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Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:50:28 +0000

There are a lot of times when I catch myself teaching my perverted version of what I think we are learning in class to my training partners. A lot of the times I am almost too willing to share my “gross amount” of knowledge to help them out. There’s a burning sensation that wants me [...]

Frustration

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:07:49 +0000

Today was a good day. We were working on uke training once again and as I started to work on the drill, we were given different bodies. When I received my new body I was given a different hold. Normally when things don’t go my way, or I feel as though they should be attacking [...]

to be a good uke or not to be…..

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:00:20 +0000

I’ve been sitting here for the last hour or so reading “The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art” by Stephen K. Hayes. The book discusses Mr Hayes’ journey to Japan and discovering the art for himself (well thats what its about up the page I am currently on). As I read, I am learning what [...]

Thank You

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:52:23 +0000

I would like to share a quick thank you to my teachers from the weekend. Though my thank you might seem short and insignificant my gratitude will forever be there and the lessons I received from my teachers will alway be apart of me. Mr. Hayes: Thank you for sharing and the patience that must [...]

The Secret of My Warrior Camp Victory!

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:31:20 +0000

I thought that since I was one of the winners of the big annual Saturday night training exercize at New England Warrior Camp (put on annually by the truly amazing Ken Savage) I should blog about the secret of my success. Partially it was due to the efforts of my 11 other team mates. We [...]

Oh, not so flexible

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:22:39 +0000

Today I saw Dennis do a back kick. I saw what he did, and tried to do it myself. What I saw was his core go down in a spiral while his weight was on the standing foot and his eyes in line with the kicking toe. I tried first to do it step by [...]

Training down the Kennebec…

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:29:47 +0000

I just got back from a white water rafting trip with the teenage girls I work with. 3 fun filled training less days in Forks, ME down the Kennebec River with 6 teenage girls— fun. For those who have never experienced the Kennebec, there is a section of the river toward the end where the guide [...]

The Awkward Hug

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:46:49 +0000

Before I start, I must say the ladies at SMAC are amazing! Once again I should be able to easily out muscle any one of them and every time I try they some how defeat my brute strength. (The some how is an obvious if you train ) That being said once again, another Demo [...]

Babyjutsu on a Sunday morning.

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:46:59 +0000

This morning I decided to bring Carey outside while I let the dogs out for their morning leg stretch. It was wet outside so I had to hold Carey. I decided, while we waited for the dogs, that I would try out some of the Babyjutsu that Dennis showed me. I learned that it is [...]

I trust in my teachers

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 15:39:30 +0000

So once again we had another fair to demonstrate our art, and once again as a cruel joke Dennis made me punch in for Theresa. (Not really cruel on my part, because I think it’s awesome punching in for T! ) Going slow, it was going fine but within seconds I was caught in a [...]

Graduation Celebration June ’12

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:22:45 +0000

This month’s Graduation Ceremony will be on Saturday June 23rd starting at 1:15pm. If you’re graduating invite your family and friends to come watch you demonstrate your new skills!

Week One June 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:43:47 +0000

Week One June 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Little Ninjas are working on Kihon (basics) this week doing their Elemental Movements Drills.

Level One To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Youth and Adults are looking at Hicho (Earth Level martial arts stop kick technique) and Ketsu-myaku, rear shoulder grab escape.

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Blue Belts will be working on a Water Level martial arts inward rolling defense against an incoming punch and a Water Level martial arts thumb down wrist-lock (hon-gyaku) against a throat or lapel grab.

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Red Belts will be working on a fire response to an uppercut and a ground fire response to a kneeling attacker.

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Green Belts will be working on a wind response to a heavy straight punch and over the elbow forward shoulder lock (mu-sha-dori).

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Brown Belts will be working on a kick avoidance, hon-jime and gyaku-jime.

Black Belt Club is working on Tanto, short blade use and evasion all this month.

Classical Ninjutsu will continue its study of the Kihon Happo and its fighting principles

Check out the new posts on the Shinobi Blog Network!

Answers or Affirmations?

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:44:37 +0000

I was reminded recently at a couple of seminars I attended of something, to be frank, drives me crazy. People asking questions whom are not looking for answers from the teacher but affirmation of their perspective.

It usually sounds something like…”Sensei when I was doing the technique it wasn’t working the way you showed so I told my partner about what I studied before and what I learned, then we did it that way to make it work, is that right?”

Are you serious?

There are so few opportunities to train with great teachers. If you have a question about how the training exercise should be done, great, ask it. But if you just want to hear your self talk, look around, there are usually fifty to one hundred people at these events who came to politely listen to and learn from the teacher.

Short questions about the exercise are okay, otherwise listen to what the teacher is saying, take in as much as you can, then train. Learning happens while you are training not talking.

