“I’m a professional educator.” That’s what teachers say when they want to sound like experts. I don’t know if I’m really an expert — there are a lot of variables involved depending on how you define the roles of teacher, instructor, and coach. I’ve played each role in a variety of academic and sports environments, and I’m always learning and…
This drill set straddles the line between kobo and jissen, and I would suggest you practice them with both attitudes. In kobo, you are trying help your partner improve his skills; in jissen, you want to defeat your partner’s attempts to use his skills. Both are valuable practices, so decide with your partner beforehand whether you…
Fact: Taido uses lots of jumps. If you want to be able to take full advantage of Taido’s unshin, tengi, and ungi, you will need to have plenty of jumping skill at your disposal. This article is about building these skills. Before I get into my recommendations for improving your jump, I want to make a brief disclaimer…
In Japan, Kobo is not a practice method — they are a testing requirement. Nobody here practices kobo with the intention of improving their skills or building their technical base for jissen. Instead, most students spend a portion of the two or three practices preceding their exam to memorize the required kobo and perform it well enough to pass. What…
This is just an easy list of guidelines that will help you get the most out of your kobo and jissen practice. I figured it would be good to tidy up my series on drilling methods with a concise listing of what I think are the most important points, in no particular order. You’ll find that they aren’t all…
