Makshi Sun Dog exercise.

[Darth Nonymous]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6vWOExBR4" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6vWOExBR4</a>

Our next offering: the first level of acceleration in Makashi-the Sun Dog. Take your basic moon guards and combine them with the makashi footwork and you have an exercise to come up with dulon and basic drills to free form exploration of the Form.

Happy Sabering!

[eerockk]

Thanks for exaggerating and emphasizing the footwork you did throughout the exercise! I found that very beneficial to my current goals. Great video too!

[Bluesky]

Hi there from Australia

"Makashi is a rich ground for harvest..."

Form 2 - The contention form is the preferred style for one on one dueling. Makashi is the reflection of the lightsaber duels of its age. It is built off form 1 body zones and precision techniques that protect your own weapon from form 1 disarm cuts and achieve the control over power.

Thrusts and light cuts require balanced footwork to constantly keep the distance between you and the opponent. No acrobatics.

Allowing them to exhaust themselves; complete their attack to meet your quick reply and maintaining distance. The Sun Dog is a deep stance form that requires a strong hand upon the blade. The guards a not effective if they are done slowly; they are meant to be one-two quick.

Exploiting holes is its function and its primary focus is dueling. Its efficient and does not waste energy. It does not generate kinetic energy and can have trouble against strength based forms.

Here is my Makashi wish list:

1/ Thrust from High parry
2/ Disengages with thrusting and with a returning disengage
3/ Circular parries
4/ Double advance or double retreat followed by lunge thrust or a third step into lunge; for example; two retreats/advance/lunge/thrust/disengage/thrust
5/ Middle Parry inside/outside then thrust with advance
6/ Low parry inside/outside then thrust with advance
7/ Complex parries; circular and simple parries in combination before thrust.
8/ Double disengages.
9/ Circle parry into high parry or middle parries.
10/ Stop thrusting
11/ Angle lunging into thrusts with cross stepping and other Italian/Spanish footwork for advanced Makashi
12/ Tactics with footwork; footwork drills and strategies. Weight transfer exercises into and out of lunge.

The Sun Dog addresses some of these but for me it is the tactics with the footwork that matter the most as well as weight shifting. Where you have the weight makes all the distance. In actual dueling using the Sun Dog I would use my closer stance and only use the deeper stance as form. I would not be a slave to it.

Here is some of my thoughts that I have already shared but feel they have a great deal of merit in the discussion. I only repeat it because it has theory that greatly impacts how to watch the Sun Dog. It is not to go over old ground but to dig deeper into where I stand with this. (Thanks for forbearance ) I cannot stress enough the importance of weight forwards in Makashi...

Food for Thought

1/ The lunge works from the back and accelerates at the end. Learn to recover by pushing and accepting with your back leg. "The lunge is a science; learn the science." Lift the rear foot to the ball of your foot or half retreat and then drop and lunge. Feeling is so important in the lunge.

2/ As much as possible stay back in your lunge; don't fall forwards unwisely. The lunge is the heart of all good Form 2 in my opinion; the lunge teaches us so much about ourselves and the opponent. Watch the form how Master Nero tries to sit in his movements; no rushing always watching; "Still waters!" as my old teacher used to yell. Motion explodes in Makashi from stillness/poise.

3/ How can we speed up our lunge? Start the advance slow and then explode into your lunge; vary speed and don't rush. Learn to disengage and thrust into your true target and learn to suddenly switch to an angle lunge. Unfortunately as you know us fencers love to press through into our lunge, this is often folly with a lightsaber because any blade that slides towards your hands is a true danger. "Catch their finished action!"

4/ A quick advance and lunge is essential for Makashi, you must pounce on them without a moments notice. Practice on a long strip retreating with your eyes shut, as many times as you feel like and then suddenly open your eyes as you explode into a quick advance and lunge. No tells, shoulders relaxed, out of nowhere as thought the idea just suddenly occurred to you. "Move like you are surprised!"

5/ When you retreat you weight must be mostly forwards, this is important to know - Transfer back and release your thrust; transfer back and release into thrust. Retreat quickly for distance twice, transfer and thrust.

6/ Slow advance into a quick advance drop your weight back onto the rear foot and kick out the front as you lunge or execute the reversed; fast into slow. Makashi are devious duelists; everyone liking the easy victory. "Fast, Slow, Fast, do you see me coming?"

