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Post by Robert in California on Nov 21, 2014 15:16:44 GMT
p.s. My old Kenjutsu Sensei was from a Samurai heritage (family) and taught more Japanese disciplines than just Kenjutsu, but my interest was sword, my time and money was limited, and the job openings for full blown Samurai were few, so I just went for the sword classes. Which, while good for the spirit, were about as useful on my job resumes as mentioning my liking to fly kites. In life, lack of sensible job skills either gets one reduced to holding up hand-scrawled signs on a street corner....or election to high positions in Govt. RinC
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Post by atrixnet on Nov 21, 2014 19:58:30 GMT
This is beautiful. Oh man that's classic.
Well, by way of update for everyone I've found a nice place to go visit/evaluate. Based on what they tell me, it seems like exactly what I'm looking for. Krelian pointed me in the right direction and I followed my nose to Sendokai dojo. I contacted the dojo via email and received an amazing response. I'll include some quotes taken from various parts of the correspondence. This is not the full email, which I do not quote out of respect for their privacy. Anyway, here are some interesting parts from what they had to say:
Amazing!
Again, amazing!
Respect the traditions man. What a lineage! What an incredible thing to be a part of.
That sounds like a LOT of stuff to memorize. I'm chomping at the bit to do something like that. Furthermore, there's sparring (I mentioned I wanted to do that). Finally, there's tameshigiri (I mentioned I wanted to do that too, and other dojos in my area do not offer this).
So as I said, this sounds promising. I'm going to go visit the dojo soon, after the thanksgiving holiday. Whew! I never knew that finding a dojo would be so hard. I hope I need look no further.
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Post by Robert in California on Nov 21, 2014 21:05:27 GMT
"We practice the Meishi-ha of Mugai ryu under the current soke Niina Toyoaki and the hombu dojo in Tokyo"
Aside from being too shy to admit that I am totally ignorant of the above style (my Sensei's English never got to the point I learned the name of his style), the description sounds like a complete and proper meal....kata for form, kumitachi for distance and timing, tameshigiri for getting the actual cut right....sounds like all the proper ingredients. Sounds very good. RinC
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Post by Krelian on Nov 21, 2014 21:30:21 GMT
Glad I could help! Like I said before, if I lived in the Dallas area I'd feel very fortunate to be able to train at Sendokai. I've met Alvarez-sensei and can say from first hand experience that he has a top-flight group.
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Post by atrixnet on Nov 22, 2014 3:35:55 GMT
Well this is just the first part. They don't just run things pay-to-play. You have to be accepted. I'm just left wondering what criteria they look for in a student
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Post by Croccifixio on Nov 22, 2014 3:37:56 GMT
Lots of great advice. Won't necessarily add to that but I thought I should chime in, especially on that functionality aspect.
I'm a bit like you, in that I really want to learn to use my functional swords in a functional manner. I don't necessarily want to be just a collector (not that this is a bad thing) or enthusiast (which most of us fall under), or even a martial historian (like myarmoury folks)... I want to be a practitioner.
Unfortunately for us, we live in a time wherein the functional aspect of bladed weapons isn't a requirement. Advocates of self-defense would tend to advise running away from every encounter, and when forced into a bad situation, look to firearms as the first choice to terminate a life-threatening situation. I agree with them wholeheartedly. This leaves true swordsmanship as something of an absolute last resort, possibly even after hand to hand combat techniques since no one can really casually carry a sword around.
So I think we have to make do. For functional japanese swordsmanship, study what you can in the available schools. Then take what you learn and find out, for yourself, how to best apply the skills functionally in a scenario when you'd have to use them in real life (as the absolute last resort). I am a bit fortunate in that my area of study (FMA) has plenty of functionalistic teachings/teachers who have real life experience. I think HEMA folks are also fortunate in that many schools are reviving the techniques with a view towards their functional combat use. Japanese swordsmanship has (strangely, and IMO only) suffered from the preservation and sportification/artification of their craft, in that the interest in it has driven people to mystify what is essentially a simple and deadlycombat art, so I think you'll have to sift through the many schools to find what you're looking for.
In any case, you're lucky to have the option to learn techniques at a dojo. You can even ask your sensei if he/she would support you in starting a HEMA-like derivative of your ryuu, which includes sparring and tameshigiri.
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Post by atrixnet on Nov 22, 2014 5:38:00 GMT
The lineage of the dojo sensei goes back to the 1500's. That's just blowing my mind.
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Post by Robert in California on Nov 22, 2014 6:50:22 GMT
Good manners, courtesy and not displaying a big ego is the fast track to being accepted in a traditional dojo. Think of it as you are applying for a job there. Respectful attitude. And don't talk too much. RinC
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Post by atrixnet on Nov 22, 2014 6:51:37 GMT
All of those fit my profile, except talking too much. I'll bite my lip...HARD.
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Post by Krelian on Nov 22, 2014 7:00:09 GMT
Robert's advice is spot on, I'll also reiterate something I said earlier in this very thread: Learning a traditional Japanese sword style is a process, not a project. It's excellent to be eager but don't jump ahead, take it slow and steady and from here out be willing to advance at the pace the Sensei recommends. Early on it will seem painstakingly slow (especially since you already have some familiarity with the sword), but keep doing it their way. In the long term it'll make you better at their style to proceed their way from the beginning...
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