It’s been a while. Been busy. Work and stuff. But Cecil (of the Straight Dope) just answered a question I have been wondering about for years (although, being English, I had wondered about it in the context of the English Civil War, a century or so earlier than Cecil is considering). That is: Given that [...]

“The world’s most secretly guarded fighting techniques” — The Boston Globe Secret Fighting Arts of the World, by John F. Gilbey ISBN 0804816085, pub. Tuttle. The book was first published in 1963. This is a 2001 edition.* Although over the years I did a lot of research for the Fudebakudo book, there is one book that was, indirectly, hugely [...]

I am a regular reader of Cecil’s Straight Dope. He’s just responded to the question: “Has martial arts training ever helped anybody defeat a mugger?” Answer: yes, with qualification. Read the Straight Dope on street effectiveness. Of course, I have opinions about this because I have trained in martial arts continuously (injuries notwithstanding) for more [...]

The rise in popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) seems to have been at the expense of traditional martial arts. From the perspective of being the publisher of Fudebakudo, that's a move in the wrong direction (it's primarily why we didn't have a stand at Seni this year) because Fudebakudo is based on a very [...]

Disturbingly cool. Or, at the very least, disturbing. I've been away for a while, including spending several days at an aikido "summer school." I am protecting the anonymity of Roy and the others in this photograph by not mentioning any names. You might be reassured to know that this is not how people normally dress [...]

We like to think that martial arts typically develop out of military or oppressive environments (that is, they arose to facilitate the work of soldiers, or the rugged people who were opposing them). This is a deadly serious and full-time occupation. Neither soldiers nor the oppressed peoples in this scenario would likely be described as hobbyists. [...]

So, in the UK we are once more having the "Samurai Sword" debate in the press as the government heads towards banning them. There is a lot wrong with this, but it's dangerous to say so because the legislation is a reaction to nutters who slash at people with such swords, and to argue against [...]

From a dojo down in the south of Japan some time ago. I just saw this going on and filmed it.  I never learned how to do it — when I asked to be shown how to fold mine the same way, they said it was a special technique which they wouldn't teach "visitors". Update: [...]

There are many ways to fold a hakama (that's the pleated skirt-like thing worn when practicing arts like aikido and kendo). The important thing is that it is done at the end of a class, and that it is done intricately, so that by the time you've finished folding it everyone else has finished putting [...]

Fudebakudo fans who saw us at Seni05 will remember our gingerbread shuriken (with chocolate flavour tips). Because we are serious about the martial arts, and responsible about the risk of lethal Oriental secrets falling into the unskilled hands of hooligans lacking the sensitivites to use them only against Bad People in order to make the [...]