He need not have responded to passion, but at least he should have evidenced some compassion." She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down.

lol, thats the exact koan I was taught when learning the "light your own candle" principle! Nice job Tray. I would like to warn how non-Zen Buddhists can twist the understandings of Zen, especially when dealing with western people who only identify with western rationality. I stumbled upon a LiveJournal community where Christians were studying zen, and I came across some terribly misunderstood concepts. I cut and copied the original post I took issue with, and below (in bold) is my response http://spetsnazq2.livejournal.com/1371.html I don't see any reason Zen wouldn't be fine within the Catholic church, I can't speak for other Christian churches considering I know very little about them. Even the koans of the Rinzai sect deal much more with reality than with meta-physics, and shouldn't be objectionable. I've been with Soto teachers almost my entire time as a Zen student, and we sit facing a wall and force glimpses of time where we don't actively think. That's it. That's our zazen, in totality, and by any stretch of my mind, that's dharma. If you wanted to get into Zen Buddhist thought, Shobogenzo was an author that wrote probably the most interest zen interpretations, and as many times as I've been over his work, I don't see where any of it would cross any Christian lines in acceptability.