Posture. Relaxation. Breathing. This is the mantra of Nami Ryu. Good posture allows us to have proper body alignment. Relaxation without being flaccid allows us to maintain that alignment. Breathing allows us to flow. Improper breathing leads to tension. So all these things help us in our sword work. But they also apply to every day life. Traffic making you tense or angry? Focus on posture relaxation and breathing. Having a tense interaction with someone - posture relaxation and breathing. What other examples in daily life can you think of where our mantra would apply?

We're excited to be a few days away from welcoming Kuroda Yasumasa Sensei of the Shinbukan Kuroda Ryugi to Fresno for a 5-day seminar and Saturday evening demonstration. This has been in the works for a year, and it's hard to believe it's finally here. We have been associated with Kuroda Tetsuzan O-Sensei (late father of Kuroda Yasumasa Sensei) for nearly 30 years. We believe this will be the largest North American Shinbukan seminar, with over 40 Shinbukan members and new koryu members coming from Europe and all over the U.S. It will likely be another two years before this seminar returns to the U.S. It's not too late to plan ahead and start training in anticipation of the next seminar. If you know anyone within a few hours of Fresno, CA, please encourage them to come to the demonstration on Saturday, 10/24 at 5pm.

"Even simplicity has depth." This one makes me smile because quite sometime ago some friends were joking about music that I liked saying it was simple. My response was even simplicity has depth. It got them thinking and seeing things a bit differently. 🙂 This can apply so much to what we do in our training. Anyone on the outside looking in may see our kata and think they are very simple. But once you begin training you learn there is so much going on. Kata are far more than a simple cut. There is a lot of depth to what we do. And once you think you "know it", dig deeper you will find more. 🙂

Any other book recommendations that will assist me in developing myself as a Deshi with Nami Ryu Kenjutsu. Besides the videos on you tube and here I find reading helps me formulate a better understanding of the art and its mechanics as a practitioner. What have yall read?

Hi everyone! What keeps you motivated in training? We all have busy lives. Sometimes illness, injury, being tired or a feeling of a lack of progress makes it tough to train. What motivates you to keep going? Do you change how you are training or maybe take a little downtime and then get back at it? Really curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks!