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When
the Way comes to an end, then change - having
changed, you pass through.
I Ching
 Source:
Warrior Quotes |
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Meditation
Tip #1
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Peace
in the Midst of Chaos
It's easy for us to get caught up in our busy world with
our minds racing from thought to thought. This rapid-fire
of thinking causes stress, and unless we occasionally
slow ourselves down and take a moment to rest, we will
continue to jump from thought to thought until we are
mentally exhausted.
One technique to slow down and rest our minds is to interrupt
our busy thinking by taking a moment to focus on something
of grace and beauty. If we look for it, we can almost
always find grace and beauty in the midst of the most
chaotic day. Here’s a meditation that will help you
see how this is done.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself asleep. An alarm
goes off, and you are late for an appointment. So you
jump up and rush to get ready. As you hurriedly get dressed,
you take a deep breath and focus on a cat asleep in the
next room. A moment later, you are in your car stopped
at a traffic light. You feel stressed. So you look around,
take deep breath, and focus on how peacefully the clouds
move across the sky. Now imagine that you have arrived
at your appointment -- a little late, but not bad. You
have to wait to be seen. As you sit there, you begin to
get nervous. You look around, take a deep breath and focus
on a plant blowing gracefully by an air vent.
You can almost always find something of grace and peace
in the midst of an extremely busy day. At times when your
mind is randomly racing from thought to thought, you can
interrupt this stressful thinking and enjoy a peaceful
moment of meditation when you need it the most. by Jay
Tyler © 2001 Meditation
Monthly more:
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| Shinto*
Muso-ryu jo is said to be the oldest style for using
a stick (jo) in combat in Japan. It was founded
in the early 17th century by Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi,
an exponent of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu.
Shinto Muso-ryu oral tradition maintains that Gonnosuke
once fought Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous
swordsmen of the time, with a staff (bo) in a training
match and was defeated by Musashi’s cross-block
(jujidome) technique. According
to legend, Gonnosuke was dissatisfied with this
outcome and retired to Mt. Homan, in what is now
Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu, where he engaged
in a series of religious austerities, all the while
contemplating the reasons for his defeat. Finally,
he received "divine" inspiration about
a new method of using a staff-like weapon, making
it shorter (50 1/4") and thinner (7/8")
for more rapid manipulation. He devised a number
of techniques for this new weapon, which he called
a stick (jo) (as opposed to staff or bo), that included
the use of the thrust (tsuki) of a spear, strike
(utsu) of a sword and staff and sweep (harai) of
a naginata. Factual documents of the style (ryu)
are quite rare. It is said that there is a record
at Tsukuba Shrine, in Ibaragi Prefecture, that reports
that Gonnosuke was able to defeat Musashi in a rematch.
This story is not recorded elsewhere, however, outside
fictional novels, and may not be factual. There
are a total of 64 techniques in Shinto Muso-ryu
jo that are divided into a number of sets, each
with a different character. Training is systematic
and develops the exponent’s technical skills
and psychological abilities, from body movement
and weapons handling to the proper use of timing,
targeting, and distancing, and intense mental or
spiritual training, all to enable the exponent to
successfully use the weapon in mortal combat. Exponents
begin their study of jo by learning a set of twelve
basic techniques (kihon waza), which contain all
of the style’s essential movements. They then
proceed through different sets of techniques of
stick versus sword(s): omote, chudan, ran-ai, kage,
samidare, gohon no midare, and okuden. A final set,
the gokui hiden (also called go muso no jo), consists
of techniques that are taught only to exponents
who have received a menkyo kaiden, the highest level
of license in the system. Also included in the curriculum
of the Shinto Muso-ryu jo are twelve techniques
of swordsmanship called Shinto-ryu kenjutsu. The
first eight techniques are long sword versus long
sword, followed by four techniques that are long
sword versus short sword. There are four levels
of recognition in Shinto Muso-ryu jo. They are okuiri-sho,
sho-mokuroku, go-mokuroku, and menkyo kaiden. Menkyo
kaiden is the style’s highest level of recognition
and these exponents are the only people who are
legally qualified to teach and promote exponents
of Shinto Muso-ryu jo. In addition to Shinto Muso-ryu
jo and Shinto-ryu kenjutsu, a number of separate
arts are taught at various points in an exponent’s
training. They are considered assimilated arts,
and include Uchida-ryu tanjojutsu, Ikkaku-ryu juttejutsu,
Isshin-ryu kusarigama-jutsu, and Ittatsu-ryu hojojutsu.
*The name can be spelled and pronounced either "Shinto"
or "Shindo." Both are correct. This text
has been adapted from "Field Guide to the Japanese
Classical Martial Arts" by Meik & Diane
Skoss; the original article can be found in Sword
& Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan,
volume two. Source:
http://shinto-muso-ryu.org |
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| One
way in which Kyushindo Karate differs from some
other styles is that is uses more natural, circular
movements, as well as the straight techniques you
would normally see. This makes it easier to move
around an opponent rather than just defending or
attacking from the front and in time, can give you
more options against both single and multiple attackers.
Blocking techniques are used to deflect an opponent's
attack, rather than trying to stop it using only
force and strength. Striking techniques such as
punches and kicks are practiced from a relaxed position,
so that speed and accuracy can be developed in preference
to power. With practice, power does come from good
technique and movement, but in Kyushindo, we do
not use exercises like breaking boards or bricks
to develop strength and power alone. Another difference
from some Karate styles is that we don't aim for
particularly high or fancy kicking techniques. Again,
we concentrate on developing good, fast techniques
which can be achieved by aiming for lower target
areas. With practice, higher grades will be expected
to get their kicks higher and combine them with
more complicated movements; but we do not use forced
stretching exercises to take kicks higher than you
could do naturally. .Source:
Kyushindo
Karate |
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