Week Four May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Thu, 17 May 2012 21:34:43 +0000

Week Four May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Little Ninjas are reviewing and testing. It’s stripe week!

Level One To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Youth and Adults are looking ahead to fire movements and adults will be working with the hanbo (three foot staff) while youth work on shuriken (throwing stars).

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu adults will be working on tanto knife and hanbo cane self defense while the youth will work on kenjutsu sword self defense.

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Adults will be working on tanto knife and hanbo cane self defense while the youth will work on kenjutsu sword self defense.

Black Belt Club is working on instructor training all this month.

Classical Ninjutsu will continue its study of the Kihon Happo and its fighting principles.

Check out the new posts on the Shinobi Blog Network!

Hiding Mistakes With Speed

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:33:05 +0000

You might as well add muscle to that title too. When people train in our art they are supposed to be working together with their partner to discover the principle hidden within the katas. Suppose to…

Unfortunately the weaker side of human nature can often creep in and get in the way. When people don’t really understand the technique and its not working well for them they often will move faster or use muscle so they can “win”. It is ego, plain and simple, that causes this.

I’m not saying they are egotistical, I’m saying that our egos have been trained to want to be right. We crave the sensation of doing things right and being praised for them.

But not being right isn’t wrong when you are training. Real training is an experiment where you searching for the cause and effect principle hidden within the kata. Making mistakes and then working through them toward the desired outcome is actually one of the best ways to learn.

Speed and use of muscle cover up your mistakes, halting the learning process just so you can feel better about yourself in the moment. Slow down, let go of your need to be right and you will really learn and feel good about yourself all the time.

Week Three May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Thu, 10 May 2012 21:34:28 +0000

Week Three May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Little Ninjas are working on an earth escape against a leg grab from the ground.

Level One To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Youth and Adults are working on an Earth Level martial arts ground defense while on their hands and knees and testing on this month’s techniques.

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Blue Belts and Red Belts Youth and Adults are reviewing Earth level martial arts techniques and testing on this month’s Water Level martial arts techniques. (Bring your pads!)

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Green and Brown Belts Youth and Adults are Reviewing Earth, Water and Fire Level martial arts techniques and testing on this month’s Wind and Void Level martial arts techniques. (Bring your pads!)

Black Belt Club is working on basic instructor training all this month.

Classical Ninjutsu will continue its study of the Kihon Happo and its fighting principles.

Check out the new posts on the Shinobi Blog Network!

What Do We Teach?

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:09:29 +0000

Sometimes it is very difficult to explain what we teach to people who either know nothing or very little about martial arts. To-Shin Do is a self defense system based on the principles of ninjutsu, designed specifically to meet our society’s needs at this time. That’s great but…

If we say To-Shin Do, they say Tae Kwon Do, we say no, they say they don’t know.

If we say Ninjutsu, they say jujutsu like MMA, we say no way, they say okay.

(Whoa, I gotta stop watching those Dr. Seuss movies.)

Any way I’ve been thinking about this, because that’s what I do, and I think I have a simple answer. Three words that convey the essence of what we do so you can explain to your friends.

Ninja Self Defense

That’s it. And when they ask “Ninja?”, you say yeah real ninjas teaching real self defense.

Let me know how it works.

Week Two May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Thu, 03 May 2012 21:34:50 +0000

Week Two May 2012 at Shinobi Martial Arts

Little Ninjas are working on an earth defense against a leg kick or trip.

Level One To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Youth and Adults are looking at Tai-hodoki an Earth Level martial arts defense against a tackle and Te-hodoki 3, a cross-side wrist grab escape.

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Blue Belts will be working on a Water Level martial arts defense against a rear arm twisting hammer lock and a Water Level martial arts defense against a jacket grab.

Level Two To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Red Belts will be working on a fire response to a kick and a fire response to an arm grab.

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Green Belts will be working on a response to a choke on the ground and a response to a roundhouse kick or punch.

Level Three To-Shin Do Ninjutsu Brown Belts will be working on an around the waist tackle defense and a wrist fold from a mirror side grab (ta-ke ori).

Black Belt Club is working on instructor training all this month.

Classical Ninjutsu will continue its study of the Kihon Happo and its fighting principles.

Check out the new posts on the Shinobi Blog Network!

Stephen and Rumiko Hayes in Boston

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:03:45 +0000

Hey don’t forget that Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are going to be in Boston for a seminar soon. Here are the details and the link to sign up!

