Murakumo Dojo

09/05/2026

[A monthly lecture series to discover and learn the complete story of the Japanese sword!From the former Curator of the British Museum's Japan Section
https://budojapan.com/paul-martin/

Part10 : Beyond the Myth: Masamune and Muramasa
https://budojapan.com/kenjutsu-iai/260814/

From the former Curator of the British Museum's Japan Section－
An epic journey spanning from myth to modern times.
A monthly lecture series to discover and learn
the complete story of the Japanese sword!

Text by Paul Martin

https://budojapan.com/paul-martin/

★Official website
http://budojapan.com/
★Twitter
https://twitter.com/BudoJapan
★Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/user/budojapan
★Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/budojapan/

09/02/2026

Joe Svinth was a pivotal figure in PNW martial arts circles back at the turn of the century. He always advocated working on the history of your local area and wrote the landmark work Getting a Grip: Judo in the Japanese American communities of Washington and Oregon, 1900-1950, which exemplified that idea. In addition he contributed and edited collections like Martial Arts of the Modern World and Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation with Thomas Green. He cofounded EJMAS.com with the late Kim Taylor and was a moderator on the E-Budo.com bulletin board where many serious martial artists connected and networked.

He did work with Robert Smith, early judo historian, and maintained a lifelong task of documenting boxing fatalities, literally combing historical and newspaper archives for references.

There was a time when he was a constant figure organizing and attending various seminars and get togethers with notable figures like Bernie Lau, Neil Yamamoto, Loren Christensen, and Don Angier among others. Most notably he organized two pivotal seminars with Jon Bluming, famous Dutch judoka and protege of Don Draeger.

Although he went on to do other work in later life. I think he will be missed and fondly remembered as a unique figure in PNW martial arts and cultural studies.

08/19/2026

“If a person is cut down with a sword in front of the compound, chase the assailant down. If he will not hand over his sword you may kill him. Should he surrender his sword, however, hand him over to the magistrates office.” -1620s Shogunal notice to Tosa domain on duties during incidents in fro...

08/19/2026

Text by Paul Martin Paul Martin and his Kamon(Photo/Steve Morin)Each installment of this series is available for a limited time only—don’t miss it!(Publication period: August 14, 2026 – September 13, 2026) There is a lot of hyperbole surrounding both of……

08/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/196dJDwgf4/

07/06/2026

Go to the Paul's original post and comment "yes" if you want this to happen and you should want this to happen. 👺

So I have had a National Treasure Swords of Japan book ready to go for 10+ years. The stumbling block is the cost of the using all the existing photography for all the blades, plus koshirae, plus National Treasure Koshirae. Crowding funding incurs more expense via return gifts and 20% to the crowdfunding company, so we are thinking of basing it on pre-orders. The book is not going to be cheap as it is a large volume of the very best swords and koshirae in Japan.

At this stage, we are estimating the cost of the book to be approximately 100~120 USD. Please leave a 'Yes' in the comments, if you would be willing to pre-order. Please don't just click 'like', as it won't be counted.

Pre-orders will also have the option to be signed by me. *I probably need about 1000 yes's for a chance for this to become a reality.* If you share this post, please ask your followers to put their 'yes' directly on this thread.