Vegan Japan
We did not make it to Japan this year, unfortunately, so as part of my reminiscing here is an article I wrote on surviving there as a vegan, with thanks to Tanwyn Sensei for providing the photos. If you … Continue reading
We did not make it to Japan this year, unfortunately, so as part of my reminiscing here is an article I wrote on surviving there as a vegan, with thanks to Tanwyn Sensei for providing the photos. If you … Continue reading
Whenever I teach something outside the basic kihon curriculum, which is often, I am always amazed at the lengths students will go to, to avoid doing what has just been demonstrated. You can look down the line on the mat and … Continue reading
In a recent, advanced, sword class one of the bokuto broke. It struck me that this happens a lot less now days than it did in the olden times when we were first introduced to the practice of kiri kaeshi. … Continue reading
Whenever we do martial arts demonstrations for schools, we always encourage the children to ask questions. This can have mixed results. At one recent event, for instance, a school teacher came up to us afterwards and commented that the students … Continue reading
It is not unusual for at least one student a class to not attend for whatever reasons: they have to wash their hair, there is a football game on television that night, something I said to them the week before … Continue reading
Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a skilled martial artist? Have you looked at inspirational martial arts masters and thought “Is there a secret to their success? Is there a ‘shortcut’?” Many martial arts instructors, if they … Continue reading
Kirikaeshi is a regular part of sword practice. Within our School it is means of practicing set counters for set strikes in rapid succession, in a controlled manner. Recently, when teaching an advanced sword class, I introduced an exercise that … Continue reading
Early in my martial arts instruction, whenever something happened that blocked my progress, I was given the following advice: “It’s part of training.” Do you have an injury that is preventing you from attending class? Has class been cancelled? Are you … Continue reading
Etiquette in our art involves saying “thank you” often. We say it before class begins, after training with a partner, and when class is complete. We acknowledge those who developed the art and we are thankful for new students who … Continue reading
Recently we held our Autumn gradings which included two students doing their nidan syllabus for open hand. One of the highlights of this was their performance of kata; most of the lower ranks had never seen these kata before and … Continue reading