7/ Dialoging is a very important thing to practice and teach. Say each parry and technique and movement that you do as you do it out loud. Learn to dialogue until it is in your head! "Slow, slow, fast, slow, fast!"

8/ Learn to move fast and then lunge straight away; make everything seemless. You can tell a modern fencer by how relaxed and seemless they are. It is important to not over bend the knees, they must be natural and soft. Standing straight bend and go into your retreat or advance and then stand straight again; learn as much as possible to relax and be efficient with a close stance. Makashi does not use old style fencing deep stances in my opinion, the lightsaber is quick in Form 2 because the duelist has a finishing attitude and a close, quick stance and forward balance.

9/ What are your different divisions of teaching? For me footwork/lunge is the foundation stone above all else and could be 10 hours of videos! I think it is important to not assume people understand the basics of Makashi. They often practice without understanding that they are reinventing the wheel and if they were taught from the ground up they would find their Makashi would be a precise instrument instead of a blunt one. Thank you for your work I hope this helps shape the discussion. Grin

10/ The Chinese form of fencing compliments perfectly the western approach making Makashi a truly new phenomena in the Martial world. For me the foundation should be western because it is infinitely practical and efficient and then the high energy Chinese approach should sit on top of that after you know how to duel one on one. TPLA really has an advantage here having this mix of skill sets. I would definitely recommend the Western as the base because it is so well established and researched, the Chinese is as much artistic flair, multiple opponents and mobiltyx2 when Makashi is a true duelist one on one form in principle. For me anyway the Chinese styles of fencing are really an advance form above the western where your one on one suddenly has to face 8 opponents! "Duel one successfully boy before you aspire to fight for the king!"

This reminds me of my old days learning from; fencing Master Charles Selberg. Simplicity and elegance and effectiveness.

I love theory expressed through human motion. Your Makashi is starting to look like a complete form. Very nice. Your deep stances are interesting and your understanding of the center comes through. Even how you are using the rear hand to counter balance, very nice. I like the marriage between explanation and video.

I have seen some of this before in a Wu Shu demonstration some time ago here in Brisbane but they lost their center focus; for me this is some of your finest work to date and will use this in my next practice session. NM waxing; your terminology allows for easy understanding, discussion and development.

You seem to wield your large lightsaber one hand no problem and you have a dangerous amount of reach Master Nonymous!

How long did you take to develop the Sun Dog?
Does it have Chinese Roots; if so, what are they for reference?
Where do you keep your center of gravity? Weighted in the center, back or front?
By working all 4 directions it helps teach spatial awareness; allot of my Makashi is very linear fighting against only one opponent. Is the Sun Dog, in principle, how you would defeat more then one? Taking each as they come?
What do you think of the food for thought section and its applications? Anyone?
Do you teach the Italian (Lunging at angles into thrust) or Spanish (Science of angles) in your Makashi?

Thank you for enriching the whole saber community Master Nonymous I think everyone around the world will be practicing this one mate!

Kind Regards
Bluesky

[Darth Nonymous]

Ok, that a lot. Let me try to answer some of the direct questions:

How long did you take to develop the Sun Dog?

this is how I was taught. I did not invent it. The progression of the exercise into a more concrete form is ongoing and has ben since last April.

Does it have Chinese Roots; if so, what are they for reference?

It is from the Wudang school. I learned from My teacher who learned it from Li TianJi.

Where do you keep your center of gravity? Weighted in the center, back or front?

Yes.

By working all 4 directions it helps teach spatial awareness; allot of my Makashi is very linear fighting against only one opponent. Is the Sun Dog, in principle, how you would defeat more then one? Taking each as they come?

So, fighting one opponent, you would never have to change direction, turn around, or re-position? A single jian is very rarely trained to fight off more than one attacker. More on this in a minute. Think more of training to fight on Pirate ships and Taverns with large staircases instead of a strip or open field.

What do you think of the food for thought section and its applications? Anyone?

To be honest, I can't really follow most of it. Partial due to this not being the best way to impart that information and partially do to the amount of specialized language and terms you use. I would urge you to make some video examples yourself to show exactly what you are talking about. I will try to adress some of the things I gleaned:

1. I think you place far too much importance on the lunge. The lunge is the period of the sentence and tell you when the engagement ends, not how it is played.
2. There are some things that I think you are on the right track on, but either do not fully understand or cannot communicate them fully.
3. While I agree that Chinese and Western swordplay traditions are very compatible, I disagree on your assessment of the Chinese arts being more flashy, athletic, or really any more advanced than any sword school using a similar weapon. The techniques are identical. The concepts are identical. the expressions can be different only because the Western schools do not practice these things very much in modern times.

