Sensei’s Blog

I do several martial arts and I have to keep them separate. In other words, I "wear many hats". I love this expression and so, apparently does Terry Pratchett whose hero Moist von Lipwig has just acquired another hat in his latest book. When I am teaching Niten Ichiryu I tell the class that Musashi, … Continue reading The Many Hats Theory of the Unverse – Dec 15, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

To speak for your elders, your sensei, your granny or anyone else if they can still speak for themselves. Or even after they are dead, unless you include the words "I think" somewhere in that speach. I've seen much too much assumption in my life that I later checked and found was totally off base … Continue reading Don’t Presume – Dec 13, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

Busy day today!! Grading in the morning : 2 new Yellow Belt w one stripe 3 New Orange 6 New Green 3 New light Blue 1 New Blue No failures!! Thank you Trevor McLaughlin Sensei and Shawn Fisk CI Instructor Hook Up for grading my Students!! Thank Trevor for running the Board. Thank you Morgan … Continue reading 13 Dec 2014 – Shinza Results and Final Karate Classes of the Session.

Will have a busy day today! Kids grading from 0900am to 1230pm!! Then over to the Y for final classes of the Session from 1330hrs to 1630hrs! Good Luck to all! Hopefully will not be required!! And tonight is the Annual Peterborough MA Xmas Dinner!

Thank you to Shawn Fisk CI Hook up for an excellent night of trg!! Thank you Robert O'Brien and Scott Stedman for taking the pounding during the demo of techniques to illustrate a point or technique!

Looking around on the net for stuff that has disappeared, you will find a lot that has shown up. For instance, looking for an old paper on Musashi, I came across two or three translations of the Go Rin no Sho I hadn't seen before. That makes what? 15, 20? As usual I checked first … Continue reading Musashi was a crap technical writer. – Dec 2, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

Often with the martial arts it seems to be about access, who gets to learn with whom. There is always a discussion about which teacher is legitimate, who has the proper papers and who got them in a box of bowling trophies after the last headmaster died. We like being members of an exclusive club … Continue reading Access, creativity and budo – Nov 28, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

Iaido is a strange activity, you're waving a sword around in the air fighting an imaginary enemy. This brings up several ways to approach the art. The first is to dance. Take the descriptions of the movements or watch sensei and then copy it. You may not know what's going on but you can certainly … Continue reading Riai, what is it good for? – Nov 25, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

One of my favourite photography quotes is from an old TV show where the fashion photographer was enthusing about some great shots he'd taken. Wonderful was the reply, you managed to take some nice pictures of an incredibly beautiful woman. Despite all the Dove ads out there, neither Dove nor photoshop is the reason for … Continue reading A Good Enemy – Nov 21, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan

A friend of mine in Japan expressed some sadness a few years ago when reporting on a national iaido championships over the sameness of everyone's iai. This wasn't really all that surprising of course, with a set of judges who have standardized idea of what they want to see, you will get a serious attempt … Continue reading I Don’t Look Like My Sensei – Nov 15, 2014, Kim Taylor, Renshi, CI Sei Do Kai Guelph ON, Nanadan