The Opening and Closing of Doors

Moon Mountain Hall ( 月山館 ) is read as Gassankan in Japanese — I maintain a personal practice of traditional sword methods from Japan based on content I learned at the Hōbyōkan dōjō from Dr. David Hall and his senior students.

After moving to Seattle in 2016, I worked with a small number of people in order to maintain my practice. This activity centered around the performance of traditional kata as informed by my understanding of internal martial arts principles, the analysis of kata in a process called kuzushi and combative pressure testing called tameshi-ai.

I practiced kenjutsu independently after 2016 — first distance and then the pandemic made it difficult to receive further instruction. Over time, I have increasingly adopted posture and body mechanics drawn from my study of internal arts into my Japanese swordsmanship practice. However, making changes to the fundamentals of an art has impacts and effects, and should never be done lightly. One such result in my case is that I am not able as easily to work with beginners in the way I was first trained.

I realized that it is time for others to pass things forward. I still practice the formal kata of Jikishinkage-ryū but I want to draw a clear distinction between my own continued practice and the efforts of others who hold formal lineages of these and related arts. In my own training, I emphasize Taoist aspects of the art, including complementarity (yin and yang) and five element theory and draw inspiration from esoteric Buddhism and Shugendō when I view my practice as a form of shugyō. A major change is that I have evolved my practice to constrain my expression of kiai to be more akin to the vocalizations found in internal martial arts: flowing from, or aligned with, a movement, rather than driving a movement. I also no longer as forcefully coordinate breathing with each movement, but instead try keep my breathing relaxed and steady and utilize reverse breathing methods from Tàijíquán instead of the ibuki style of breathing often used during traditional aun kokyu, whenever possible. These are small changes but enough that I need to recognize I have diverged from how I was taught. My goal is to develop a connected body that integrates force with each action in an optimal manner while remaining relaxed and able to adapt suddenly when needed — this I believe is still in line with the goals of Jiki Shinkage-ryū, but maybe a softer season of practice (autumn or winter, to use Hojo philosophy) than how I first trained.

I have entrusted weekly kata practice to my two senior students, Jake Harlin and Nicky Sayah Sina. When I visit class held by them, I now do so as a guest and spend my time providing feedback and exploring kuzushi with them. They are the ones who hold the space for intense kata practice as I learned it and conveyed to them between 2018 and 2024. I, in turn, provide feedback on their expression of internal martial arts ideas and help them culvitate the proper mindset to conduct their own training as shugyō. Tōsha dōjō is the name I have given them for their formal practice.

Those interested in training in Seattle can learn more at Jiki at Lonin — inquiries can be made through that website.