Essays
Welcome to my page for essays on martial arts and martial culture. I had taken a break from writing about martial arts but hope to collect some short entries in the space below. I am also interested in mathematics and physics, so you may find some comments on science news below.
6 August 2011: Site Update
Thank you for visiting! I recently updated this website to a new look and feel, and began updating some of the content as well. The name of the site has been updated from Inner Dharma to Aiki-Inyo-ho, but the old domain remains active and should land you here just as well as the new domain. I remain reachable at the email address found at the right and look forward to writing regular posts in this column. The pictures to the right are meant to symbolize this endeavor -- going out on a limb and aspiring to reach great heights.
Previously, I had information on my blog about Kaze Arashi Ryu aiki-jujutsu, which is a mix of Aikido, Judo, and Karate that evolved in New York City. I've collated that material into an essay available on my article page.
24 September 2011: Neutrinos and Windmills
There has been a big result recently, claiming that neutrinos travel slightly faster than the speed of light in vacuum (cf. OPERA Neutrino Article). This is remarkable, as it is not in agreement with the Standard Model, which assumes Special Relativity to be correct. One wonders if the result is real, or will be disproved in time. However, unlike other possible observations of new physics (e.g., dark matter observation results), this experiment claims to be valid to six sigma certainty. It will be interesting to track discussion on the topic and any subsequent experiments and see if this is something new and fundamental being observed or a quixotic adventure. On the Q scorecard, some of the simplest and lightest possible superparticles may have been ruled out in studies of B-meson decay at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which has not shown signs of the Higgs boson yet (cf. Wired Article).
XKCD ran a cartoon about the neutrino experiment, but I like this earlier one as somehow being appropriate. I'm on Don Quixote's side -- my guess is more detailed experiments will find out there is something amiss with the one-way timing of the neutrino experiment, as some authors have suggested.
6 November 2011: Kenjutsu Update
Longer hours at work have forced my hand a bit to consolidate my training. I've been training solo early mornings during the week, and focusing more on neijiaquan than kenjutsu over the last several months. However, this weekend, Capital Katori hosted Sugawara Tetsutaka for a weekend seminar in Aikido and Katori Shinto-ryu. I was able to attend this morning and had a great experience. It was nice to see so many people training and getting the benefit of correction and encouragement from Sugawara-sensei. Capital Katori is slowly becoming a strong focal point for Katori practice on the East coast. I have only been able to get down to Silver Spring on a sporadic basis, last for Eric Zmarzly's seminar in August, and hope to get down to the DC outskirts on a more regular basis. My hat is off to France and Bob for keeping the group running strong.
19 December 2011: Why go backwards?
It is always dangerous when ego trumps ethics. Without ethical behavior (sic, "shila"), you cannot have a foundation for progress in pursuits that require self-discipline. Martial arts is such a pursuit. I had the misfortune of falling in with thieves early in my martial arts career -- spending a lot of time learning a form of Jujutsu that was effective enough for self-defense, but lacked a true history. The teacher was motivated by his own fragile ego to mislead his students so he would appear grand in their eyes. As a result, many talented practitioners (I claim no talent -- these are other dedicated men and women I am thinking of) spent years practicing an art that was supposed to be classical and unique but instead was in a constant state of invention. Unlike other modern approaches (e.g., MMA), after an initial period of rough "debugging", the approach lost contact with combative realism. So, time we spent once we had received our instructor's licenses was largely wasted on new flights of fancy rather than honing our fundamental skills.
It was always a riddle to me why some people, knowing their teacher was a false one, would continue to profess loyalty and continue to doggedly practice a false art. However, what has surprised me even more is the cases where people, knowing the approach was invented, and initially making the difficult, but ethical, choice to go their own way, wind up returning to a fraudulent organization. Can one remain ethical and encourage others to devote time and money to a pursuit they know in their hearts to be false? The answer is, no, you cannot.
Given that conclusion, one can still wonder what leads to such a decision. A simple possibility is that one is nostalgic for a practice, and wishes to return to earlier, more halcyon, days. Another is that the course subsequently taken is actually not as suited for the practitioner -- just because something is legitimate, does not necessarily make it effective.
But another less magnanimous possibility is that a lack of courage can drive people's actions, trumping ethics. By retreating into the comfort zone of a false practice one has experience with, is it more a question of no longer having to face people whose skill far exceeds one's own? Is it a question of no longer having to live up to their harsh expectation, either in terms of practice or skill? That what one has accomplished, in false pursuits, is not worthy of admiration? Too much of "budo" is based on self-congratulation and mutual admiration. It self-diminishing not to come to terms with the truth and press on to develop skill, despite the adversity of having been led once astray. It is one thing to be led once astray, but to lead others willingly into deception is not a path one can easily recover from.
6 February 2012: Back to Class
This weekend I managed to get back to both the Jikishinkage-ryu and the Katori Shinto-ryu classes I attend, after a several month hiatus. It was good to train again with a group, and good to see how everyone has continued to improve over time. This weekend, for me, was about knocking the rust off, and I enjoyed the training a great deal. I am looking forward to getting focused again on kenjutsu now that I have not been travelling as much.
I have been practicing the Katori Shinto-ryu kenjutsu I know on my own, but have not been focusing as much on its long weapons (bo, naginata), and need to return some attention to that portion of its curriculum. With luck, I hope to get back into a more comprehensive practice this year.
Meanwhile, here is a clip I found of Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryu being demonstrated at the 33rd annual All Japan Kendo conference.
Enjoy!