Topic: Training
I have been training really hard on working proper form with the katana sword the last few days in order to get ready for some heavy torture cutting in order to put the sample blades that Loren Graves from Orochi Sword Store has sent me through the ringer. He wanted a non-biased opinion of how the blades cut from some One outside of his group. I plan on putting these blades through as much torturous cutting as possible. Hopefully I don't blow out an arm doing this...

I ran quite a bit last night after I got done with my sword workout. My arms were dead from all the swinging so moving the legs a bit more, really balanced things out. Of course there is the obligatory soak in the Jacquzzi after all is said and done to make the muscles less twitchy afterward. My training for the next test in Jeet Kune Do is going well. I have several of the requirements that I need done and all I have to do is make sure that I am in shape enough to survive the test. The major problem I seem to be having is that I have a tendency to lean away from my opponent even when attacking. Bad form and posture that is going to get me cracked in the skull one of these days.

I have been playing around with some shadowboxing lately to help with the hand speed and vary the techniques that I am playing with in sparring. One of the techniques that I have been working vigorously is getting in close to work the uppercut. I noticed that infighting in the school is usually done by going to some sort of attack using the legs. I found a few times that throwing the uppercut in this range has been forcing the other guy to abandon the attack on this line and retreat to a safe distance. An uppercut combined with my own set of knee strikes might be used well in this range.

A friend from Kempo has asked me recently to help him with problems he has versus varied "styles" and how to address them during fighting. I offered that fighting the other person is not really the way that you want to train...and that in my opinion it was making the other guy fight you that often determined who wins or looses. If you don't stick to the other person's range as well as don't take the bait they give you and make sure they take all the bait you offer them, you should do just fine. But doing the same technique over and over again without adapting to the opponent and your environment/situation would get some one badly hurt in a real fight.

We'll see what happens in class tonight...

Regards,
Walt

All about the Steel: Part Two -> Practical Plus
Topic: The Shinken Reports
Along with the Practical Katana sword that I received from Orochi Shinken I also received a second package containing the Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana.

The sword arrived well packed using three foam spacers that wrapped tightly against the sword. The closed box served to compress the foam so that there was no play at all when the sword was jostled around in the box. I gave a good shake and a couple drops to see how tight it was and I still heard no rattle in the package...very professional packing.

I removed the sword from its protective bag and began to inspect the handle and scabbard (for anyone reading this who has Japanese sword expereince, you already know the quality and cut of most of these swords... These reviews are meant to inform anyone who might be interested in purchasing blades from Mr. Graves. I am going to refrain from using Japanese sword terminology unless it has no direct correlation in English. Those that are a part of the JSA community already know these terms and I would not want to confuse the first time consumer). The handle and scabbard were in prime condition with no defects apparrent. I removed the blade from the scabbard and took a good look at the handle. The fittings were tight as was the handle wrapping. There were no play in any of the fittings and the hand guard was tight (no latteral play). The blade collar was tight and fit well into the scabbard.

I gave the sword a couple of good swings and the handle gave no inidcation of rattle or play. The blade itself upon casual inspection had no defects and was straight. Although a slightly shorter blade, it had a more pronounced temper line upon the edge of the sword that stood out beyond the one on the standard practical model. The blade had a more uniform curve with no less on one part of the blade than another. The handguard was larger than on the practical as was the handle.

The sword seemed sturdy and survived it's trip well and I should be letting it bite into some targets very soon.

All about the steel: Part One -> Practical
Topic: The Shinken Reports
I recently have been working with Loren Graves of Orochi Shinken Sword Store in order to produce a "consumer report" documentary about the value of certain Japanese Styled swords. The intent of the documentary is to show the consumer what kind of sword one gets per the manufacturer and for the money. I also intend to put the spotlight on Mr. Graves as well to see what kind of proprieter the consumer was dealing with.

So far all my dealings with Mr. Graves has been more than professional. He has treated me and my dealings with him as a valued customer. All my questions regarding himself and his service have been answered promptly. So far as I can tell, His customer service is top notch.

I received the first set of swords in short order from Mr. Graves (His shipment arrived very quickly). I was actually surprised they arrived so fast from the left coast (as I am on the other side). They were expertly packed and when I checked for movement in the packages I heard the slight rattle of packing in one and nothing from the other.

Opening the packages there was no damage to either item and they arrived in pristine Condition.

The first sword that he sent was the Paul Chen Practical Katana. My first impressions were that the sword seemed sturdy and all of the handle wrapping and furniture seemed to be tightly bound with no play in any of the fittings. The handguard was firmly set and there was no lateral play. The blade collar seemed solid and fit it into the scabbard well. A few heavy swings showed the handle to be tightly set with no play. Eyeballing the set of the blade revealed it to be straight with no defects. The curve of the blade was more toward the end rather than the belly of the blade but it's ballance seemed to be ok. I was very satisfied with the way that this sword appeared and am looking forward to putting it through it's paces during cutting excersizes.

Ronin....By definition
The word ronin is kind of one of those tricky words that really doesn't translate well into English. It's basic definition refers to some one being thrown about by a stormy sea. That is why I chose that name for the name of this blogginess thing I am doing...beacue my martial arts training is a lot like being ronin.

