Hi Everyone! In thinking about self defense it can be easy to focus on the physical aspect. What do I do if I get grabbed, someone tries to punch me ect. This is important but only a small part of self defense/safety. I would love to hear some ideas from everyone regarding self defense and safety. What do you think is really important for everyone? For me, trust my gut instinct. If a person or situation doesn't feel right I will go with that. My safety comes before someone else's feelings. Also I make it a habit to lock my car door and house door immediately. Always keeping a hand free. If you have not read The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker I highly recommend it. He talks about real experiences of his clients and things to be learned from those experiences.

Hi everybody, I hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I just finished going through all of our 2023 class recordings for inclusion in membership tiers and by topic. These recordings alone will add 80 resources to the Kenjutsu Online community. Each class video covers multiple topics, techniques, and principles with a common theme. We'll also continue to add "focus videos" and "train along videos" dedicated to introducing and teaching one particular topic like a drill or technique. Once these resources have been added, we'll continue to add more videos from 2024 and 2025, totaling hundreds of resources for you to learn Nami Ryu kenjutsu and more.

How do you incorporate training into your every day life? I continue to work on my posture when driving and sitting at my desk at work.

I’ve had some time on my hands (perhaps the main benefit of rain) and began to look at the influences on James Williams Kaicho in his creation of Nami Ryu. I noted that Williams studied and was certified in Systema. There is a “world” headquarters in Toronto (surprised me a bit to find this in Canada) for one branch of Systema, and I watched some video’s of their Sensei and then found another practitioner (Val) who did a seminar in Florida where he focused on the concept of the “ballistic punch” which is central to Systema methods. In Florida, Val, taught this to some fighters (one MMA fighter who is an absolute tank- probably weighing in at 250 and who had a 7 and 0 record with 6 by knockout; another guy who was a former College linebacker weighing in at 275, and then the owner of the gym which trained MMA fighters). All of these trained MMA fighters were heavy hitters but the Systema method brought about 30-50% more power and devastating impacts. This method is clearly part of Nami Ryu as integrated by Williams Kaicho as it uses both centrifugal and spiral motion to generate huge impact from even short punches. These Systema masters do not explain the method to any degree but if you look at their hip motion it appears to involve significant releases and allowing the fist to follow a rotational rather than linear force path. I believe this method of striking open-handed and with weapons is seen clearly in videos by Williams Kaicho and George Sensei as they almost casually tap people who then crumple. This Val (above) hit the MMA tank and folded him like a card table, and then the linebacker (foolishly or bravely) volunteered to be the demonstration dummy for a series of taps in sensitive areas. He barely hit him but the result was painful even to watch, and he likely needed a few days to recover while his spleen and liver made their way back to their functional positions and the crushed areas of his diaphragm started to unfold. For James Williams Kaicho to incorporate these Systema methods in his System of Strategies and integrate them into Samurai Training is remarkable and I am very pleased to have access to this training. Deep Gasho to Sensei George and to James Williams Kaicho!

In the overhead cuts performed in standing kata or practice does the blade cut through and rest at the level of my navel? I think I am swinging past that which leads to some unbalancing and possibly arm/shoulder strain.. In watching traditional Japanese kata (the standing ones #5 to 12(?), for the most part overhead cuts along diagonal or directly overhead appear to come to rest with a parallel blade at the level of the navel, while other upward motion cuts more or less rest a little over one’s head. I’m sure this is flexible in actual combat where levels are dictated by how large the opponent is and what part of the anatomy you hope to render inoperable.