INITIATIVE: TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Timing and initiative are related concepts, especially once one steps onto the mat and is required to embody them rather than merely discuss them abstractly. In my earlier article, Jo v Bokken article, I deliberately used traditional budō terminology, rather than exclusively use concepts from George Silver, Bruce Lee and John Boyd. That choice wasContinue reading “INITIATIVE: TERMS AND CONCEPTS”

SHU HA RI

The Japanese formula shu ha ri comes from classical Japanese arts where preservation, rupture, and departure were recognized as essential phases of learning. Shu means to protect or obey. It carries the sense of guarding something fragile and important, like tending a fire that someone else lit. Ha means to break or detach. The characterContinue reading “SHU HA RI”

STRONG SIDE BACK 2

I owe the allocentric framing entirely to Mark Hatmaker. In his most recent post (The Orthodox Fighting Stance, part 2), he introduced the neurological language that gives shape to a phenomenon fighters adopt reflexively; the preference for placing the dominant side to the rear when the stakes rise. Hatmaker wrote that this posture “turns offContinue reading “STRONG SIDE BACK 2”