Here's the review from this weekends seminar

So, as some of you may remember, my sensei Don Hebert and I went down to Baltimore last weekend for a weapons intensive. In preparation I purchased a sample suit of kendo armor since it was a full contact event and I thought it would be appropriate to test an item that I am considering selling on my website.

The armor held up just fine, though shots that came down directly on the top of my head had the potential to make me see stars. In fact, it happened quite a few times. This was ok, in my opinion, because it actually gave me some incentive for performing proper technique. I feel totally confident now in carrying and selling this kendo armor, if I was able to survive mostly intact.

Gear for your everyday life

Well, maybe not every day, but LA Police Gear has some interesting tactical gear for military and police personnel. The items span the range of clothing to survival equipment. LA Police Gear has some fairly decent prices, and great package deals where LA Police Gear includes freebies when you increase the total of your order. A very nice incentive.

Enjoy

Aikido Matt Blog Policies

HI, this is Matt from the Aikido Matt Blog and I wanted to fill all my readers in on my blog policies. As a rule, I do try to blog about all things aikido, martial arts, or likewise related

From time to time, the Aikido Matt Blog will accept sponsored posts, mostly in the form of reviews. However, that does not mean that I will not give my honest opinion on the review in question. Some reviews may also provide compensation to the Aikido MattBlog for it's services. If you are interested in advertising on the Futon Blog or having me review your site / services let me know. Enjoy your time on the Futon Blog.

Sorry for the lack of aikido posts

As I get ready for a seminar this week, Sensei Don Hebert and I are headed to baltimore for an intensive seminar with George Ledyard. In preparation Don and I both purchased armor for this full contact seminar, something that is totally foreign to me. But, I am going to be selling the armor soon, so I can't think of a better way to test it than to use it. Stay tuned this weekend as I post the results from the seminar.

-Enjoy

Making your own hakama part two

So, my camera was a bit messed up last week and I wasn't able to take any in between shots of the hakama construction. But, here are a couple images of the hakama right now. As you can see I have completed the front ties and the pleats are where they are supposed to be. The back is also finished and is at the moment waiting for me to attach the koshi-ate. Once the hem is finished and seams are cleaned up, I will have a nice new hakama.

Aikido Invitations?

I think everyone has seen those flyers that arrive at the dojo every month with seminar announcements. I know our dojo gets quite a few of them during the year. Well, I was just looking at a interesting site called Cards Direct, a site that primarily specializes in Photo Cards, but I think it would be totally cool to send out invitations to seminars and tests in such a manner. Now, the majority of the cards show are for weddings, birthdays, holidays (as shown in the image below) and the like, but I would totally use something like that if I wanted to invite anyone to my shodan test. Totally fitting.

And it looks like the site is fairly easy to use, you can use any image in your card and write any personalized message you want. I checked out the site and the user interface looks pretty simple, all you need to do is make a message, upload an image, and you're good to go. I feel it's a nice way to add a personal touch to an occasion where you might want to send out invites.

Check it out and enjoy!

Making your own hakama part 1

So, as some of you may remember I decided to make my own hakama for my ken-jutsu class. I already have a navy blue hakama for aikido but my ken-jutsu sensei requires beginners to wear white hakama and gi. So, instead of buying I decided to make my own.

To start I purchased four yards of sixty inch wide white duck. I also purchased a hakama pattern from Round Earth to help me in my hakama making. Oh yeah, I washed the fabric on hot and machine dried to pre-shrink it before proceeding. Once your fabric is washed and dried you can start cutting.

First I cut out the legs of the hakama, cutting four 30" wide by 45" long. These panels will be the front and the back of the hakama pants. Next, I cut the two ties; one for the back that was 5" wide by 125" long and a short one for the back that's 65" long by 5" wide.

At this point I have tacked the front panels together and hand sewed the pleats in place. My next step will be to machine stitch the front seam and pleats in place.

Stay tuned for part two (with pictures!)

Fridays O-Sensei Quote of the Day

Via O-Sensei:

"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind."

Take a minute to see how you're standing in your daily life, not just on the mat.

Tuesday and Wednesday quote of the day.

Sorry about missing a quote of the day guys. Since I did, here's two:

The only cure for materialism is the cleansing of the six senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind). If the senses are clogged, one's perception is stifled. The more it is stifled, the more contaminated the senses become. This creates disorder in the world, and that is the greatest evil of all. Polish the heart, free the six senses and let them function without obstruction, and your entire body and soul will glow.

Failure is the key to success;
Each mistake teaches us something.

Mondays Quote of the Day

Via O-Sensei:

To practice properly the Art of Peace, you must:
Calm the spirit and return to the source.
Cleanse the body and spirit by removing all malice, selfishness, and desire.
Be ever-grateful for the gifts received from the universe, your family, Mother Nature, and your fellow human beings.

-Enjoy

The difference between tameshigiri and back yard cutting

Here's a great example of proper tameshigiri, the man in the video has a good stance and his focus is on the target. You can also tell that he is thinking about distance in relation to his target; ie. he doesn't want to get cut in order to make a cut.



