Wed 22/02/12

By Anonymous -
This Wednesday's training is cancelled tonight due to unforeseen circumstances.

Last Monday's session we began the class with some basic kihon and moved on to applying shuriken and tantou with basic kihon.

Next Monday's training is on as usual.

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Martial Arts have always been a niche skill. In the middle ages only Nobles and the wealthy could afford to dedicate any time to martial pursuits. The common foot-soldier or mercenary just made do with some on-the-job training, and were often completely outclassed by Knights or Nobles on the field.  It's difficult to generalise, because there were many different environments and situations in history. It is easy to point out situations in which common folk or groups (like monks) took up arms and dedicated themselves to martial skills for some goal or another, but this is a different situation from today.  In the modern world, close combat skills are idealised in media, but are taboo in society. Even raising a fist, or threatening to do so, could ruin someones life with legal proceedings and fees. We have come to a point in society where people with good jobs and reputations are better off being physically beaten without fighting back and going to to hospital, than risk bein
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Mon 27/02/2012

By Anonymous -
This Wednesday's session is permanently cancelled due to a scheduling clash. Classes will now be held on Fridays from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. I know it is not the most convenient time but I hope this new schedule is not too much trouble. In the Monday class we covered basic breathing techniques, flexibility, podiatry, good skeletal alignment, sanshin (basic strikes), bo (basic stances, moving between stances), sword drawing (iaijutsu), countering sword  from the draw, and basic muto-dori (unarmed against sword). Friday will be our first Friday session since the club disbanded in 2010. I hope to see you all there. Other news: I will start putting up posters at UQ, Griffith, and other University campuses so that we can get more members. Direct from Japan: Class prices have been increased to $15 up from $12.
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