Are you trying to figure out the weapons techniques in Koryu Dai Yon kata? Want to learn how to escape from the turtle position in judo? Figure out how to hold a jyo stick? Or even catch up on one of the budo clinics from years past? There are hundreds of videos available on the…
The dojo is closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but you can still practice with these aikido, judo, and jodo exercises that can be done without a partner.
by Kyle Sloan The most basic things are quite often the things we teach first. Tsune-no-kamae is a very simple posture in Jyodo, yet we often do it incorrectly. The jo should balance on our middle finger, with our index & ring fingers only slightly touching it to provide support. The wrist and hand should…
Jim Ellison (Spiritual Gravity blog) and Tammy Epperson Have you ever watched martial artists on TV or in the movies and wanted to try it for yourself? Or maybe you have recently started taking a martial art, and are frustrated with your perceived slow progress and could use some advice or encouragement. Jim Ellison has…
by Nick Lowry To understand what our ranking means and how we arrive at our ranking you have to understand that we are primarily a teaching institution- The initial ranks, kyu grades up through the dan grades Shodan , Nidan and Sandan all carry a set of technical requirements — particular katas, kihons, and waza,…
by Nick Lowry DOJO is the way place. All the stuff we practice in a DO-jo — the aiki do and ju do and jo do and karate do and ken do and iai do and all the rest, are all just pointers to the DO– different lamps lighting the way. As we train in…
by Nick Lowry Been thinking lately about a three tier curriculum for our dojo– at first was considering the the standard beginner, intermediate, and advanced idea but that seemed a little clumsy, linear and hierarchical — and would probably lead to folks being unnecessarily typed and excluded from work they might enjoy or benefit from….
by Nick Lowry Rank is in the eye of the beholder Where do high ranks come from?what makes a high dan rank in budo, a high dan rank? Is it technical ability? teaching ability? contribution to the art? What does being ranked as a godan, rokudan, nanadan, hachidan, kudan, judan mean? Who decides its meaning?…
by Nick Lowry A wise old sensei once pointed out that if you take a whole variety of different hard stylists and watch their kata, an educated eye can tell them apart , but when you take that same lot of hard stylists and put them in a contest, it all winds up looking like…
by Nick Lowry A student once asked a zen teacher about “Transmission” and wondered how a clear message, a clear and undiluted dharma reality, could be transmitted from person to person across time and culture, from the historical Buddha’s time to our own… “But, isn’t it like the old party game where one person whispers…
