Jet Li and Jack Ma in GSD

In case you missed it, Jet Li posted the full version of the mini-movie GSD on his Facebook page.

GSD is short for Gong Shou Dao. It is derived, from what I understand, primarily from Tai Chi, but incorporates other martial arts. Jack Ma (the star of the film) is working alongside Li to get Tai Chi into the Olympics.

From Jet Li's Facebook page:
"This is the story of my good friend Jack Ma as a Taiji Master. I am also the Executive Producer for this short film.
Other martial art forms are showcased by Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Tony Jaa, Jacky Heung, Asashoryu Akinori, Zou Shiming, and Natasha Liu. Action master choreography by Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo-Ping, and Tony Ching. I hope all of you will like it."

合気道の剣と体術 Aikido Weapon ＆ Taijutsu

Came across this. If you like aikido sword techniques and defenses, then here you go.

Enjoy!

Kamon Symbols of Japan

I came across this and thought I'd like to share it. I don't know why, but I have a bit of a fascination with family crests. Not just Japanese either. There is something that is intriguing about summing up history and/or traditions with just a few symbols!

Anyway, if you are into samurai culture, you should check this out:

Kamon Symbols of Japan - Encyclopedia of Japan

Chinese Stick Fighting - Skills and Methods

This is a brief video on the Chinese Short stick. I thought it was pretty cool to see some of the similarities to sword movement. The author of the video is also the Shifu in the video. Shifu Jonathan Bluestein remarks to one of the comments that "Some of these are purely stick techniques, and some are influenced by the sword. However, all weapons at the length of a knife to something which is your own height, have much crossover in their methods." 

I couldn't agree more.

Enjoy!

Kendo Championship Finals! (2017)

Okay, I'll admit it. I have been slack lately in getting to post new content here. I know I have to try better!!

That said, here are a couple of videos from this year's Kendo Chapionshipps in Tokyo:

All Japan Kankocho (government administration office) Team Kendo Championships final!
Yamanouchi (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) vs Nonaka (Kita-Kumamoto Self Defence Forces).


I know. I hate the judge was in a bad position so that he blocked the view of the hit, but you can still tell where red got in a nice kote.

And then there is this one:
All Japan Kankocho (government administration office) Team Kendo Championships final!
Taisho match: Handa (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) vs Nonaka (Kita-Kumamoto Self Defence Forces).


Both of these were originally posted on All Japan Budogu Co., Ltd. Facebook Page. Feel free to wander over and take a look see at what all they have to offer.

In case you were wondering, this year's Champion is  Nishimura Hidehisa (from Kumamoto). This is his second time winning the event.

Enjoy!

Jackie Chan's "Bleeding Steel"

For a guy who has retired from films, Jackie Chan sure is making a lot of them lately. Here is the trailer for one of his new ones due out later this year. It looks like he might make the full jump to sci-fi action! Even if he doesn't it still looks great.

Like I've said in the past, a bad Jackie Chan movie is still better, more entertaining than most of the crud that comes out of Hollywood!

Enjoy!

Institute of Martial Arts and Swordsman PV

Okay, so I threw the title of this video in to Google Translate and the title of this post is what came out. The original title is  武術と殺陣の研究会 

Anyway, it is a really good video that shows kata from Iai and Battojutsu. I really liked how many of them give two different angles so you can really see the line of action. That said, they had some fun at the end of the last one with an added sound effect. 

Enjoy!

Jackie Chan and the Lego Ninjago Movie

Well then, I guess I'll be going to see this one after all. It will be really interesting to see how the martial arts of the JC Stunt Team gets translated into ... Lego-fu?


The Lego Ninjago Movie is due out in September.

Short Video On Kurosawa

Nicely made video showing the brilliance of Akira Kurosawa's filmaking style. I wish all directors would follow his lead. Maybe not try to copy him, but at least follow him!

Japanese Sword Making

This popped up on Facebook and was to good not to re-post!

https://www.facebook.com/JICC.JapanEmbDC/videos/1784032218293554/

Enjoy!

Came across this the other day from Gekiken.org. They tend to focus on Japanese Historical Fencing - which is always cool. It's always fascinating to me to see anything from WWII or earlier, before some of the old ways were lost to the war.

The video description from YouTube is:
"Black and white footage of WWII Japanese Navy Soldiers practicing Bayonet and Sword fencing.

You can see them wearing the half armour. The body armour "Dou" and "Tare" only covers the left half of the body.

But interesting, even the swordsman also wears the half-armour. Perhaps it's due to convenience? By right, the swordsman should be using a standard full armour.

For more on historical Japanese fencing, please visit: http://www.Gekiken.org"

Feel free to follow the link. They have some cool stuff up for you to watch!

