What is this blog about? Please read this post at least once.

For several years I have been compiling quite a few closed blogs, to be reference material for people who practice the same martial arts as myself. It is important to understand what other people do - it is usually more than you think - and to be an ignorant martial artist is a shameful thing, especially with the ease of access we have to information nowadays.

This was one of those things where everyone thinks it is a good idea, however, nobody uses it - so I have decided to bring most of the articles into one site and make it public.

For the most part, I don't like to do much publicly in the martial arts world as it is unfortunately riddled with loons (in my experience) however I tend to do a fair bit of basic research on various topics and it is a shame to continually relegate those items to the bin.

To begin I will be slowly moving basic 'what other people do' style articles across to this site, after which I will move some of the more detailed articles - I will also throw in the odd interesting link. To begin with, a lot of items will be quite mundane. One of the ideas for the original sites was not to produce work, rather collate reliable material.

I will open the blog to the public after I have moved 10 or so items across. Initially, the actual JuJutsu content may be a bit light on. I have had to update some items as when the sites were not public copyright and attribution were not a huge issue. Please excuse spelling and grammatical errors as many things are just cut and paste notes and I have not thoroughly edited the work.

I will turn commenting on but please I really have no time for trolling or needlessly attacking others pointlessly - so for example if an article relates to Judo, commenting about how you don't like Judo or such and such who practices/teaches Judo is not wanted. Useful and informed additional information or correction is welcome, as long as it is within the context of the post.

Also, over time I never bothered to note down where I retrieved a lot of items as things were never intended for everyone to view - if I have used a photo or information that is yours please let me know and I will be happy to either attribute it or replace it as required.

Thank you.

Spear (Yari) in Owari Kan Ryu 尾張貫流 (Kudayari & others)

Owari Kan ryū is known for its use of the kuda-yari (tube spear). The e (shaft) is run through a kuda (metal pipe) that’s in the front hand of the practitioner. Interestingly the school’s students start training by doing shiai (competition) and only after considerable training they learn the school's kata (forms). Most classical schools that practice shiai do so after learning kata. Thrusting using the kuda. Cross-stepping. Thrusting attack with kuda. Wide stance. Shiai. Shiai using a spear with a cross piece. The original demonstration from which these stills were taken is here:

The Structure of the Tenshinshoden Katori Shinto Ryu Syllabus

It should be noted that the current head, Otake Risuke, has commented that not all of the parts of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu survive. I recall his comments in various documentaries that Archery was once a component, and only some of the spear survives. Through various sources, mostly Otake's book, I have put together this brief outline of their syllabus, however I have little idea of the exact stage each is taught except that I believe the students start with Omote no Tachi. I will use this as the basis for further posts and may add to it over time. I believe their are important implications when Otake says that one of the main reasons for training all the weapons is to train the swordsman against them. Note in this section in brackets are my own comments and should therefore not be relied upon, those from the written work of Otake are clearly marked. Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu -Kenjutsu (Otake lists Tachi, Ryuto and Kodachi under Kenjustsu) --Tachi (Use of the singl

Australia’s Turning Point – Signals Intelligence leading to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Australian/American Signals cooperation was not only important in stopping the Japanese advance to Australian shores but marked the beginning of Australia embedding its forces with the United States rather than simply furnishing troops for the British. Whilst the British, in my opinion , had a long history of using Commonwealth troops to either protect their colonial interests or to take on deployments with high expected rates of attrition, when Australia faced the real possibility of invasion with the vast majority of its troops and equipment deployed overseas, it was the Americans, whose interests in the Pacific aligned with our own, that were on hand to push the Japanese back from our shores. The Battle of the Coral Sea saw the beginnings of the deployment of Australian sea power under direct American command, a joint approach that would continue to the present time – it was, however, Signals Intelligence that led the way to the embedding of US/Australian forces and played a major

Practical Martial Arts Association

Search This Blog