Few groups in history are as iconic as the Ninja of Japan. The word itself conjures images of black clad silent assassins that seem capable of impossible feats. Their mystery adds to their intrigue, even 500 years later. It’s part of what drew me to study the art of...
Studying Koryu (lit. “Old School”) arts are more about gaining trust of the teacher rather than developing skill per se. Most of what is in a Koryu art is kept secret from the majority of practitioners, with the most sensitive or secretive information...
I have to confess: I haven’t been the best teacher. I rarely do the Sanshin in class. I figured it was super simple, and takes away the precious time we have in class from the “real training” where techniques are applied. Frankly, I thought it was a...
As we mention in our article Shuhari, there is a Japanese philosophy to studying a craft. However, this philosophy describes the process of learning, but not necessarily gives direction. In this article we are going to tackle our opinion on progressing through...
The other day we had a guest in class who happened to be Japanese. He spends lots of time with his family in Japan and so is fluent. I always like to talk with native speakers since it helps me improve my Japanese which is…well…less than perfect. But I try...