Enjoy!

Kobudo, Eku Kata

Yup. That's an oar.

I found this on Research of Martial Arts Facebook Page. The description is best said by one of their replies to a comment:
"This weapon is called an 'Eku'. It is a traditional wooden oar used for paddling and boat racing throughout Southern China and the Japanese Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa among them). Because this has been a common household instrument for centuries, it has become one of the prominent weapons in the traditions of Okinawan Kobudo."

Makes sense. Though I have to admit, I haven't seen this before. Very cool!

Enjoy!
 

Interesting Debate - Accident or Intention?

There is an interesting debate going on over at Facebook. It concerns the actions of one of these kenshi. To be fair, as one of the commenters has said, the more you watch it, the more deliberate it begins to look.

Head over to Kendo World's Facebook page to join the debate.

From what I have seen and read, it seems like it was a bad move made in the heat of the moment. Possibly none of it was intentional.



Be careful out there!!

Classic Taiho Jutsu

This is an older video, but it has some really good weapons defense techniques.

Baji Quan Staff - Partner Form

Well, after being away for a while it's time to get back at it!

The video quality could be better, but I thought this was a really cool video of a Chinese style staff training.

Enjoy!

Katas And Demonstrations

This is a cool video that popped up in my Facebook feed with katas and demonstrations of various styles. They include: kyudo, kenjutsu, iaido, iaijutsu, odachi-jutsu, naginata-do, and more.

Enjoy!

Jack Dempsey's Championship Fighting

Not really sword related, but still an interesting read. Even if you only have a passing interest in the fighting arts, then you should give it a look.

It's in PDF form and is about 104 pages long.

Enjoy!

http://bmsi.ru/issueview/50fc5c79-9b3d-43d8-b013-05838f82720e/files/jack%20dempsey%20-%20championship%20fighting.pdf

Kendo "Too Complex" for the Olypics (?)

Here's an interesting article from the New York Times. I normally don't like the Times, but this popped up in one of my feeds and is actually pretty good.

If you are wondering, I don't think kendo should be in the Olympics.

Feel free to read the article and come to your own decision. There can't be a right or wrong to this. There are pros and cons to both sides.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/sports/olympics/the-way-of-the-sword-is-too-complex-for-the-olympics.html?smid=fb-share

Japanese Martial Arts Master Attempts Katana World Record

There is a full article on the Guinness web page. Isao Machii is pretty awesome, holding multiple speed records with the katana!

Enjoy!

More on the Aikido Sword

There's a never-ending fascination here for me. There are so many different ways of approaching combat, it is a little mind blowing. Here we have a method that advocates never letting the swords touch. In Kendo, you either attack an opening first, or possibly deflect an attack and then strike. Whatever you do, swords will connect, even if briefly. There is even at least one style (Chinese) that has what can be best described as "sticky" swords. It's where two swords connect and you do not let them disengage until an opening has been made to attack and defeat your opponent.

So we have three possibilities for combat: 1. Attacking and never letting the swords connect, 2. Allowing swords to connect, although briefly as a deflection to create an opening for attack or defense, or 3. Allowing the swords to never separate to creating an opening.

As I said, fascinating!

Aikido Sword Principles

The following video does a lot to show how use of the sword is related to Aikido. Seeing how the movements are related is really eye-opening to me, and I will certainly be paying more attention to these in the future!

Enjoy!

Ten Thousand Hours - Kendo

Kendo World recently put this out on their Facebook Page. It's been floating around for a while now - almost a year. I don't know if there will be an "Episode 2" for it, but what MOAC did here was really cool.

Enjoy!

Samurai Jack Season 5 Trailer | Samurai Jack | Adult Swim

The full trailer:

New Samurai Jack!

The official release date is finally here!

March 11, 2017 at 11:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim

Currently they are re-airing the original episodes, so if you want to catch up, or just refresh your memory, then now is the time.

I guess I'll be pulling out those old DVDs...

MUKOKU Teaser Trailer (2017)

Well ... this was unexpected!

The official synopsis:
"Kengo Yatabe’s (Gou Ayano) mother passes away. His father was great at kendo, but he is now in a vegetative state. Kengo was also accomplished in kendo, but he stopped participating in the martial art activity after an incident. Now, he spends his days drinking and working as a security guard at a station building. One day, Tooru Haneda (Nijiro Murakami) appears in front of Kengo. Tooru is a high school student who likes rap music. Triggered by Tooru’s talent with kendo, Kengo resumes practicing kendo."

I had read also that he has a "dark past" and "takes on a new student." I'll be looking forward to seeing this one.