by Nick Lowry As an institutional device we can say that there is no such thing as rank in an absolute term– institutionally Rank is always based on a relative scale – some systems rank players/practitioners against each other – … Read More
by Nick Lowry If you have a lot of pendulums swinging in a room, over a short period of time they all tend to en-train toward synchronicity with the largest one. This works with people’s subtle emotional and energetic qualities … Read More
by Nick Lowry Experiment: Read the following aloud A bird in thethe handis worth two inthe bush Almost everyone reads this as “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Almost no one catches the second “the.” … Read More
by Nick Lowry How do we impart knowledge in physical sense? How do imbue a student with not only the information that is contained in a physical culture of budo, but also with the fully embodied realization of said information—knowledge … Read More
As we train and practice seemingly endless repetitions of budo techniques day after day after year after year, as we pour our lives into the container of our chosen art, we inevitably find our actions and our lives being shaped and honed and turned toward an edge that transcends all that we know.
Violence will solve some problems but gentleness will solve all of them. Force has its place, we do achieve effects but employing violence, that much is undeniable, but when the use of force becomes adopted as the default strategy for responding to anxiety, then we fall prey to a pernicious and avoidable cycle.
by Nick Lowry Senpai/Kohai describes a relationship of seniority and responsibility that is used in traditional dojos to help define the roles that we fulfill in training together. Senpai is basically “senior” who is entrusted to act as a mentor … Read More
This is something I’ve been trying to focus on for a couple of classes now. When I find I’m having trouble, I like to go back to the basics. When we execute a drawing motion, such as for honte-uchi, close … Read More
The idea is to take a piece of foam about 2 inches square and tape it to a fixed object at eye level. I’ve also seen this done with a piece of tape being the targe on a fixed object. … Read More
This is a neat way to play with maki-otoshi. This reinforces the curling action and is an easy way to work on spacing with your partner. However, this method of maki-otoshi does not teach you how to intercept a moving … Read More