Mill Bay Traditional Martial Arts Academy
Center Point
Whenever someone new comes in the Dojo it is usual to have the first part of the class focus on learning about their center. Without knowing your center point it becomes very difficult to know where to begin with any of the movements or breathing concepts in traditional martial arts. This center point is… Continue Reading
What’s In A Name; What Shorinji Ryu Karate Do Means
What’s In A Name; What Shorinji Ryu Karate Do Means In this article I will explain the full title of Shorinji Ryu Karate Do in its meaning and purpose. First a brief mention of how important the use of traditional calligraphy writing is when the names of martial arts are considered. Unlike western writing systems… Continue Reading
Teaching Kids Karate
When the modern belt system was introduced to Martial Arts in the early 20th century two belt categories were developed. One was the colored belts from white to brown (called Kyu Belt ranks) and the other was the various levels of black belts (called Dan ranks). These terms in a basic sense simply refer to rank or… Continue Reading
Tai Chi And The Way Of The Fist
“It is a self defense exercise that can make your body strong. In the use of this exercise, there are a hundred benefits without one harm. -Ts’ai Chueh-ming It is common these days to see pictures of people doing Tai Chi or Tai Chi inspired postures alongside advertisements and newsletters in various health publications. Tai Chi… Continue Reading
Martial Arts One Absolute Rule
“Do not strike others, and do not allow others to strike you. The goal is peace without incident. – Chojun Miyagi In martial art training the question inevitably comes up of how teaching people to be so skilled at combat can be a method of instilling compassion and mindfulness. The idea can seem almost counter intuitive.… Continue Reading
Shifting To See Whats There
Just over a week ago the years first new years buds poked their way out on the local ornamental cherry trees. This along with a few other flowers popping up has shown us that spring has just begun it’s cycle of growth. Spring has always been one of my favorite times of the year as I really… Continue Reading
Faith And Training
” A jug fills drop by drop.” Gautama Buddha Many years ago I was brought by my Mother to a spiritual talk at a Dharma center in a small town on Vancouver Island called Duncan. My concerned and caring parent wanted to expose me to deep thinkers and sources of wisdom as I was a wee… Continue Reading
New Years Re-Solution (Remember You Already Know The Solution)
It can be reasoned that in our ancient past there were moments when our human sense of self-awareness was crystallized for the first time. It would have likely started with some sort concept of self and that which is not-self. From there it would have grown into other fundamental aspects of our experiential reality. There… Continue Reading
What Martial Arts Can Mean For You
It was Aldous Huxley who once said “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” A quote often referred to when talking about music but really it is talking about something else. It is the idea of the silent and inexpressible. As Mr. Huxley cannot describe just what that indescribable thing… Continue Reading
Death and Life
A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Carlos Castenada from the Teachings of Don Juan In Japanese Zen tradition there is a term called… Continue Reading
