martial arts
Compassion in the Martial Arts

I recently had a conversation with some people who wondered if there could be any place for compassion in the martial arts in general, and certainly in Iaido, or Japanese swordsmanship in particular. It may be useful to start by considering the idea of Bushido, or "the Way of the Warrior". A lot of people […]

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martial arts
Jedi training in Belfast?

Ok, ok, bear with me here :-). Allen Baird and Rory O'Connor will be offering a personal development seminar in Belfast on the 17th October, but with a twist. Like a previous event that Allen has offered, the whole thing is steeped in metaphors related to the Star Wars movies, in order to put over […]

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martial arts
Receiving Ukemi

For those not acquainted by martial arts. The title is a bit of a weak play on words, since "ukemi" means something like "receiving through the body". Uke is generally the receiver of a technique and thus the attacker in aikido, whereas the nage is the thrower to use one possible word. Ukemi is important […]

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martial arts
Models, Perception, Science, Religion, Martial Arts

This is quite a long and detailed article, if you have no vague interest in meta-physics or philosophy and associated ideas, it may hold little value for you. You have been warned! I doubt that any human being lives directly in reality. None of us has an exact understanding of reality and generally I suspect […]

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martial arts
Self Defence and Over Confidence

Some years ago, I saw an article on the local news showing some girls being schooled in martial arts, Karate in this case, in order to defend themselves from disreputable men (no jokes about tautologies please). It was interesting to note that many felt after about an hour that they were suddenly capable of fending […]

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martial arts
Interview with Alan Ruddock and Henry Kono

I spent a pleasant weekend last week in Dublin at Fiona's Dojo. It was good to see lots of people, including Aureli, who has started up a new dojo in the north west. The course was being given by Alan Ruddock and Henry Kono, and Alan heads the Aiki No Michi, the organisation to which […]

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martial arts
Sword ban comes into force

It seems that on the 6th April the long awaited ban on Japanese swords came into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. I don't know what the situation is in Scotland. Remarkably, even in the jurisdictions that enforce the new ban, there is considerable confusion about its extent. UTV have reported, totally erroneously, that […]

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martial arts
Samurai Teen?

Today, the BBC News reported on a 'Samurai teen out for revenge'. It's not at all clear who added the quotes and why, but the young teenager, from Newcastle, Northern Ireland, luxuriating in the ancient samurai name of "Rocco Burns", took his 'Samurai Sword' out to wreak revenge on several people who allegedly assaulted him. […]

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martial arts
Sharp Steel Sword (SwordStore.com) redux

My sword arrived from the USA and got caught in customs for a while, I went to collect it and pay the import tax on the 2nd January. Since then I've been looking at it quite carefully. I was relieved customs had not opened it (not because of any legal concerns, it is all perfectly […]

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martial arts
"Imitation" Samurai Swords Banned

So, it finally has been confirmed, the Home Office will ban "imitation" samurai swords in England and Wales, and I expect the rest of the UK will soon follow suit. First of all, most students of the martial arts hate the "samurai sword" name, so let's call them Japanese swords. I understand that attacks with […]

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