Author Archives: iaidotsj

In the study of Iaido, and many things, it is important to copy what the teacher is modeling. Doing exactly what the teacher is doing, or the model student is showing, is the way we learn the proper technique. Matching our bodies to the exact position that is being shown allows us to learn theContinue reading “Preservation”

One of the biggest obstacles to learning anything is its language.  No matter what it is, each career, occupation, skill, family, organization, country, region, etc. has its own language.  For a learner, the vocabulary specific to the discipline must be acquired in order to think about the different aspects of that discipline.  In basic Mathematics,Continue reading “Speaking the Language”

The world is our teacher.  In every moment of every day there are lessons to be learned.  Some lessons are momentous, and others are subtle.  Some people believe that a black belt is an accomplishment, which it is, but it is just the “first step” along the path. When we are born, it takes usContinue reading “To Be a Blackbelt”

Learning keeps us young and flexible.  Even as our bodies begin to stiffen from the demands of living, we work and train to maintain our flexibility.  The same need applies to our minds.  New skills, new techniques, and new perspectives all stretch our minds. Continue to look at skills and patterns of thought to determineContinue reading “Flexibility”

Training is a gift. Every moment in the dojo is an opportunity to grow. Sometimes the lessons go beyond technique and enter the realm of history or social construction, but every moment has the capacity to stretch our minds and bodies. I remember a time when I was in the dojo training and I hadContinue reading “Focus in Training”

People are very interested in things that are exotic or new. In a study about discrimination, babies will look at people of a different ethnicity than the ethnicity of the babies’ primary care givers longer than people of the same ethnicity. There is something attractive about the new and different. When new people come toContinue reading “The Role of Sempai”

Instant gratification permeates all aspects of our culture, but that is not the way of the dojo and training. When we are given time to train on our worst technique, that’s what we should do. It is singular focus. Last week I posed this approach to my students and I received varying responses. One learnerContinue reading “One Piece of Rice Paper”