Three weeks ago I was getting ready to go home after training at a gym in central Nagoya. They have two dojo there, a Judojo and a Kendojo, that night my group was using the Judojo. I have been going there for the past 8 years and there are several groups using the same space. I know most of them by face as they do me, so there is a connection of mutual respect and acknowledgment in one another. We all get along. There was a new guy at the gym who had taken up roost in middle of three competition ...
Updated 07-23-2011 at 01:56 by Mekugi
Having been a long-time practitioner of the martial arts, and keen observer and participant in our community, I have seen titles and rank fads come and go, but one that just grates me is the use of the title of "Professor" in certain arts. What brought on this rant is I just received a call from a gentleman that will be relocating to our area who is interested in training at our dojo. He said that his goal is to be a "Professor" of Jujutsu. I honestly cannot tell ...
Being a mat rat, a dojo doorstop, a martial arts monkey or a budo nerd takes a lot out of you. You spend most of your free time at the dojo, most of your holidays thinking about budo and doing it on your own, taking notes, re-writing those notes, then tearing the note page out as you realize your notes were wrong. Then re-writing it again, looking for that old note page because there was some good stuff in there and you tore it out and threw it away in a moment of frustration and haste. It's a ...
Updated 09-17-2011 at 13:53 by Mekugi
Recognizing fraud in the martial arts People have suggested that I should write something about how to recognize and deal with martial arts frauds. Living in Japan I have a better understanding of its martial arts and history and in the past I have helped poke holes in the stories of many frauds. It is actually rather sad that I have to write this. I went onto the internet to get information about martial arts. I did find some online journals, web sites and other resources ...
Can we really use "unarmed" techniques in self defense? My Bujinkan teachers in Japan always stress that this art was built around the reality of weapons. We use them, we train to go against them and even though we do unarmed stuff most of the time, there is always a connection with weapons. This art was not meant to be used at a tournament. And in Japan, a entire class openly carried twin swords. I have been thinking of something for a long time and kind of want to throw ...
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