Some people malign the five elemental models we use in To-Shin Do often because they just don’t understand what they are. Almost thirty years ago I was introduced to them as the Go Dai no Kata in one of An-shu Hayes’ early books. Ever since then I have been listening to people say he made […]
Part One of the Matrix of Martial Arts Course Series: A simple 3-step process repeated over and over like a fractal formula that allows you to learn Ninja Taijutsu in order to be able to create an appropriate response for any situation. Within the Matrix of Martial Arts Course these steps are broken down into […]
Learn the mechanics of using your body in gravity to create Effortless Movement in everything you do. This seminar by Dennis Fuutoshi Mahoney looks at using bone structure and gravity to create proper taijutsu movement. This movement is then applied to striking, grappling and a special section on creating hidden power.
Have you ever watched a technique or kata demonstrated and when the teacher says to go try it you stand there and have no idea where to begin? Or you try it and the results are nowhere near what was demonstrated. The problem may be that your brain is tricking you. What you see may […]
What does Shi-kin Hara-mitsu Dai-ko-myo mean? I’d like to share some of my research and thoughts about what this phrase means to me. Conventional wisdom around the Takamatsu-den based organizations loosely translates this as “In every moment is the potential for the enlightenment we seek” or “keep going and you can get it.” The question […]
The Ever Changing Moment Have you ever noticed while you are training that sometimes your mind is on what you are doing, your kamae, your movement or which hand you are supposed to be using and at these times you lose track of the attacker and get caught off guard. Then there are other times […]
Goals As it says on the back of the book, “DON’T PANIC”. I’m not talking about the things motivational people say like “Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement”. When I talk about goals I mean your perception of purpose in our training, from a very broad sense in the meaning of ‘Bu’ […]
The five elements, earth, water, fire, wind, and void are generally used in To-Shin Do as emotional energetic strategies of defense. This course is about the underlying taijutsu classified by each element that makes using the five elemental fighting strategies possible.
Feeling Gravity The Ninja are famous for looking at situations from a different perspective then their contemporary warrior counterparts. Where the conventional warrior may boldly charge in, the Ninja uses subterfuge and observation to accomplish their goal. This different perspective or the ability to perceive more is to me the goal of our training. This […]
I happened on to a martial arts gathering in our area recently, one of the ones where they bring together different martial arts to share with each other. So I went in to watch for a while. There were some martial arts students speaking about an instructor on stage. The comments ranged from how amazing […]
One of our newer students asked if our focus is self-defense why we still train with classical weapons like the katana. They felt it was very unlikely that they would run into anyone with a Japanese sword. I can understand a new person’s perspective believing they may not see these particular weapons in a fight […]
One of the side effects of teaching our ninja martial art is that you get into the habit of observing people, how they move and what they say, not just while training but in every day situations too. I was listening to a number of people talking about politics. One person in particular kept making […]
We had a question about striking in class recently from a newer student who had trained in boxing and karate. We were doing some pad work with jabs and cross punches. He made note of how different it was from what he had done before. It seemed to him that the difference between the styles […]
For many years just like most people I would make resolutions for the new year. Things like try to eat better, lose weight or get more sleep. All of which are excellent ideas but they usually fell by the wayside as the year progressed. In recent years I have given up resolutions and instead made […]
I once saw a cartoon in a magazine that depicted a scene of hell. In it the devil was showing one hell’s new occupants a room with all of the devil’s greatest weapons. All around the room were terrible weapons of torture and destruction. The caption under the cartoon was a quote from the devil […]
