I was talking with a student recently who expressed some pretty conventional negative thoughts about how her life had gone from childhood. Somewhat unhappy relationship with parents. Managed to graduate high school. OK but not super marriage. Picked up a little weight that will not come off easily. It was a sad but normal take […]
A cryptic teaching of the Togakure Ryu, the Zan-To Tonko no Kata, or So-To Tonko no Kata, makes use of techniques for escaping capture.
Best advice ever given to me as a martial artist? “Know yourself and exactly why you are training in the martial arts, and then carefully select the best role model teacher who directly addresses your motivating passion.” For me, that meant looking all across America for a teacher who inspired me with his skill, ability […]
Worst advice I ever got? “Shut up and train. Don’t bother me with silly questions about people or techniques. Just do what I say. Practice the martial arts in their unchanging classical form and you can easily adapt them to modern 21st century self protection; it will be simple.” Wrong on all points. I studied […]
9 Kamae and several basic cuts and defenses for each kyu class ranking in Sword Kihon.
I read this recently, from an interview with Olympic fencer Daryl Homer by Clay Skipper, July 13, 2021, and it absolutely paralleled what we do in advanced To-Shin Do combat. He puts it precisely on the nose! “…with our sport, we really have to understand the opponent’s psychology. Like, you might be a really strong […]
It is said that the ninja uses the juxtaposition of falsehood and truth (kyo-jitsu ten-kan ho) as one of his options for winning. Ostensibly this is translated as presenting truth as falsehood and falsehood as truth. This seems obvious as a ninjutsu tactic. If you are strong, appear weak to trick an adversary into underestimating […]
I used to teach this a long time ago. But then I sensed that people could not really understand or grasp it. Anyway, here it is again, the three variations to applying sak-ki “force of the killer” as taught to me in the ninja dojo back in the 1970s: Sak-ki – Experiencing and projecting a […]
A series of workshops delivered remotely to live audiences in 2020.
A friend wrote critically of codes and creeds in martial arts schools. He feels people just want fitness and self-defense and do not sign up for what he calls “Boy Scouts or Sunday School”. He has a valid point. But what of people who want more than fitness and fighting from their martial arts study? […]
Bojutsu Kihon is a 9-kyu course introducing the bo long staff fundamentals taught by To-Shin Do. Completion of the course might take a year-and-a-half to two years. 9 kyu diplomas are issued, followed by a Bojutsu Kihon diploma, comparable to receiving a Black Belt in bojutsu.
This is the material that the Hombu dojo teaches in June and December every year.
Let’s look at one action we can all take to diminish the effects of another wave of Covid in the world. Sit comfortably, either on the floor or in a chair. Keep your spine straight. Close your eyes. Place your hands in your lap, palms up, right hand on the left. Enjoy a few relaxing […]
(A take on some thoughts from Dave Kovar) How would you breathe if you were totally calm and confident? Breathe like that. How would you walk if you were amazingly vibrant and healthy? Walk that way. What would your posture look like if you extremely alert and awake? Stand like that. What would you eat […]
This is what the Hombu is teaching during the months of March and September.