An-shu Stephen and An-shu Rumiko Hayes teach their 2012 Festival theme in New England at the Boston Martial Arts Center dojo. Friday night Ryu-Tai “riding the dragon” in health-restoration ninja yoga and a special meditation on holding focus in times of conflict and confrontation, and Saturday-Sunday unarmed and armed personal protection with advanced nagare intelligent effortless dragon flow emphasis. To register, contact Boston Martial Arts.

CLICK HERE to sign up!!!

Graduation Celebration May ’12

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:11:51 +0000

This month’s Graduation Ceremony will be on Saturday May 26th starting at 1:15pm. If you’re graduating invite your family and friends to come watch you demonstrate your new skills!

Things Learned from Summer Demonstrations

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:48:50 +0000

First let me tell you a little about the way we do demonstrations. The biggest difference between us and other martial arts or fighting demonstrations is that ours are not choreographed. We don’t even have an outline for how we will run it. We have several students who help at demonstrations but we are never [...]

Taijutsu, its not just for fighting

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:45:04 +0000

A while ago on the women’s self defense blog Melissa noted that she moves naturally using tai jutsu when carrying her baby. It reminded me of a warrior camp many years ago when Devon fell asleep on friday night. We were at the Camp fire circle during the introductions and speeches. She was 6 years old so [...]

Sorry Joe

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:49:03 +0000

I don’t like demonstrations for a myriad of reasons. Now I love to train and play and teach – well really just share what I have come to understand at this point which will change in 15 minutes or 15 years or both as long as I continue to train. However demonstrations I get nervous.You [...]

In this moment

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:04:23 +0000

We had the great privilege of hosting the first Nine Cuts Nine Powers Seminar of this year with Mr. and Mrs Hayes. It was a great weekend of training with incredible teachers, students and an amazing amount of material taught. As I watched the Hayes teach I again noticed the amount of focus and concentration they used while watching each [...]

Ukes

Thu, 26 May 2011 21:13:49 +0000

A post by Danielle prompted a response that I figured might as well be a blog post considering the importance of the subject and my rambling nature. Her post was about being an uke and helping your partner learn. While training we are there to reenact a fight/battle. It is not a game. This art is derived from [...]

Commercial Lesson – the other side

Fri, 13 May 2011 15:15:06 +0000

I arrived at the Dojo one evening with nothing more in my mind than leaving everything else behind to train and maybe help teach. All going well until Fitz shows up with a camera, a side kick and serious about shooting some commercial. I would just as soon not do demonstrations or be the center of attention. I would [...]

First attempts at teaching

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:31 +0000

I began to coach classes when I was fifteen. I had been training for about two and a half years at this point and had taken many, many classes. How hard could it be? I was ready! I showed up to help out for my first kid classes at 3 pm. The dojo hours said [...]

Just under the surface in So Cal. 3/24/11

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:29:13 +0000

Greetings from Shinobi West. Last night the rain cleared long enough for us to get in some good training. My legs were still a little sore from the marathon but nothing helps get rid of the lactic acid in the muscles better than Kamae. The experiment for last night was based on a discussion with [...]

Becoming an assistant instructor.

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:34:57 +0000

When I was fifteen and I had gotten my 2nd Degree Green Belt (Ooooooo!) my teacher asked if I’d like to become an assistant instructor at the school. I could help out with classes and get paid! This would be my very first job. All I had to do was come by after school and [...]

Wednesday night Training

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:51:18 +0000

Greetings all from Shinobi West. Last Night we were working on some fun concepts. Here is the concept we were exploring. You punch and find that you missed your mark or they moved out of the way. You are then hopefully mostly on your front foot in balance. How do you continue? As an experiment [...]

out of the ocean….I have found my voice…

Sun, 13 May 2012 22:57:35 +0000

About a month or two ago while watching the biggest loser (the episode had the contestants in Hawaii learning to surf from Bethany Hamilton), I was inspired to learn to surf. It is something I have wanted to do for years, but never found my way to the waves to learn. Additionally, this is something [...]

A reminder to look back…

Fri, 04 May 2012 21:18:06 +0000

In just a few hours, I’ll be leaving my house and heading out on a vacation that a few of us have been planning for the past several weeks. Somewhere around midnight, I’ll be climbing into my car. I’ll be driving solo from the New Hampshire border down to North Carolina. No other car to [...]

A unique space where the women rule…

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:07:54 +0000

Every once in a while, I find myself stopping and reflecting on how truly amazing our dojo is. Last Monday night, the last four students to leave were all women. I can’t claim to have noticed that on my own — Dennis was the one to point it out with a smile and a comment [...]

