KNIFE WORK

My initial attraction to martial arts was through the weapons as artifacts. I was entranced by the beauty of the swords at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.[1] I still covet and collect weapons but the pragmatist in me knows this is a servile and dangerous affliction. The importance isn’t the tool, it is theContinue reading “KNIFE WORK”

EDGED ETTIQUETTE

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon In the Aikido dojo the sword is the soul of the samurai and that spirit remains salient.  Even a bokken (wooden sword) should be handled as the symbolic representationContinue reading “EDGED ETTIQUETTE”

FOIL: THE USE OF THE POINT

Saturday we were able to do a private seminar on the use of the point with Master Foiler Vincent Camillo at Northwest Fencing Center. The use of the point – the straight thrust is a critical skill to add to one’s arsenal and foil is a great introduction. The limitation of the torso as a targetContinue reading “FOIL: THE USE OF THE POINT”