This second video, while impressive, is not proper tameshigiri. There's not a whole lot of thought going into body position in relation to the cut, and everyone is using a wide stance instead of a proper hamni. It could be because they are attempting to cut with a temple size sword (one that is made for a shrine, not too be used), but I don't know. Regardless, you can really tell the difference between the two examples.

Sundays quote of the day!

Here's another great O-Sensei quote:

In the Art of Peace we never attack. An attack is proof that one is out of control. Never run away from any kind of challenge, but do not try to suppress or control an opponent unnaturally. Let attackers come any way they like and then blend with them. Never chase after opponents. Redirect each attack and get firmly behind it.

More Nakago Woes

I recently heard back from the manufacturer of my newest blade, which some of you may recall had a broken nakago. I found this upon inspection of the blade. The current nakago ends in a jagged break which is about seven and a half inches in length. The manufacturer stated that the normal length on his 33" O-Katana is ten inches. SO, it appears that the blade was damaged when the tsuka was hammered on in the factory. :(

We'll see how it ends and hope for the best, however. So stay tuned for the latest up date.

Quote of the Day

From today on I am adding a new, regular feature to the Aikido Matt blog. The quote of the day will be taken from our teachers and posted on the blog. It's their path that we follow and I think a little inspiration can be taken from what they are saying. It's not all about technique!

What do you think? Do you have any quotes you'd like to share? Feel free and as always,

-Enjoy

One of my favorite O-Sensei quotes

I just opened an old aikido book by John Stevens and read through some of the great quotes at the end of the book. I think, for today at least, that this is my favorite quote by O-Sensei:

As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you.

This really speaks to me about the essence of aikido and what it is trying to accomplish in the world. It's almost a guide for how you walk in life, at least for me.

Broken Blades Are Dangerous!

In my last post, destructive testing, I gave a warning against misusing your blades by cutting targets that were never part of the intended range. Here's the why! Now, you should all know by now that the katana in the video is nowhere near as durable as one produced by Cheness. Most likely it's made from 440 stainless steel which is quite brittle in long blades and thus, a terrible choice of steel for a sword. Also, if you didn't notice from the video, the guy was hitting the table with the mune of the blade. Another bad idea.

Anyway, this is the result of treating a blade like a two by four or a toy. Don't make the same mistake. Have fun and be safe!

-Enjoy

Foolish Destructive Testing

The problem with putting a video like this on youtube is that it opens you up to tons of criticism. On one hand it is very impressive that Cheness makes a blade that is capable of cutting into a steel barrel. On the other hand, no Japanese style blade was ever designed to cut a steel barrel. The practice of destructive testing is informative, but it is very reckless and people can get easily injured by flying broken blades. I'll be showing a prime example in my nest post so stay tuned!

-Enjoy the video.

Cheness Nakago - Part Two revealed

Here is a production video from Cheness inc. that shows the process that all of their blades go through. After my recent experience with the nakago I'd like to point out that at 6:03 in the video you'll see why a damaged nakago can happen. There's no real substitute for hand fitting a tsuka, pounding one on can and will damage the nakago or the tsuka. Other than that I found the production process to be very interesting.

-Enjoy

Blade Oshigata

Last week, Sensei sent us home with a bit of homework. All the members of the dojo were required to make an oshigata of their blade. In addition, everyone also had to label the part of the blade on the oshigata in order to become more familiar with all the assembly.

Wait, what's an oshigata you ask? An oshigata is a tracing of your blades outline. Then the small details are filed in to the tracing. This is not an easy task, if you try one give yourself a couple years to complete it :)

Cheness Nakago

I recently inspected the nakago of a recent blade acquisition and I was a little disappointed in what I saw. The nakago appeared to have been damaged in the assembly process and I think the remainder may be embedded in the end of the tsuka. The total length of the nakago is about seven and a half to eight inches and ends in a jagged break. I'm not sure if it's ok for any cutting as the blade is thirty three inches long, which really is disappointing since I really do like the blade. So, what do you think? Is a seven and a half inch nakago acceptable on a thirty three inch blade with a twelve in tsuka? Feel free to share.

-Enjoy

Hakama Patterns

For my Ken-jutsu class, my sensei Peter Barus, has required that all beginner wear white hakama and gi's. So the other day I received a pattern from round earth publishing and I intend to post images of the progression of my white hakama on the blog. So far everything I find online only has a written description, so I wanted to provide something clearer for you you do-it-yourselfers out their like me. So stay tuned for hakama pattern updates.

Seminar Prep

My sensei, Don Hebert, and I have been preparing for an intensive seminar this month with Goerge Ledgard sensei in Baltimore this month. As such, we've been wearing armor and working on full contact shinai as it relates to entering & taking the center line. Let me say, right off the bat, that working in kendo armor is hard and going at full speed can only be sustained for so long. In the end though, I think the practice has paid off, as my endurance has increased as has the sharpness of the principals that we are working on.