Funneling fear into fire…

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:20:27 +0000

Tonight I was fortunate to be in the dojo parking lot when Joe discovered that the space between two cars was cramped. He stood at the edge of the lot between the cars and said simply, “This is fire.” We played in the space a few minutes and then a light bulb went off in [...]

defeating the giant

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:30:30 +0000

Last night I got the privilege of working with Jason. For all those who do not know him, Jason is very tall- long legs and arms. I am pretty sure my head reaches his hips.Yes, his legs are as tall as me. We were messing around with a club. He would swing and I would [...]

It’s not paranoia if they really ARE out to get you…

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:41:04 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I ventured out in the dark to do a little bit of photography. I actually prefer shooting at night because the relative quiet and calm of a world with less people affords me the opportunity to find details often overlooked in the light. There is a downside to this same [...]

Response to “Risky Situation”

Sat, 21 May 2011 04:36:11 +0000

This was going to be a comment, but it grew a bit too long so I figured it could be a post instead… Wow! Great post. Great question. First let me say that your immediate response would not be far from my own had this been some of my female friends. Some, not all. I [...]

Risky Situation

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:03:51 +0000

I have been thinking about this story for some time now, unable to find my own satisfying solution. I thought I would share it here to see what ideas or thoughts others may have on the situation. I was talking to a friend of mine from New York a few months back. She texted me [...]

Why SMAC?

Thu, 19 May 2011 19:33:29 +0000

To answer the questions as to “Why” I joined SMAC is simple and can be simply stated “because this was something my husband and I could do alone-together” An odd statement I understand coming from a stay-at-home mom with a husband whom works from home-when hes not traveling. As we so often get caught up [...]

Thanks to the “Holy S***” Moment

Sat, 14 May 2011 20:44:41 +0000

So this week in wind level we’ve been working ground fighting where the attacker is sitting over you and choking you. A very real attack for women…. its a” holy s***” moment type of attack. We worked on it in class on Wednesday and today Dennis made me teach it to Mike who had not [...]

A vacation experience…

Mon, 14 May 2012 03:22:41 +0000

Given that our plan was for Jess to learn how to surf and for me to relax, I don’t think that we could ever have predicted the experiences that we had or that we would learn so much. We both remarked at various points how the whole trip would not have happened had we had [...]

Discovering the meaning of ukemi…underwater

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:49:43 +0000

We came to vacation in Outer Banks of North Carolina with a single purpose: Jess was determined to learn to surf. Our whole choice of location was for this very purpose. My participation in this trip was supposed to be limited to relaxation, kayaking and possibly making an attempt at stand up paddle boarding. I [...]

The parallels of life and ninjutsu

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:50:21 +0000

Recently in my life there have been some really big challenges, life altering challenges representing life altering changes. I woke up the other morning with a curious sense of calm. I realized that despite all the challenges life throws at me, I can only deal with them one at a time, and only those which [...]

The color of interaction…

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:18:42 +0000

A couple of years ago, my employer brought in a company named Insights to help us understand our interactions with one another in order to try to foster better communication across our team. Before the training we had to answer a slew of questions, the results of which were compiled into our personal profiles. The [...]

When ownership is taken away…

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:23:04 +0000

I’ve owned a lot of stuff thus far in my relatively short life. I’ve also had a ton of stuff lost or taken away in all aspects of my life from the physical, to the mental and spiritual. Sometimes those losses have found their way back to me or I to them, like in rediscovery [...]

Training is a very personal thing

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:02:51 +0000

It has recently struck me just how personal training is. Not that I didn’t realize it before, I just don’t think I realized just how personal it can be. With ninjutsu, every person’s training path is different. Sure we learn the same techniques and katas, but each technique and kata is different for each person. [...]

Ignorance and disbelief can be bliss…

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:49:37 +0000

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later, but this wasn’t quite what I was expecting. You see last week, in my first level three class, I discovered that I do believe in myself. You’d think that that would be a wonderful, monumental moment. It would be something to celebrate and cheer about. Nope. [...]

Blinded by the fight…

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:56:55 +0000

I know, I know, just last week I was talking about seeing and here I am talking about it again. You are probably starting to think that I’m visually obsessed. That’s okay, maybe I am. You see, I’m a highly visual person particularly when it comes to learning something new. When watching a technique being [...]

Whose thoughts indeed…

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:56:34 +0000

Earlier this month, Dennis wrote a post asking whose thoughts are you thinking. If you haven’t yet read it, you should. Like now. Go ahead I’ll wait. Welcome back. Good stuff right? Now try and keep his post somewhere in your forebrain because I’ll circle back to it shortly and because it will have some [...]

Coming to understand that it is perfectly okay not to see…

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:07:41 +0000

I originally started writing this post in July having just been to a one day seminar on koppojutsu at Boston Martial Arts Center. While Joe was able to come up with a list of what he learned nearly immediately after, I was thoroughly overwhelmed and completely without words. There was nothing I could say because, [...]