Inner Dharma
The writing project Inner Dharma was an activity where I documented my travels and thoughts concerning traditional martial arts and culture — I want to thank the readers who offered their feedback and encouragement over a period of almost twenty years. A selection of its essays can be found below.
Essays & Articles
☰ Comparing Classical and Modern Methods and Mindsets
October 2025
We examine some features of armed and unarmed grappling and small weapon styles from the medieval period to modernity and draw some parallels and distinctions between them, especially as related to combat sport and contemporary military practices.
☰ Modern Masters of Jiki Shinkage-ryū
September 2025
Survey of contemporary research on the modern transmission of Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu.
☰ Inner Dharma: Twenty Years On
September 2025
Inner Dharma was a blog written by Mark Raugas beginning in 2005.
☰ In Memorium: David A. Hall (1947-2025)
July 2025
On 26 July 2025, the world lost one of its most knowledgeable teachers and scholars of classical Japanese martial culture.
☰ From Kodachi to Kogusoku
June 2025
Examining the role of kodachi kata in the progression of skill in Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu, with a description of application to close quarter armed grappling.
☰ Raito and Sente
June 2025
Examining the relationship between combative posture and initiative in a portion of Jiki Shinkage-ryū. What is first observed may be quite different from hidden layers of meaning and practice.
☰ Koryu-wa Koryu-nari
May 2025
The title is a pun on a famous saying associated to Shinto-ryu, the art of war is the art of peace. Old traditions are small traditions — it is the content that matters.
☰ The Shin-no-shinkage heihō of Ogasawara Genshinsai
March 2025
Review of contemporary research on the formation & transmission of Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
☰ Enren: Circling Continuously
February 2025
An example of the deconstruction of kata. Kuzushi is the name for the activity of pulling apart and analyzing kata in Shinkage-ryū, making connections between different parts of its curriculum. It also at times can refer to sudden, spontaneous, change.
☰ Inyō, Gogyō, and Shinkage-ryū
December 2024
Discussing our study of Japanese swordsmanship in the context of internal martial arts principles and esoteric Buddhist practice.
☰ Hōjō ken Kokoro-e sho
December 2024
Text on Jiki Shinkage-ryū Hōjō (foundational) swordsmanship, provided for reference based on Jiki Shinkage-ryū Sōhonbu and Hōbyōkan material. This is typically chanted or recited before performance of the Hōjō kata of Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
☰ Divergence and Unification in Shinkage-ryū
September 2024
Link to an essay on kata, heiho and shugyo, where I compare and contrast different surviving lines of Shinkage-ryū and reflect on my own practice.
☰ General Qi Jiguans's Jixiao Xinshu and Reflections on Claims of Martial Virtue
February 2023
An essay published at Kogen Budo, where I look at some older writings from Japanese koryū that reference classical Chinese military treatises, and then examine how practices described in those works may be represented in arts surviving today.
☰ Kenpō at the Gassankan
September 2021
I provide some information on the organization, goals, and overal training context of my efforts at preserving a practice of Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu (heihō) and related arts as part of the Gassankan.
☰ Pressure Testing in Classical Budō
February 2020
A description of some of my efforts to keep my practice of kenjutsu intact after moving to the Pacific Northwest. After moving, I decided to focus solely on Shinkage-ryū and pause my study of Shintō-ryū. I trained initially alone and over time tested my skills in unscripted environments. This is some of what transpired.
☰ Gogyō Exegesis
October 2019
An essay describing my experience, thinking, and choices regarding attempting to practice multiple koryū and then deciding not to.
☰ Classical Taijiquan
June 2017
Attending a seminar detailing excerpts from the Taiji classics.
☰ Aiki and Internal Training
February 2017
Collected thoughts on the historical influence of Chinese martial arts on Japanese jujutsu and how they relate to the topic of aiki in Aikido and Daito-ryu. What interested me about internal martial arts and how I have related that experience to my practice of Japanese budō.
☰ Focus is Forever
December 2016
I am, over time, attempting to focus my kenjutsu practice. I have studied under two schools of Japanese swordsmanship that may once have been related in the distant echoes of time, but now are quite divergent. It is interesting to explore the benefits each provide to a practitioner, and how they relate to my continued focus on internal martial arts.
☰ Princeton Bagua and Taiji Seminar
August 2015
At the end of summer, I traveled to Princeton for a seminar in Bagua and Taiji and was accepted as a formal lineal student by my teacher, Zhang Yun.
☰ NAMT Night of Budo 2013 – an analysis
June 2013
A brief reflection on a demonstration of Araki-ryū and Tenshin Buko-ryū at the NAMT 2013 Night of Budo by Ellis Amdur a reknown kobudo, aikido and internal martial arts researcher and practitioner, demonstrating two arts he has mastered.
☰ NYC Aiki-jujutsu
October 2012
Collecting what I know of NYC area Aiki-jujutsu schools inspired by the teaching of Daito-ryu Kodokai, especially Yonezawa Katsumi.
☰ Cultivating Skill in Internal Arts
May 2011
A brief discussion of power generation in internal martial arts.
☰ Early Influences
March 2008
In the 1990's, I had several friends in NYC who trained in Chinese martial arts. I always told myself that at some point I would learn an art like Bagua or Baji. A single question at a Japanese martial arts festival led to my beginning to train in internal martial arts.