To-Shin Do Shihan: Golden Responsibility

Students have asked how to get one of those beautiful metallic gold-striped Shihan black belts worn by Mark Sentoshi Russo, James Kentoshi Norris, and Dennis Fuutoshi Mahoney. I always reply with the same 3-part answer: First, train for decades to develop incredibly refined martial arts skills. Next, perfect the art of looking at a student’s […]

The Beauty of Dissatisfaction?

In my non-stop travels the first half of this year, I was teaching a private lesson to a To-Shin Do green belt student. We were talking about the pace of progress towards brown and then black belt. My friend commented, “It’s frustrating to look at my progress and think how much faster I would be […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Boulder 2011 Seminar Kuji 7

An-shu Stephen and An-shu Rumiko visited the Boulder Quest Center for an exciting, power-building seminar in August 2011. The weekend experience encouraged participants to break through limitations to new potentials through a combination of mind and martial exercises. The seminar started with a Friday night Dragon Body Ninja Yoga session with An-shu Rumiko. Dragon Body, […]