I also disagree with your assessment that The chinese styles are better for more than one opponent. While every school would have way of dealing with such threats, there was nothing in my training that ever used that as a principle for general use. In fact, jian went out of military service in China around the Tang dynasty when large sabers became more popular. The jian has for over 500 years been considered the "grandfather of all weapons", being both venerated and put out to pasture like a frail elderly person. It has no particular advantage in a multiple senario.

Do you teach the Italian (Lunging at angles into thrust) or Spanish (Science of angles) in your Makashi?

I don't know what either of those things are and teach neither. My training background is entirely in Chinese arts.

Your enthusiasm is impressive and your input is valued as you obviously have a great deal of knowledge and access to historical sources. For my part, the jargon gets in the way of my reading and may intimidate some less experienced folks.  If I could suggest that we take the level of the dialog down to novice/newbie level, we may be able to get a few more people involved in the discussion. Remember, I am a and expert in Chinese methods but a newbie when it comes to German Longsword.

Every teacher is a student.

[eerockk]

Your enthusiasm is impressive and your input is valued as you obviously have a great deal of knowledge and access to historical sources. For my part, the jargon gets in the way of my reading and may intimidate some less experienced folks.  If I could suggest that we take the level of the dialog down to novice/newbie level, we may be able to get a few more people involved in the discussion. Remember, I am a and expert in Chinese methods but a newbie when it comes to German Longsword.

Agreed with the enthusiasm, and good point... your posts, Blusky, have been amazingly cool to read about, but I admit that for me, they are too advanced to be able to add anything to the discussion. I'm not intimidated, as it were, but I can't really discuss or add anything at the level they are being discussed at with where I am at in the game. I am enjoying your posts as well, and glad you found the forums here and joined us!

[Bluesky]

Hi there from Australia

There is definately a bridge to cross when it comes to sharing information by posts as opposed to say video.

That being said I do want to give it a good go!

Thanks for answering some of my questions

I would not say its advanced per say, one would describe it as trying to deal with the meat not the milk but I think people can take that which is useful to them and apply whatever they like. A buffet of sorts.

There is definetly a matter of perspective here; one of feeling and punctuation but little difference in principle.

Take the Food for Thought; it trys successfully or not, to cover a great range of Makashi princples. There are limits to communication but I am happy to expand upon any areas you think are wrong or not well conceived

Eerock; I know you are just starting out but diversity is strength it is not a weakness. Practicing the footwork in Rythms of the Dance will not hurt your other studies, they will enhance them. Learning say the Falling Log or The Assasins Knife is good for over zealous attackers.

I would say detail is not advanced; it is just flavor; when I went to England there was allot, and I mean allot of curries up for offer! Coming from Australia; fish and chips on the beach mate! Sort of diet it was hard to take any heat and spice but you know after a while you come to really appreciate the flavors and herbs and spices and aromas.

If you read carefully the Food for Thought (That's all it is - One guys thoughts to share or ignore) you will read gems of experience and wisdom their to do with the art of fencing. Stuff that might take years or a good teacher to learn. For example Eerock; "Lift the rear foot to the ball of your foot or half retreat and then drop and lunge. Feeling is so important in the lunge." Time and again you see the science of fencing and weight distribution laking in beginners; now you can take this one gem and think on it.

It is understandable if some of my language is new; highline, lowline, high, middle and low parries (as simple as I can make it) I understand if it takes a bit; sorry if it is new but that is not to throw any one off, I am trying to distill down what I know into understandable, bite size pieces.

For example; As much as possible stay back in your lunge; don't fall forwards unwisely. The lunge is the heart of all good Form 2 in my opinion; the lunge teaches us so much about ourselves and the opponent. "Watch the form how Master Nero tries to sit in his movements; no rushing always watching; "Still waters!" as my old teacher used to yell. Motion explodes in Makashi from stillness/poise." - The fencer and Makashi wielder (As I understand it is the pinnacle of effiency and control) They don't waste time or movement and do everything for a reason, even remaining calm and loose and still; (No unnecessary movement) I was saying how in the Dulon that Nero posted that he sat in his movements; there was no over leaning or falling; watch and you will see.

