Nathan in the foreground is receiving tai atari while Andrew is retiring the sword from Mike.

​We enjoyed hosting Tsubaki & Hagiwara Sensei for our summer seminar.  Here Ranai is being demonstrated.  Cory, Jon, Ned, John & Yuri are caught be the camera looking intently.

Their visit reflects on the Rembukan's desire to maintain its' Koryu stance while also using the seitei tools to improve skill sets and create a richer learning environment.

Many of us that study martial traditions are cultural victims today of the propaganda efforts to instill the 
“Code of Bushido” as Nitobe’s work “Hagakure” was managed by the Japanese militarist machine before the advent of World War II.

So what was Bushi (warrior) life really like during the middle and late Edo (Tokyo) or Tokugawa (Clan name) period of Japanese history?[1]

​“Kore wa Hon ni nai” これは 本にない “It’s not in the book”

This article is about Heijo Kyo, an ancient capitol modeled on China.  Set to the cardinal points of the compass there are defining aspects much like feng shui that also as specific colors and mythological animals to guarantee an auspicious blessing on the location.  Today many famous dojo names such as "Genbu" come from this concept.

North: Genbu:  Turtle w/ Snake's Head
East:  Seiryu:  Blue Dragon
South:  Suzaku:  Red Peacock
West:  Byakuko:  White Tiger w/ Dog's Head

In my article entitled “Rembukan Admittance” the text reads that Shimizu Sensei was counted as the 25th lineal descendant of that Ryu (Shindo Muso Ryu).
 
In Matsui Kenji’s new book published May 2011, "Jodo Uchidachi Nyumon  - Entry to JODO" UchiDachi as an Invitation to Koryu) the topic of the genealogy is discussed on page 122.  Matsui writes that from Muso Gonnosuke to Shiraishi Hanjiro (ONE GENERATION BEFORE SHIMIZU, OTOFUJI) there were 25 menkyo kaiden holders in the Densyo while also noting that the lineage is not always cooperative in being in a perfectly neat line.  There are overlaps and gaps that leading to counting brother deshi as being part of the same generation.  The fact is that there has always been ambiguity when counting the generations and this can lead to controversy.

I have always appreciated Kanji, otherwise known as ideograms and described as pictographs.  Rich in texture, when beautifully executed the brush work is fine art.  Indeed in Asia, calligraphy must be mastered before being considered an accomplished artist.  Complex thoughts are expressed and the message often provides a deeper level of communication than a simple alphabetic symbol could achieve. 

We know language is a vibrant living thing.  Words are added.  Others atrophy into disuse and fade away. Others have their original meanings hijacked and are known forever within a new context.   I’m old enough to remember when the word “gay” meant happy but today it is used to describe a life style. 

Staff weapons according to Dwight Jon Zimmerman's The Book of Weapons, were among the "earliest weapons in history." We might probably take this for granted as well as the fact that blades would eventually be attached to make other weapons such as spears. It is interesting to note that quite commonly the staff or bo was very long, often in excess of 6 feet in length.  Spears may have originated as early as 400,000 B.C.E.

In Japan, weapons have always been revered along with the symbols of the sacred mirror, sacred jewel and sacred sword symbolizing the creation myth of Japan. Zimmerman mentions the story of the "3 Great Spears" known as Otegine, Nihongo, and Tombogiri created by the legendary swordsmith Masozane and used by Honda Tadakatsu, a famous general and hero.  It is interesting to note that "tombogiri" means to cut a dragonfly.  Legend had it that the blade was so sharp that when a dragonfly landed on the blade the dragonfly was severed in half.