So, its 80F in northern Michigan, and time to get out and do some outdoor training. What are you doing for your outdoor training?? Let us know!

I am have a lot of fun with the bo staff practice and would like to get one of my own. I have used both the tapered and the straight bo staffs. The tapered bo is easier to manipulate but I fear that it may be weaker than a straight bo. Also there are many different types of material used in making the bo, from rattan to hardwoods. I am currently looking at a 6′ straight hardwood(I believe Red Oak but am uncertain) bo with a black stain. What are your opinions and/or recommendations.

Thank you,
Nathan Fortier

Nathan, thanks for your question and thanks for your energy around learning the bo staff.

Like many things in life, you get what you pay for. Then basic bo staffs available from century are a Chinese oak. The issue is the grain selection… Many times these bo staff will not survive the simplest kumi-waza striking exercises. Then you have a bo splitting and potentially creating a safety issue.

In the thirty years of doing Kobudo, Okinawin Weapons Training, I have not seen a better bo staff than the Shureido bo staff. They come in oak and rattan. Both have served well for many years. Students doing a lot of kumi-waza training should consider the ratan bo staff. The rattan will absorb the blows and resist splintering.

Yours in bushi
Renshi Rags

I’m on week nine of my P90X rotation.   This definitely gives me three days of strength training and three days of cardio.

What are your thoughts?

Yours in budo

Renshi Rags

If you hadn’t heard, “big brother” is trying to restrict your freedom of speech through restrictions in the internet.   This would affect things like Wikipedia and Google searches.   I’d suggest you research this bill in congress and make your voice heard.

Renshi Rags

The complex taught at the seminar on October 22nd had the following concepts linked.

Back swim/Lay/Figure 8/Hook/Eagle block/Eagle uppercut/Windmill/Sweep/Finish

So did I get it right?  How is this different from the Suikendo Complex we worked on in last seminar?   What do you think of the word picture reminders?

My martial arts journey started when I was a teenager.  It was the time of “Kung Fu” the TV show and Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon”.  I was living in a small farm town in northwest Indiana and life was pretty simple.   The little town had three grain elevators, one gas station, a post office, grocery store and a drug store.   The little drug store started getting some martial arts books for sale which I quickly bought and read cover to cover.  The book “Moving Zen” struck a chord with me that has lasted a lifetime.  I found the story of a british man learning karate in Japan in the early sixties to be captivating.  I found that I wanted to study this martial art and experience a little about the Japanese lifestyle that was portrayed in the book.  Fortunately, my time with Sensei Yamashita has given me several wonderful opportunities to train in historic dojos in Okinawa.  Those experiences are some of the best of my life.

So, How did you get started in karate?

Kata for Yamashita International Shorin Ryu is the living history textbook of our martial art.  Each kata is going to have a story behind it and a set of fundamentals that were grounded in practical fighting applications.

One of my favorite katas is Pinon Shodan.  It is one of five kata developed from the Kusanku kata to systematize karate and make it easier to teach the fighting principles.   This was done by Itosu Yasutsune “Iron Horse” (1840-1925).

What I like about Pinon Shodan is the lateral movements that are demonstrated when doing the fighting complex of this kata.  As with many kata, this is not obvious until Hanshi Yamashita opens up the secrets behind the kata.

So, whats your favorite kata and why do you like it?