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Year End “Big Clean”
Ō-sōji (literally, “big cleaning” at year end) is a significant tradition in Japan. This ritual symbolizes purification and renewal of one’s home, workspace, dojo, and environment. Transcending mere physical cleaning, it assumes a spiritual dimension. Take time to clean areas that may usually be passed over. Get rid of things you don’t use. Use a super sensitive eye to re-see cluttered areas you have become blind to. In particular, make sure your dojo shrine shelf sacred area is cleaned and renewed. Clean and declutter the entrance to your dojo. A fresh entry will welcome positive energy. Cleaning is a symbolic act of bidding farewell to the old year (and problems or impurities it brought). By thoroughly cleansing your home and
Dealing With Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Violence
The purpose and methodology preserved in our To-Shin Do kata were not created to address mutually consented fighting, where we agree to fight another martial artist until one of us quits. Our practice methods address handling non-consensual violence. That means self-protection, or stoping harm when attacked with criminal violence. The purpose determines the strategies used to achieve the goal. The strategies dictate the tactics. The tactics determine the choice of techniques. “Winning a fight I agreed to take part in” is not the same as “eliminating harm from invasive criminal violence”. You can’t take the strategies, tactics, and techniques used to achieve one goal and put them into action to achieve a different goal. This is not a value judgement
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Best Martial Arts Advice I’ve Been Given
Best advice ever given? “Know yourself and exactly why you are training in the martial arts, then carefully select the best role model teacher who
Year End “Big Clean”
Ō-sōji (literally, “big cleaning” at year end) is a significant tradition in Japan. This ritual symbolizes purification and renewal of one’s home, workspace, dojo, and
Things Come to Pass
42 years ago I stood at this Togakure Mountain shrine. I was just beginning my work of promoting the ninja martial art, making my teacher
Dealing With Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Violence
The purpose and methodology preserved in our To-Shin Do kata were not created to address mutually consented fighting, where we agree to fight another martial
To-Shin Take Charge of Your Thoughts
We all have bad days. Here’s another truth. Our To-Shin Do training teaches us that no one is in charge of your mood but you.
Clarifying My New Position
In my mid-70s, I now call myself retired. That just means I no longer run a dojo, I drastically cut back on my traveling seminars,
The True Awakening Behind the Kuji Mudras and Mantras
There are so many variations on the ninja’s kuji-kiri and kuji-in, huh? I believe people are hoping to find the “one and only authentic kuji
The Tragedy of the “Wave Person”
There is an American interpretation of a Japanese concept that is totally backwards. Some martial artists love to brag that they are “ronin”, a lone
Secret of Focus – Danshari
An-shu Rumiko and I have been exploring the Japanese concept of Danshari for several years now. Dan-sha-ri could be defined as Dan for “Cut (select,
Proving the Effectiveness of Our Art
Back in the 1980s, I had very few actual students studying the ninja martial arts with me. Instead of running a dojo, I ran seminars