Classy Rapper Memory

Early 1990s in Chicago. I was coordinating Illinois police with Tibetan security agents of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Tibetan leader’s visit. I noticed a quiet young guy who appeared to be a homeless person in faded car wash hoodie with a badly shaved head who somehow infiltrated the Dalai Lama’s entourage. He […]

Battlefield Training in Chapel Hill

Hardee Merritt, Chief Instructor of Chapel Hill Quest Center, says: “What an amazing, life transforming weekend! The evidence was in the dojo Monday night. After an entire weekend training outdoors, grappling with sticks, being thrown in the mud, the classes were packed and everyone was super motivated! Thank you An-shu for a wonderful weekend!” An-shu […]

Classical Ninja Bojutsu Training

九 字 の 棒 第 二 法 Kuji No Bo Dai Ni Ho (“2nd Method”) Most of our classical ninja martial arts weapon training takes place in our special seminar series classes on Thursday evening. Here is a description of a fight training exercise from the Advanced Long Saff set. For coaching and personal instruction […]

Always a Question Ready to Go

My habit is never to meet a knowledgeable teacher without having a good question in mind, just in case I am given the opportunity to ask. Rumiko and I traveled to the city of Tajimi municipal dojo for a demonstration of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu sword by Mouri Keisuke and his small group of students on […]

December 2011 Graduation

Our final graduation celebration of 2011 was a rousing riot of fast-made decisions under pressure, way unfair size advantages against the smaller people, and a few spontaneous totally unexpected gang attacks aimed at seniors with lots of stripes on their black belts – all chaotic just the way all the Dayton Quest Center members like […]

Martial Arts Teaching for the Future

One reality I see over and over at martial arts business conventions is crowds of young proficient martial artists in on the latest martial fad and hoping to earn a living providing good training for their communities, but lacking in a crucial double-edged necessity. They lack a seasoned mature presence, and they lack an inspiring […]