Class cancelations

Haruka Dojo is no longer holding classes at the Weber State Community Center.  Thursday night classes at The Hidden Sage are on indefinite hiatus.

Thursday night class

While classes will continue on the regular schedule at Weber State's community center, a Thursday night class has been added and will be held at The Hidden Sage.  The Hidden Sage is at 1661 N. Main Street in Sunset.  The Thursday night class will run from 7 pm-8:30 pm and will be $5 per session.

Schedule Update

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Saturday evening class will have to be put on hiatus.  The Monday and Wednesday evening classes, as well as the Saturday morning class will carry on as usual.

Fall Schedule

With the fall semester about to start at Weber State University, we have locked in our schedule for the rest of the year.  Dr. Holt will continue to lead classes on Monday and Wednesday nights at 7pm and on Saturday Mornings at 11am.  Terry Dodd will be leading a class on Saturday evenings at 7pm as well.  we hope that this schedule will provide times that will accommodate all those who would like to train with us.

Summer Session

While we had an unfortunate scheduling conflict that put our Monday night classes on hold, that conflict has passed so Monday night classes are back in session, at least for the summer.  Wednesday night and Saturday morning classes will be held over the summer as well.

Congratulations Stan and Shawn

This past Saturday, Stan Rigby and Shawn Cooper tested for their respective kyu levels. We are proud to say that Stan passed his 3^rd kyu test and Shawn the 5^th. While any student advancing through the levels is impressive, it should be noted that these two dedicated students were able to find the time to focus on their martial arts training amidst the busy holiday season. Good work Stan and Shawn.

Training Interruption

To facilitate holiday travel and reduce stress, Haruka Dojo will not be holding class on Wednesday, November 21^st. Training will resume on Saturday the 24^th with the 11 am class.

Congratulations David

The Haruka Dojo would like to congratulate David Smith for all his hard work and his recent passing of the 5^th kyu test. Keep up the good work and enjoy practicing the rather dynamic 4^th kyu.

Back in the swing of things

Now that Weber State's fall semester is fully underway, Haruka Dojo's classes are up to speed as well. In addition to our core of Ninpo Taijutsu, we have been integrating KJJR Jujutsu, bikenjutsu, hanbojutsu and rokushaku bo-jutsu into class as well.

The return of Dr. Holt

Ron Holt will be back leading ninpo classes starting Wednesday, August 15th.  He will lead the Monday and Wednesday evening classes at 7 pm as well as a Saturday morning class at 11 am.  Terry Dodd will continue to lead the Saturday evening class at 7 pm.

Back to regular training

It seems that Weber State is finished using their community center as a storage locker so we can resume training there.  The next class will be Saturday, August 4th at 7 P.M.  After that we will resume our regular training schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 7-8:30 P.M.

Saturday night training site

Thanks to David Douglas we have a place to train on Saturday nights.  We will be training at the LDS church at Polk avenue and Kingston drive in Ogden.  If you head east on 36th street then turn north on Polk avenue, you will see it right away.  The access to a room with extremely high ceilings we now have calls for more practice of bikenjutsu and maybe a naginata technique or two.  Hope to see everyone there Saturday at 7 p.m.

Training Interruption

Starting on April 23^rd, the downstairs of the community center will be closed as it will be used for storage of furniture moved from the, soon to be demolished, promontory tower. Saturday, April 21^st will be the last day we will be able to train at the community center for about the next four months. We are working to find an alternative location until the community center becomes available again at the start of the fall semester.

Congratulations Brooklynn

The Haruka Dojo sends congratulations to Brooklynn Opheikens on her successful test for the 5^th kyu in Genbukan Ninpo Bugei Taijutsu. We look forward to more progress from her in the future as she prepares for the formidable 4^th kyu.

Congratulations, David

The Haruka Dojo would like to congratulate David Smith on his successful test for the 6^th kyu in Genbukan Ninpo Bugei Taijutsu. We look forward to more progress from him in the future as well as from the rest of the students in the dojo.

Quote for the new year

I thought I would start off the dojo's blog for the year with a quote from a practitioner of a related style:


"The way of the sword does not belong to any one type of person, knowledge of the arts belongs to us all." Christa Jacobson

Hopefully, in the coming year we will be able to share our art with several new faces as well as some familiar ones who haven't been practicing for a while.

Christmas Eve

Just a quick note to let everyone know the Haruka Dojo will be calling off classes on Saturday, December 24th.  To end the year on a positive note, classes will be held on Saturday December 31st for those diligent practitioners who want to fit one more day of practice into 2011.

Cutting from daijodan

Cutting from daijodan with the katana seems like it should be simple enough, swing the sword straight down at your opponent. There are a number of subtle points the swordsman needs to take into account to make an effective cut. One factor to take into consideration is the footwork. The step one takes when cutting with a katana is smaller than the lunge a fencer takes with their weapon. Keeping one's balance and being able to deliver power with one's cut is better facilitated with a smaller step. Gripping the sword is fairly straightforward with the right hand near the top of the tsuka and the left hand near the bottom. The proper gripping of a sword is well illustrated in the Genbukan Ninpo BugeiBiken-Jutsu Kyukyu-Gata DVD. During the daijodan cut, the hands rotate on the tuska. This motion is often explained to students as, “wringing water out of a washcloth.” The problem with this description is that it can cause a student to over-rotate their wrists. The idea is to rotate the palms over the back of the tsuka to better transfer force into the cut. This concept and others pertaining to gripping the katana are explained well by Nicklaus Suino in his article, “Properly Gripping the Sword in Muso JikidenEishin-ryu Iaido,” from the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Volume 15, Number 2. Oh, and while bearing all that in mind, remember to not over-think it and just make the cut.

New Saturday class time

Starting on Saturday, October 1st, the Haruka Dojo will be offering a class at 7 P.M. in addition to the 10 A.M. time.  The Monday and Wednesday classes will continue to meet at 7 P.M. as well.

Clip from 2008 US taikai

http://youtu.be/zkMvD53Z6BY
I thought I would share a link to this clip, not only because it shows the grandmaster in action but because you can see the technique Ko-Kuh or "Empty Sky," performed right at the beginning of the clip.  Later in the clip, just over a minute in, the technique Dan-Shu is shown, among many others.  These two are of note because they are both shodan (1st degree black belt) techniques in the ninpo taijustu system and it can be difficult to find them being performed properly, if at all.