FIVE WAYS OF ATTACK

Aikido as an attack art sounds oxymoronic. That is true only because many critics of Aikido have a moronic understanding of the art. (And one too few of us credibly counter.) Axiomatically we cannot win by defending and winning is important. But how does that necessitate an attack art? The polemical turn of phrase is the difference betweenContinue reading “FIVE WAYS OF ATTACK”

PUNCH TO THE FACE

A punch to the face is what Mulligan sensei called a high affect encounter – jodan tsuki scares most people. Jodan and jodan tsuki are both covered in earlier posts. This morning presented the classic Karate punch, meaning the fist is twisted at the final contact and the elbow is turned point out, forearm parallelContinue reading “PUNCH TO THE FACE”

MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

In an interview, Nishio sensei unapologetically labeled Musashi as “the lowest form of human being.” Understandable. Nishio looked at how little human emotion and human engagement Musashi exhibited; he never married, never started a family, and spent a life dueling to test his skill and mettle. Musashi manifested a coward’s response, by developing skill fromContinue reading “MIYAMOTO MUSASHI”