Tankyūshin Dojo

08/24/2026

Chuden Battõ Omote & Ura are on the menu for tonight,. I'm working back to front, so I can focus on the last three kata while I'm still fresh, rather than after something else, as is usually the case.

07/22/2026

An interesting connection between Yagyu Shingan Ryū and Tenshin Buko-ryū Founder Toda Seigen's sword art, here referenced as Toda Ryū, sometimes referred to as Chujō Ryū.

An extremely instructive presentation of armored Yagyu Shingan Ryū sword technique with a "reversed blade" (similar to the theatrical style used by the eponymous hero of the long-running Jidaigeki TV Dramedy, Abarenbo Sh**un) can be found in YouTube video of the recent Koryū Enbu on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Showa Era (1926-2026)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EbXcgAn2z/

07/17/2026

This is should be very much of interest to Buckaroos:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1G8Vo8vmEs/

06/26/2026

A note for our European friends: even with this week's rain, we are still in drought conditions outside NYC. And although the US Northeast is not nearly as hot as Europe, and I was once fully acclimatized to physical labor in the 90°+ F and 90%+ humidity of Northern Virginia, that was a long time ago. Still, I remember seeing big strong guys -- football players from Clemson -- who didn't pace themselves right and didn't hydrate sufficiently fall out with heat exhaustion and get entirely too close to heat stroke. Before lunch, on their first day. There was no second day.

This is not that bad, but even so, under these conditions, I need 5 liters of water a day to maintain minimal hydration, and 6 to keep the needle in the green, with only an hour or two of work in the sun. This requires planning.

Extreme heat is a new thing for many of you. Hear me now: If you don't respect it, you will suffer. Heat exhaustion is sneaky and may not give you a warning sign. So:

Before you train, hydrate. While you train, hydrate. After you train, hydrate. And if you're hydrating that much, you will need salt, potassium, and electrolytes, too. Be prepared.

06/23/2026

Blessed with another day of slow steady rain, and enough time to finish the first draft romaji transliteration and rough translation of all the marginalia in the Buko-ryu Betsuden. Looking forward to the next step: a clean and spacious second draft for review and markup.

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06/22/2026

A welcome rainy day. We are already close to drought conditions again, and a long gentle rain line the one we're getting is the best possibility (short of several days of the same).

Gave me a day in the office and time to work on overdue translations of Buko-ryū materials. A couple more days of rain would help with that, too! 🙏

06/22/2026

A bit gruesome, but of interest. And interesting that the Times chose to feature a book on this particular form of atonement for disgraced members of the political elite at a time when many of their readers are loudly calling for accountability.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/science/samurai-seppuku-manual.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sFA.tyPn.uq_7xVOgqzI2&smid=url-share

06/19/2026

Terry Dobson's last weekend seminar at Bond Street. I have not yet achieved the complete impeccability he insisted that I must develop.