The Professional

The Professional

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2010. Not to be used without permission

When one reads online about traditional Japanese martial arts and, in particular, the teachers of these arts, a common image seems to be fairly accepted. The teacher of traditional style martial arts (be it gendai or koryu) is expected to teach the arts for the art’s sake. A teacher does not and should not make money from their respective arts at whatever money is involved should only be enough to cover the expenses involved in obtaining and maintaining the place of practice. A profit is a definite no-no and the idea that a teacher

Information Overload

A few people may be wondering about the lack of updates in the past couple of months. A number of issues have popped up which have put Acme writing on the back burner for a while. The biggest issue is that my current contract at work will be finishing up in a couple of months and the search for a new job has been getting much of my attention for obvious reasons. Another major factor is that I currently in the middle of a major downpour of new information involving some serious work with our ryu’s densho (not to mention some new originals that will need to be worked through), which will be eating up the rest of my free time until spring. No complaints from me here, but there is simply so much new information getting dumped on me now that mentally processing it all will take a great deal of time. Anyways, I am hoping to getting back to a more regular update schedule sometime this spring, but I will try to get something up before then (no promises though).

Kata Practice: “Fixed” Forms?

Kata Practice: “Fixed” Forms?

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

Kata practice is the prevailing traditional method of study in Japan’s various classical martial pursuits (and most other cultural arts as well). While this method is the norm, it is not without its detractors, especially among more modern practitioners who prefer more free form methods of practice. The single largest complaint is that kata is “fixed” so

Mae: The Kihon of Iai…

Mae: The Kihon of Iai…

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

It is well established that the kata “Mae” (and the various other names it goes under depending on the ryu) is the single most important kata in all of the art of iai. This is the first kata taught in most ryu and also the first kata taught in all three of the major iai umbrella organizations’ sets of fixed kata. The basic

Change in the Anatomy of an Iai Ryuha: Katayama Hoki-ryu iai

Change in the Anatomy of an Iai Ryuha: Katayama Hoki-ryu iai

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

While many often discuss traditions in blanket terms such as “koryu”, it is important to realize that different ryuha’s approaches to the training of their tradition’s skills, as well as their structural organization, can vary radically. Arts with a strong focus on iai  have especially suffered from a sort of “generi”fication in the past 50 years or so, both in

Katayama-ryu Swordsman Uno Kintaro Shigeyoshi

Katayama-ryu Swordsman Uno Kintaro Shigeyoshi:
By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

When looking into the history of any given ryu, one obviously spends a great deal of time looking at the major players in the tradition’s history. Obviously the founder and succeeding headmasters get most of the attention. But there are a host of lesser know swordsmen who, for whatever reason, never achieve the lasting acclaim of the “big fish” in the pond of Japanese swordsmanship.

(The Return of) The Deification of Donn F. Draeger

While surfing through Google I stumbled a across forum where someone had posted a piece I had done not long after my arrival in Japan for university back in 1998 on the original Acme Bugei webpage. As most of the content from the original site is lost I figured I’d repost this oldie but goodie (?). It is interesting how much things have changed (and haven’t changed at the same time) since I wrote this way back when. Needless to say I would probably approach this piece in a very different way if I was writing it today (even if my views have not changed all that much on the subject), but here it is in its original unaltered form. (Has it really been 11 years since I wrote this? and why exactly was I so worked up about this?)
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How Full is Your Plate? (Or “Know When To Say When”)

How Full is Your Plate? (Or “Know When To Say When”)
By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

Probably most of us doing koryu know the feeling. Through whatever circumstances you have ended up in a situation where you have begun your training in a traditional ryuha. It is interesting, educational, challenging, frustrating, the list goes on and on. Wanting to learn more about your tradition you look around for books and search the net for more information. Depending on the tradition you are involved in, you may find much or little there. At some point you decide you should learn more about the historical and cultural context of times the your chosen ryuha developed, so you start looking into Japanese history.

Embukai: Learning By Putting It On The Line

Embukai: Learning By Putting It On The Line

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

Next month brings the annual dojo embukai which has lead me think about the whole experience that is “demonstrating”. Like everything in martial arts, there are various opinions about embukai. Some question the value for doing these public demonstrations while others find them to be of great value. As in all things, my opinion is a resounding “it depends”.

Arguments against embukai tend to say that public demonstrations of martial arts

Hitting the Library

Hitting the Library

By Rennis Buchner
Copyright © Rennis Buchner, 2009. Not to be used without permission

Anyone who has been in Japan for an extended period of time probably has days where they wonder if all the trouble is worth it. Obviously the training is what keeps us here many days, but after a few years that old standby starts to lose its appeal. Some days we have to look hard for reasons to stay. Other days it can be pretty easy. Today was one of those easy days.

I’ve been walking by the prefectural library here fairly regularly since 1998, but have never actually gone inside until today. Last week someone I knew had mentioned they had come across some iai related makimono in the library’s catalog, and having nothing better to do today, I decided on a trip in to investigate. While probably an under-used resource, Japanese libraries can be a fantastic place for us budo nuts living here in budo