ummm....ok....

[Aikicomp]

There are some really good guys down your way.
We have people from your little corner of the world up here to train every May, http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido/iai.seminar.html. If you get some time come on up and join us.

Thanks for the invite, I've got family in Ontario. If I go up to see them this summer I'll stop by and see you.

Michael

 

[Ken Morgan]

Thanks for the invite, I've got family in Ontario. If I go up to see them this summer I'll stop by and see you.

Michael

Absolutely. Summer gets a little strange sometimes for training times, so just drop us/me a line. You and everyone are always welcome to come out and train anytime.

 

[Aikicomp]

Absolutely. Summer gets a little strange sometimes for training times, so just drop us/me a line. You and everyone are always welcome to come out and train anytime.

OK :asian:

Michael

 

[otako]

they took it down before i could watch... :'(

 

[Ken Morgan]

they took it down before i could watch... :'(

Oh, don't you worry...there's lots more videos by him. Take your pick.
http://www.youtube.com/user/KenseiSL

 

[Xue Sheng]

Oh, don't you worry...there's lots more videos by him. Take your pick.
http://www.youtube.com/user/KenseiSL

DAMN!!!! I was kind of hoping he was gone

 

[Langenschwert]

Great, he's doing a commentary on Go Rin No Sho. Somebody get that guy a clue.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[Xue Sheng]

Great, he's doing a commentary on Go Rin No Sho. Somebody get that guy a clue.

Best regards,

-Mark

Most unfortunately Miyamoto Musashi is no longer able to give him that clue

 

[Tensei85]

My personal favorite "The 4 Man Cut" well sort of... ; )

http://www.youtube.com/user/KenseiSL#p/u/9/oU_2urJuAf0


(Did he dub his own voice on his vid??)

 

[Ken Morgan]

I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’ve seen…maybe at least a dozen different sword schools and I can always find value in many of things they do. After years of practice, even if you don’t know the school, you can tell if the practitioner you are watching has some skill.

For the life of me, I simply can’t find anything of value with this guy. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, I’m really trying to see some value and outside of entertainment, I just can’t find value.

Am I being obtuse? Can you guys find anything?

 

[Xue Sheng]

I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’ve seen…maybe at least a dozen different sword schools and I can always find value in many of things they do. After years of practice, even if you don’t know the school, you can tell if the practitioner you are watching has some skill.

For the life of me, I simply can’t find anything of value with this guy. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, I’m really trying to see some value and outside of entertainment, I just can’t find value.

Am I being obtuse? Can you guys find anything?

Well they say imitation is the sincerest of flattery so I guess Shintaro Katsu who played Zatoichi should be happy so that I suppose could be of some value… Oh wait Shintaro Katsu died in 1997 so he wouldn’t care either way….

Nope… nothing of value

 

[Telfer]

For the life of me, I simply can’t find anything of value with this guy. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, I’m really trying to see some value and outside of entertainment, I just can’t find value.

Can you guys find anything?

He's really good at twirling the sword like a baton!

He lives in China so perhaps he's trying to blend Jian methods with whatever he has gleaned from The Book of Five Rings.

He hasnt killed himself yet after hundreds of hours of practice...so you have to give him that.

 

[Teufel Hunden]

For the life of me, I simply can’t find anything of value with this guy. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, I’m really trying to see some value and outside of entertainment, I just can’t find value.

Am I being obtuse? Can you guys find anything?

You're definitely not being obtuse.

You can see from this video here:

He's got an inflated view of himself, just in a different way than most McMartial artists. Instead of plastering his certificates all over the net, and saying, "look at how awesome I am... I have so many rankings in so many forms, nothing can touch me.... I'm unchokable." This guy took the the wisdom approach. "I'm wiser than the rest of you, and have a better understanding of the sword than all the flashy, watered down losers out there. Look how hard I practice... my normal looking hands are proof enough." I also thought the LOOOOOOONG chug of water was a nice effect... more proof of how hard he works, to be sure.

But in the end, that's all he really offers. He doesn't present anything profound, he's not even terribly skilled with his weapon of choice, he just read a few books, and swings it around a lot in his apartment in front of the camera. You can tell by the tone of some of his videos his view of himself is much too inflated to actually seek out quality instruction, and that's probably going to continue for quite some time. He even disabled comments on some of his videos, so he can't even receive positive feedback... he decided he's beyond feedback altogether.

 

[Tensei85]

He's really good at twirling the sword like a baton!

He lives in China so perhaps he's trying to blend Jian methods with whatever he has gleaned from The Book of Five Rings.

He hasnt killed himself yet after hundreds of hours of practice...so you have to give him that.

I would say his use of the Sword doesn't even closely resemble the Jian (Gim) the subtleties in the Jian are based off of "Jin" not a full body swing like he's trying to utilize, his use is more similar to a "Dan Dao". (A very poor one!)

The Jian requires usage of the hips, shoulders, & wrist. You have to be primarily "Yao" or (Soft) to utilze the Jian or you can't have proper placement of "Jin" so your Jian would be crap!

IMO, it looks like he's just swinging something rather its a Sword, Stick or whatever it would all look the same based on his mechanics.

If he did learn the Jian than he did not spend enough time working on it to accrue the proper Jin(Gihng), so I would say its not a Jian he's trying to mix with other mechanics. Not to sound offensive but the Jian just like Japanese Sword Arts requires proper training, massive hours to develop a good understanding & mechanics.

 

[Xue Sheng]

He's really good at twirling the sword like a baton!

He lives in China so perhaps he's trying to blend Jian methods with whatever he has gleaned from The Book of Five Rings.

He hasnt killed himself yet after hundreds of hours of practice...so you have to give him that.

He also apparently spent many hours studying Zatoichi movies

 

[pgsmith]

Not to sound offensive but the Jian just like Japanese Sword Arts requires proper training, massive hours to develop a good understanding & mechanics.

There's nothing offensive about that. That is true of the vast majority of swords, no matter the culture it came from.

 

[Langenschwert]

There's nothing offensive about that. That is true of the vast majority of swords, no matter the culture it came from.

Indeed. The whole idea of the sword is to ensure that a weaker man by virtue of his skill will gain the victory over a strong man who merely uses strength. The same can be said of all weapons... they are force multipliers and equalizers.

Best regards,

-Mark