Season's Greetings to All...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy New Year. May you be blessed, and have the best, in 2015.

Training slowing down a bit for the holidays, but tomorrow my oldest son and I will join Coach Rob and Sensei Mike at Defensive arts Dojo for an open workout (focus on grappling and BJJ). Then off from major training; just regular daily workouts until going back to Judo class on Friday January 2nd. Getting close to that yellow belt, but I've got some things to work on (a big one is standing rolls/breakfalls; none of the others bother me, but with shoulder issues, that "cartwheel" stuff is a bit of a pain-- literally).

I decided that it would be the height of foolishness to try and stem the tide of cookies, pies, cakes, all manner of desserts, and awesome food this holiday season. But starting in 2015 (after the last cookie is gone), I will be adding a "diet, proper," to my weekly workouts to try and kill these last 35 lbs. once and for all. I'm thinking about Atkins, but have also read-up on Body-for-Life. My wife has some other ideas. Anybody have any suggestions out there for safe, healthy diet plans that would coincide nicely with muscle-building/flexibility/martial workouts? Let me know-- feel free to drop a comment below.

Enjoy the Holidays, and "See you in 2015."

White Belt Out

Yagyu Shinkage Ryu-- a more "non-violent" form of Kenjutsu...

OK, so some more information on the Kenjutsu style Coach Rob and I went to Toronto to study.

Kenjutsu (a component of the Japanese "parent" fighting style of Jujutsu) is the art and science of using and fighting with the katana, or the famous "Samurai sword." There are several sub-styles and also sport versions-- most people passingly familiar with martial arts have heard of Kendo (sport fighting with shinai, or bamboo swords), and some may even know about Iaido (a cross-genre, kata-based art that focuses on drawing the sword and the application of established techniques for quickly dispensing with opponents).

Yagyu Shinkage Ryu is a kata-based sword art that preserves a specific tradition that is related to Taiho-Jutsu, or the martial art of feudal Japanese police and peace officers. It is also a more refined style that was preferred by the court at Edo, once the country was unified under one government. It is therefore considered more of a "gentle way," in that redirecting, disarming, containing and controlling a foe are more important aspects of the tradition than, for instance, cleaving your opponent in two from head-to-toe.

Our sensei is a man named Douglas Tong, a Canadian of Chinese descent who studied in Japan and has been a martial arts practitioner (focusing mostly on the sword arts) for over 30 years. This page (see link) has a brief introduction to Sensei Tong's credentials and lineage, and his work in teaching and preserving this unique tradition: http://dragonfencing.com/kenjutsu.html .

Sensei Tong is a patient, fun, but obviously serious-minded teacher, who is focused on traditional aspects and very detail-oriented. The two hours (actually, he gave us more time than that, so I think it was closer to three) went by quickly, and Sensei Tong and his assistant Scott put a lot of effort into making sure that we had good grounding in the fundamentals of our first kata. In Shinkage Ryu, there is a "teacher" and a "student" participant, or a "good guy/winner," and "bad guy/loser" for each kata. This is basically the same as the concept of Tori and Uke in Judo or traditional Japanese Jiu-jitsu (Jujutsu)-- a "throw-er" and a "throw-ee." In this style, however, the participants are called Shidachi and Uchidachi. I played the role of Uchidachi, and the more-experienced Coach Rob was the Shidachi. By the end of our session, we had a good grasp of the necessary movements and fundamentals of kata number one. We are definitely going back for more instruction, so hopefully we have some time to practice and build fluidity before going back up to Toronto. Anyone interested in Kenjutsu, or Yagyu Shinkage Ryu specifically, should get in touch with Sensei Tong at the Dragon Fencing Academy, 175 West Beaver Creek Rd., Unit 18, Richmond Hill, Toronto, Canada. The telephone number is (905) 764-8388, or you can e-mail for information to info@dragonfencing.com. The website address again is: www.dragonfencing.com . Maybe you can join us for our next training session!

White Belt Out.

An Exciting Week...

I haven't posted anything in awhile, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, various snow storms, and Christmas shows I was responsible to be involved in preempting much of the training I would have had to report on. I've been able to maintain daily workouts, but had missed a couple of Systema classes, two Judo classes, and a Pekiti-Tersia seminar, so I was a bit bummed by the slowing down of progress. But the last week has been a great one for training.

Last Saturday, I participated in a two-hour Systema knife defense seminar at K.C.'s, led by Brian Hammond. We learned some good concepts (more than techniques, although there were a few techniques as well) regarding knife defense, and getting "comfortable" (if such a thing is even possible or warranted) with the idea of an enemy having an edged weapon. While the best defense is still to vacate the area as quickly as possible (also known as "running"), I think we all learned some valuable information and coping skills to deal with a knife-wielding attacker from a Systema perspective.

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to take a private fencing and BJJ lesson, then go to Judo class and review a lot of material. The cool thing was seeing the crossover between the first few BJJ drills I've learned, and some closely related Judo techniques we practiced that evening. I'm starting to feel fairly, basically, somewhat competent with Kesa Gatame, Kata Gatame, some simple chokes, and a number of variations based on the Ippon Seio-nagi hip/shoulder throw. Looking forward to eventually testing for yellow belt (but I have to practice a lot of Japanese terms first!).

Saturday, we had a nice fencing workout, and spent some time working on creating more fluid/"one tempo" movement when using the beat attack. While free fencing, I made some legit points/touches on Coach Rob, and while I of course was destroyed in the end, I'm feeling more confident with both parries and saber cuts. If I can build some more movement and speed in my legs, I might actually consider entering a tournament or two! We shall see.

Today (Sunday), we took a trip up to Toronto and the Dragon Fencing school to spend a couple of hours training with a very experienced sensei in a specific style of Kenjitsu. We worked on some basic technique and the first kata in that style; and again learned a bunch of Japanese terminology that I already don't remember. I'll make a more detailed post regarding that training session (along with some biographical info on the instructor) when I can review my notes and some video that we shot; a little worn out now, but it was a fun time. Much more mentally challenging than physically; much of Japanese sword art (in my limited experience) is very basic, but not simple, if that makes sense. It's the amazing attention to detail and form that makes what looks easy, actually very challenging to do correctly.

That's all for now. A little rest tonight. Then back to the grind tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to my end-of-day workout!

"Domo Arigato Gozaimashita" ("Thank you very much for training")...

White Belt Out