Have you ever felt powerless to make the right thing happen as you watched a terrible injustice unfold right in front of you? Walking home from middle school with a friend, we found ourselves surrounded by the gang of the cruelest violent predator at our school. This guy was no mere bully. A 26-felony teen, […]

I can’t decide whether to see the movie “Men Who Stare at Goats” It purports to be a story about a spooky special program of psychic warriors in the US Army, trained like Jedi warriors for combat in Vietnam and reinstated for Iraq duty. From the trailer and information from friends in the movie business, […]

Let’s go way back in time, back to the early 1980s. Think of a time when there was no internet, no DVD, no self-publishing, no MP3, no YouTube. Old enough to remember such a time? We had magazines. We had books. Those were my only possible channels for getting word out to the world that […]

Kuij literally translates as “nine letter-words”. The reference comes from a nine-word sentence of Chinese language origin that summons up the ninja’s powers to deal with obstacles and opposition. I describe it in my book Ninja Vol 3, Warrior Path of Togakure.This term is often used as a catch-all for the ninja’s warrior protector spirit […]

In a personal conversation earlier this week, I asked the Dalai Lama about the public publishing of what for generations up to now were secret teachings for depth inner transformation. Books about once-secret Tibetan and Japanese tantric meditation inner work are available for sale all over the world; some of the books are good and […]

Here are a lot of my senior Black Belt students and SKH Quest licensed school leaders. Several folks came in before for my 9-9-’09 60th birthday party at the Dayton dojo and then we all got together for some high-level practice the Friday afternoon before our 29th annual Festival. Some of these Black Belts have […]

I wrote a blog about relics being revitalized to provide new benefits to a new generation without damaging or destroying the essence of the relic itself. And of course I sometimes believe relics should be preserved as relics; museums inspire us with past triumphs in creative development. Anyway, one commenter quite bluntly wrote in that […]

The To-Shin Do self development 8-Step Personal Perfection Plan is all about personal transformation from the inside out. Pay attention every moment of your day and seek the most ideal way to experience, embody, and express who you are. Focus on the 8 guidelines to determine and achieve your own definition of an ideal life […]

Here is my red suit photo. My teacher chose a red tux for his 60th in Japan to make a statement unique to the needs of the Japanese martial arts world of the early 1990s – more creativity, freshness, aliveness, and startling thinking. At my 60th birthday party thrown by the students at the Dayton […]

Last week my martial arts teacher Masaaki Hatsumi mailed me birthday greetings for my 60th. In his letter, he enclosed a photo of himself at his own 60th birthday bash in 1991. In his kanreki red suit – a western tuxedo no less – he salutes his past and future. His red tux is significant, […]