A Different View

   There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same ~ Chinese Proverb Different Paths, Same Goals I recently had the opportunity to photograph a Naginata workshop. It is a Japanese martial art in which you spar with a partner using a polearm. It is essentially a […]

On Your Journey

The discussion on ranking seems to come up quite bit. You have to understand that it is not a race; it doesn’t matter how long it takes you reach each new level. In a perfect world, ranks should be a baseline, a minimum set of skills or tools to be considered at a certain level. […]

Black Belt is only the Beginning!

To the outside world, black belt is the end, the goal, the ultimate aim. However, to the serious student, black belt is only the beginning. I read once that earning your black belt means you have a grasp of the basic concepts. You have learned enough techniques to truly begin learning.

Legos vs Models

I was having a discussion the other day with a former student. We were talking about how some of our techniques sound similar and I pointed out that our techniques are really like meta-techniques. What I mean by this is most of our more advanced techniques are built of smaller sub techniques. They have a […]

Everything is a Hammer

Have you heard the phrase “To a beginner everything is a hammer, to a craftsman every tool has it use, to a master everything can be a hammer‘? I have observed in class during ‘circle drills’ a beginning student will almost always do one or two techniques, usually an inner parry block and a straight […]