The word usually refers to some one without a master or boss but I think it applies in this context as I seem to have many masters / boss'. Of course, the head honco at the school where I train ( Derderian Academy ) I consider my direct teacher as I am learning the most from him. I have been at the school for seven years now and I still get blasted in the head when I see something I didn't know being taught. Not just another technique based on a principle I already know...but a real live honest to goodness knowledge nugget that I can put in the brain files for use later.

At the present time in the Shinko Ryu I am currently working on our 5th form which has some interesting concepts in it. The most usefull surface principle that I have found so far has been the footwork that teaches movement around fallen enemies.

This is the point where I interject a bit of reality. Do I think I am a superman that will leave a samurai's full load of dead enemies in my wake that I will have to step over? No. But I do think that this knowledge is usefull if you are up against multiple attackers ( and you are either really good or really lucky).

The initial "body stepping" taught in the form is just a precept to teach moving over an object and transitioning into a defensive manuever. My humble oppinion is that this skill is valuable. For example say that you are fighting two people and you get a lucky sucker shot into one that drops one while the other rushes. Being able to "clear" the first opponent would be a usefull tool in this situation.

I am actually looking forward to seeing what else this new syllibus brings to light.

Riding the wave in the other direction I am also progressing in my training of JKD. I have my next test comming soon and it will be a precursor to my black sash test. Working on the new fighting principles that I have had to devise has not been that hard as I have done it a few times for my "Step" grade testing within the Shinko Ryu. What will really test my metal will be whether or not I remember precepts from all the levels...

Oh well, if it wasn't a challenge...it wouldn't be worth it...

Topic: Cutting from the Wrist
I have recently been talking to Loren Graves of Orochi Shinken Sword Store about testing some blades for him. He wanted me to try out some of his swords to see if they were true to the taglines that came with them (live blades, cutting sword, battle ready, etc...). After some lengthy conversations with him we have decided to do some torture testing with these blades.

I am going to be testing first trying kata and iai in order to test the common functionality of the blades. I also will be doing tamishigiri (cutting straw and bamboo targets) with the blades to test whether or not they are good to their names or just fancy overpriced wall hangers.

I have already ordered my cutting targets and have been practicing some iai in order to get ready. I have not been doing much tamishigiri with a katana sword lately as I have been working extensively trying to perfect my first cut (kata) with a kodachi. I have also been doing extensive target cutting with a knife. Mostly with the folder that I carry all the time and with my SOG desert dagger. I recently ordered a CRKT Hissatsu and I should be receiving that any day now. My goal is to be able to get through a large knot of a free hanging rope. As of yet I have only managed to put a good bite into it but have not been able to go through yet. Time to go practice more I guess...

Walt

Just like Tic Tacs
Topic: Training
Ah yes...nothing kills some ones training like a good migraine. This thing has been kicking my but for the last few days now and I think if it keeps up I am going to have to see a doctor for it. I use to get these all the time and then I started to drink massive amounts of coffee and they have held off for a while (caffine is a natural stimulant used to treat headaches...useless medical fact #243). I have been cutting the coffee back to one big cup and a small cup in the afternoon. The rest of the time I have been swallowing tea and water. The black tea I have been drinking has made me feel a lot better after having been drinking it steady ( a cup or two a day ) for the last few months. Now all I have to do is to finally kill these head aches and I should be all set.

I think my next Jeet Kune Do test is in April so I think I have some time to prepare for it. This test is the last one before the Black Sash test. Sifu Raffi has been talking about how the black sash is going to be a real ball breaker with lots of little barbs to take from us a bit at a time so by the end we should look like smoked dog crap. The level nine test (the one that I am taking soon) should be intense but I don't think will have a problem with it. Most of the material is self "inflicted" and as long as I am on my game I should do just fine.

One of the things that has been on the plate with some of the boys in the school is to get a second class of Filipino Kali going. The hard part is getting this idea past Guro Raffi. We used to have a second class but then once it was in full swing, we started to loose members for some reason. The class finally died when it droped to two members and for the last 3 years, our kali class consisted of 4-6 members with the average class size a consistant 3. This has changed in the last year as we have seen a huge upswing in the attendance. We now have 12 members with an average class of 8-10. Definately good stuff. Maybe if I continute to bug Guro Raffi I can get this party started.

Regards,
Walt

Disturbing behavior
Topic: Training
I wanted to begin to have an online journal of the training that I do from day to day. I have also crafted a website around the thought of dragging traditional martial arts into our modern age. There are plenty of traditional web sites and they have traditional methods and values on them. There are also to ultra modern "I want to be a real fighter" martial arts guy. In essence they want all the martial and none of the art. Fine by me.

What I would like is a site that has both. For example, I would like some of the forms that we do to progress into the modern age. They should be applied to the woman who gets her purse snatched in the parking lot. They should apply to the kid getting the pants beat from him on campus. They should apply to the police officer who gets tackled and now is in a fight to retain his side-arm.

Traditional martial arts don't lack applicablility, they just need to be applied in today's day and age. That is what I want this journal and it's attached web site to reflect. Hopefully I will succede...

Regards,
Walt