I have been working to get better about not having too much stuff; clutter can inundate one's perspective on life, and cause enough distraction that one loses sight of longer term goals and good ways of approaching them. The clutter can be mental, emotional, or material. In particular, with photography, gear are tools you use to express your craft; in martial arts, training methodologies are what build skill, towards a similar goal of expression. Both should be not insufficient, and not superfluous.
Each martial art typically takes a long time to get to its depths, and more discussion is held about the benefits of different arts versus teachers within a given art -- the latter is often more important but because the differences are personal, conversations can easily turn into arguments, as good students are generally very loyal to their current teachers. I think this is why ultimately lineage and community are important -- knowing the provenance of what you are learning and where your teacher learned is important so that you know it is what it is claiming to be, and has a context in which you can evaluate its goals and effectiveness -- what the art can become when done well. Knowing the reputation of your teacher among a community of practitioners of similar arts is important, not for ranking at a head school, but to know that the school you are in is well regarded and respected. Historically, it was very rare for a group to exist under the radar -- groups that had a high quality practice became well known, attracted students or challengers, and maintained their existence over time. It is very rare to find an unknown style that there is little trace of, whose claims to a long ancestry actually ring true. But, it must be stressed that simply being part of a good group with an established lineage is not enough -- one must work hard at whatever art or style one has chosen as a path to get benefit from the practice.
I find much more pleasure in reading articles or books on martial arts than reading discussion threads, as the conversational tone is often inefficient at conveying information, and people are attempting to converse from different perspectives often without being open to listening to each other's perspective. This is nothing new, or unique to martial arts, but tiring none the less. I think this is why I enjoyed so much reading the series of articles provoked by Ellis Amdur on student's relating their experiences with their Aikido teachers.
I've gone through several phases in paring down and simplifying over the last twelve months. In my martial arts practice, I concentrated my efforts at two schools of martial arts instead of three -- keeping my primary focus on Yin Cheng Gong Fa and then focusing my efforts at kenjutsu at the Hobyokan and changing my practice of Shinto-ryū kenjutsu to a personal practice instead of staying active in Sugawara Budo.
Recent Training
I visited Mike Heiler and Troy Gehrett in Portland, OR in late April. Mike and I trained in some Jiki together and I was able to practice some Yagyu Shinkage Ryu with him, as he is running a small class with jujutsu colleagues who are interested in kenjutsu. Outwardly, it looks quite different than Jikishinkage Ryu, but their relationship is closer than what outward appearances would lead one to believe at first glance. It was interesting to see their practice and feel some of the precision in ma-ai and timing. Mike and Troy both practice Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryū jujutsu in Portland and enjoy it immensely. Troy has doubled down on Shindo Yoshin-ryū , letting his Chen Taiji practice go. I did not get a chance to watch their class but hope to the next time I am in Oregon.
I have made several trips to Pittsburgh to continue my training in Yin Cheng Gong Fa. I have been focusing on the Bagua Chun Yang Jian this year, as well as learning the Cheng style bagua eight big palms (Ba Da Zhang). The Ba Da Zhang are quite interesting and I enjoy them a great deal. They are different from the Gao lineage palm changes, including hand position and how the steps are performed. I prefer the YCGF set to what I previously learned, but it is interesting to note that Gao Yishen's first teacher was Sung, and the basic palm posture in Gao bagua is the open tiger claw from Sung-style bagua. So, if I look at Gao's circle practice as a derivative of Sung-style, I can keep it separate from Cheng style.
I attended the annual YCGF seminar in Maryland in June where the focus was on taiji neigong and body postures for advanced pushing practice. It was very useful to see many of Zhang Yun's students again and benefit from their experience. I also will be attending an upcoming seminar in Princeton. There, some details of Bagua single handed willow leaf sabre will be taught by Zhang Yun. That weapon was a favorite of Yin Fu and Ma Gui, and our group recently ordered sabres from China customized for this practice -- learning some basic drills and patterns with the dao will be quite interesting.
I had an expensive car repair on the way back from one trip -- expensive to the point of questioning the fact that we keep two cars, one of which is getting somewhat old. So, now we are a one car household and car-pooling a bit. This gives me more motivation to bicycle to work on a regular basis, thus contributing to my fitness and stamina. I have also put more focus into regular yoga and kettlebell practice. I am doing kettlebells with a focus on form and breathing, and flowing into a yoga practice that helps integrate the body together and keep my posture, strength, and flexibility balanced. A very useful thing I did was to get a second 12kg kettlebell so I could do front squats and double swings with a lighter weight and keep proper form.
Aikido Seminar
Ellis Amdur was in Maryland and Virginia recently, teaching at Seiya Dojo, which hosts a study group of Budd Yuhasz' Taikyoku Budo, which is heavily influenced by Ellis' open source approach called Taikyoku Aikido -- this practice includes pedagogy Ellis developed as a result of his study of Xing Yi Quan and other arts, and includes an excellent integration of stability, atemi, and counter techniques into Aikido practice. Ellis has an excellent perspective on Ukemi and what it means to be Nage and Uke.
Ellis has been developing and refining his practice of internal martial arts over the last several years and has incorporated methods of internal power training into his teaching of Aikido. I was behind schedule in getting my house ready for its open house and could not make the seminars, but recent film of his teaching is very interesting and pleasing to watch. I recommend current students of Aikido make an effort to see Ellis when he teaches. It will provide a fresh perspective on the art and possibly provoke some realizations.
A collected set of works on Shinkage-ryū heihō is available as a book: The Truth of the Calm Spirit: The practice of Shinkage-ryū Heihō as Taoist Internal Alchemy, 2025.