Dragon Dance Dojo

For some reason it was not working, and for the past hour of training I couldn’t figure out why. We were exploring the waza (technique) called Koku and honestly I was frustrate. This was one of the techniques that I was rather confident with. I had seen it a number of times, practiced it with a few different master, and studied it at home, outside of the dojo for a few years now. In short I felt confident with it, even to the point that if a shihan (master teacher) had called me up to demonstrate it, I felt I could represent it well. It was a good thing there were no shihan here tonight in the dojo watching me. Sometimes in class the lesson is way beyond ones pay-grade, and in cases like this sometimes the best one can do is keep going in class and do they best that they can, as there is a lesson in this developing correct warrior heart. Continuing to the end and never giving up. Sometimes a class *is* intentionally hard to the point where none of the students can do it, or...

We had an hour for lunch, but both of us silently agreed we were both exhausted and had decided to just hang out on the dojo floor as everybody else cleared out. It had been an intense morning of training under the master, and this was a chance to write down some notes and get some stamina back for the afternoon session. Can I see? Asked a voice as a hand pointed to the kusari fundo in my training bag, which was open from taking my notebook and pencil out. Turning around I was surprised to see the master, and it took me a few moments to respond as I stared at him blankly. How had he entered the room and come over without both of us noticing, as my friend was equally as surprised. Should I have been surprised? This was the same master who last time when we were all training in a field had pointed to a crow flying overhead, called it down and had it land on his shoulder. I can remember if I even said anything, reaching down and passing the kusari fundo to him. Smiling, he passed ...

Keep up if you can! That was the quick piece of advice given before we all took off running through the forest. You picked your path running along-side sensei and the other students, using ukemi taihenjutsu to navigate around, over and sometimes through the rocks, trees, and bushes. This wasn’t my first run, so there was an awareness of experience that some of the other first-time students did not have, which was an important part of the training. Being able to observe those around you, read the air so-to-speak and notice what was going on through body action as opposed to words. Those that had danced before didn’t run at full speed, they kept up with sensei, but held a bit back- you never go one-hundred-percent, what if you needed to tap a reserve and had already spent it. For those who’s first run this was they ran side by side, or even ahead of sensei, which wasn’t necessary, and nobody outside of him knew for just how long we would be running. Body posture (kyu kamae) were al...

The skills was not only to catch it, but be able to catch it in a way that one could immediately use. It was after class and the group of us sat seiza in a large circle, about eight feet or so in diameter. We had just finished up randori practice and while we were waiting one used the next few minute to catch breath and relax, let the tension go and sharpen the focus. There was a reason why this exercise was always after class. The senior student was first handed the knife, and after a few manipulations to check the balance, they tossed it to the person across from them. Toss as in send it across to another person so they can catch it in hand and easily bring it into play. There were two parts to this training exercise, the student tossing the knife, and the student receiving it. The student tossing it has to manipulate it around so the handle was facing out, and toss it with the correct distance and timing so the other student could catch it. The student receiving it had to catch it i...

I moved from the strongest and best kenjutsu kamae that I could, cutting down with the bokken which was just side-stepped and taken from my hand.  Let's try that again. Same effortless result. It's because you also have a sword, the strength of the sword twisting and taking my sword. Using just his hands the same effortless movement. How? Weapons also have kyusho. See this space on the bokken, this place on the blade, based on the length and balance here, this is where the kyusho is. Stand in seigan no kamae with no tsuki. Solid.  The kyusho is there, but it is covered by the kamae- seigan. Now extend your arms forward bit, move the elbows here, see how the posture breaks, how it creates an opening. That opening applied to the kyusho on the bokken and it can be taken away. Making sure you get out of the way first of course. I could replicate the movement from time to time, making it work *most* of the time, but there was something *else* missing, that kotsu point. Here it is! ...

Located in New York, Dragon Dance Dojo explores the warrior arts as expressed through the movement of taijutsu - martial ways of using the body from one who is exploring the martial path. Training in the warrior arts is offered through the experience of isshi-soden . Questions, comments, feedback, and inquiries may be directed to the email address below or the contact link. Ryutai Dragon Dance Dojo