Consulting Swordsman
Guy Windsor The works of Dave Lowry should need no introduction to readers of this blog, who, I assume, have at least a passing interest in the martial arts. Mr Lowry has been training since the late sixties and writing about it since the early eighties. His latest book, The Essence of Budo: A Practitioner’s Guide to … Read more
I could get used to this. Sat outside in the shade tap-tapping away, (still at a lugubrious 10wpm or so) in glorious 30 degree weather. Not sure I’d get much work done in the long run though. But Sydney is a lovely city. I spent Thursday and Friday being shown the sights, including the most … Read more
I have been in Australia for a week now, and enjoying the sunshine (why do I live in such a freezing cold country?), the warmth of which has been eclipsed by the generous hospitality of my hosts. In Melbourne Scott Nimmo and his wife and kids welcomed me into their home with enthusiasm, and here … Read more
I am not known for my sense of proportion when it comes to the Art I serve. OF COURSE everyone should train. OF COURSE it’s more important than jobs or other distractions (I make an exception for children. Only for children). But the Art itself is based on proportion. For any action to work, it … Read more
I am typing this very slowly, without looking at the keyboard (much). This may seem trivial to those of you that learned to touch-type young, but I have twenty years of bad habits to overcome: five published books and God knows how many thousand emails, all written by poke and pray. I got pretty quick … Read more
The rights to my first two books just reverted to me (thanks Greg and the lawyers!) and I am in the process of making them available at a fair price (not the hundreds of dollars that second-hand copies currently command). I have just got the Duellist’s Companion up on Scribd for the very reasonable price … Read more
I don’t believe in innate talent. I’ve never seen it in a student, and I have noticed no correlation between early successes in training and long-term achievement. But you can draw a linear relationship between hours spent in class and acknowledged skill. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is my sort-of-ex-student (in that he … Read more
This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. And frankly, while the course itself may be concluded, it is not even the end of the beginning. But the last class of the current beginners’ course is now over, and while it was not as well attended as I’d have liked … Read more
I am weak. So I study strength. In martial arts, strength has little to do with the usual measures of muscular performance, and everything to do with grounding, structure, power generation and joint maintenance. Given my choice of profession my naturally weak skeleton is a blessing. My petite 12 year-old niece has wrists about the … Read more
I have just come back from a very enjoyable and productive trip to Seattle, perhaps my favourite American city. The trip was organised around a weekend seminar for Lonin, and included some consulting work for the CLANG computer game. I arrived at midday on Thursday, working on a 10 hour time difference. I was met … Read more