This really ties in well with ideas of non-thinking and allowing ourselves to respond to “this” unique moment with our whole being rather than attempting to access our onboard library of techniques and theories. It’s like learn everything you can about something and then forget it to allow yourself to respond with your whole being… the feedback from that moment can then be integrated to inform your future responses…

@Joanne Hunter I think the idea that it takes about 10,000 hours to gain some credible level of mastery in pretty much any field applies to martial arts. The emphasis in Rami Ryu on mindfully practicing and integration of higher order principles probably means that at least the path of the learning curve is lean without too much drifting away. I really liked sensei Williams emphasis repeatedly in the Vimeo online dojo of working with the initial kata carefully and fully. It felt less overwhelming and after about 300 reps of drawing and noto (with an Iaido blade!) my body began to follow a sequence much more automatically, and interestingly, noto seems to run off course mostly when I think about it or even worse, look down.

A demonstration of what to do when hair is pulled would be very helpful.. my wife is a psychiatric nurse and hair pulling is a real risk..

Hi Joanne, yes things came together so my desire to practice mindfulness informed my recreational choices even if rather unusual these days in groups of North American Zen adherents. There are overlaps between Zen and Samurai training going back centuries and sensi Williams explicit references felt like I was in the right place :)

@Joanne Hunter I’m still learning how the skool system works so I wanted to make sure that my response registers as a reply. I greatly appreciate your response to my greeting. My exposure to Nami Ryu is in the form of following a video series on Vimeo which is mostly about 4- 8 years old so I don’t know where things stand now. I’ve been practicing the first 3 kata presented in that series. I am going to begin working through the free material offered here. It is very generous of your sensei to offer these videos and at some point I will shift to the paid stream for classes. I am though limited in practice areas and learned two things quickly: 1. Do not forget about roof clearance and raise arms for overhead strikes in one’s livingroom… a fan light was killed in this incident and I had a head covered in glass, and 2. Sensei Williams suggestion on Vimeo to practice with a live blade will be something that comes a little later for me at least (my first katana was baptized in blood- I’m on blood thinners and I bleed like I’ve hit arteries even when wounds are superficial.. pain and blood are good teachers but I also need my thumb to function). I am now able to practice in the garage and will take it outside as temperatures are mostly above 32 F lately (I live in Canada near Ottawa and it is actually snowing as I sit typing).