The Uchinan Chu or Okinawan people use the term “chinkuchi” in Uchinan gushi (Okinawan language) to describe the power that occurs when using the mind and body in a spontaneous action creating maximum power with minimum effort. To achieve “chinkuchi” all of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, breathing and mental intentions are in perfect coordination in…

I have written many times about Nintai or Kennin Fubatsu (perseverance) and it’s relationship to martial arts and of course it’s importance in daily life. These days as we, hopefully, near the end of this terrible pandemic “coming back” from health setbacks or injury seems like an appropriate topic. So, today I’d like to focus…

Shu ha ri roughly translates as to “to keep, to fall, to break away”. shu (守) “protect”, “obey”—traditional wisdom—learning fundamentals, techniques, heuristics, proverbs ha (破) “detach”, “digress”—breaking with tradition—detachment from the illusions of self ri (離) “leave”, “separate”—transcendence—there are no techniques or proverbs, all moves are natural, becoming one with spirit alone without clinging to…

Hei Jo Shin 平常心 (Ordinary, Common, Everyday Mind or Presence of mind) Heijoshin is a term that is not commonly used in Karate but is an important part of Iaijutsu. Despite its rarity in karate-do it is a term and concept that applies and is of value to understand. Heijoshin (or peace of mind) is…

I think Charles Dickens described it best in A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times…It was the worst of times….” As we continue to work through a year of a life ending and life changing pandemic, we can reflect on what we’ve lost and what we’ve gained. We’ve learned a lot…