For example; talking about deep stances in Makashi is a serious question, Makashi must move and keep its distance, it cannot be over run.

For example; "I think it is important to not assume people understand the basics of Makashi. They often practice without understanding that they are reinventing the wheel and if they were taught from the ground up they would find their Makashi would be a precise instrument instead of a blunt one." Nothing I say is meant as anythingnegative or critical, it is just we all like master Nonymous said just learning here, especially me.

As for the lunge; not to disagree at all but it really is that important for me. Also using slow and fast advances and retreats is a very important thing to practice as well in all Forms.

If Form 2 is your thing - try out what I am saying

You wont  be let down. For example; "Learn to move fast and then lunge straight away; make everything seemless. You can tell a modern fencer by how relaxed and seemless they are. It is important to not over bend the knees, they must be natural and soft. Standing straight bend and go into your retreat or advance and then stand straight again; learn as much as possible to relax and be efficient with a close stance. Makashi does not use old style fencing deep stances in my opinion, the lightsaber is quick in Form 2 because the duelist has a finishing attitude and a close, quick stance and forward balance."

The reason my post are long and heavy is because I don't want to post allot of little ones and scatter shot the theory and ideas. Even when I post techniques; I am happy to revisit each one unitl they are clear and if I am wrong I will see the truth of it

I think Master Nonymous the work you are doing is outstanding; and even if you are unfamiliar with the Guards and longsword stuff it would not  take you long to learn. If a term I use is unfamiliar, especially in something like fencing, just utube for example parrying...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKLChla7VaE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKLChla7VaE</a>

Kind Regards
Bluesky
(YAY! it is my birthday!)

[Bluesky]

Hi there from Australia

Thank you for your kind words Eerock; I'm glad you are liking my thoughts. I have allot to learn myself. I have what I call my sword diary; I would learn from my teachers and go home and write down quotes, principles and techniques that stood out for me. As I trial and error a new field of study; for example the RG; I write down my defeats more then my victories! For every engagement I will discuss what I did right and wrong. Just like learning chess.

For me it is a dialogue; my friend would blitz me whenever I used RG and then one day I just got it and lunged away droping down releasing the lead hand and thrust into his plexus, I realized that RG truely is about flexibility. Like I said it has a weird tidal movement, power one way speed the other; that is when I stopped trying to be deceptive and tricky and just return to the fundamentals; guards, footwork, distance, timing, thrusting and cutting. I went back to my beloved intiative!

All of this was down in my sword diary so I can return to it now to share with you all. Even if something does not make sense right now it might later, also exposing your mind to something new can increase your creativity by up to 15% - I like the Dancing OWl as well mate!

Keep up your studies and keep your excitement, you will certainly learn in your own time; you must above all else listen to your teachers. I hope something I've said has helped!

As for being over run by a little one; well that is easy to have happen; what are you going to do? 

Kind Regards
Bluesky
(It is my Birthday! Give me a shout out!)
PS - Bluesky at the beach having a barbeque! 

[Darth Nonymous]

I think Master Nonymous the work you are doing is outstanding; and even if you are unfamiliar with the Guards and longsword stuff it would not  take you long to learn. If a term I use is unfamiliar, especially in something like fencing, just utube for example parrying...

This is not the issue. Your posts are difficult to read. They are long and repeat concepts that have been rehashed even in your previous posts. If you wish dialog yo must be willing to allow others the opportunity to join in. The terms that you are using are far too specific to style to be understandable and your pieces are too big for me to chew.

I have no intention of learning entire new systems of martial arts. I have enough to work on and teach. This is why we have comparative martial arts. This is why VorNach and Nero are on the TPLA team. I cannot take the time to read through a bunch of dense, hardly understandable writing when the purpose of what we are trying to do is get away from that kind of stuff. We want this to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

Believe me, there is little here that I have not played with or thought about for almost two decades now. You seem to be going on the assumption that I disagree with you because I do not have experience with the methods. On the contrary, most are old hat.

In our Makashi the focus is on the engagement not the finnish. Striking , lunging, stretching, running through, etc. are the ends of engagements. We prefer to focus on the moves and tactic leading up to the opportunity and leaving the touch to to take a secondary role in training. Train accuracy and hand eye co-ordination. Footwork drills and movement are far more important than the depth your lunge. There is little trick to getting the touch,if your skill with the engagement is up to snuff.

Thank you for the kind words and happy birthday.

[Bluesky]

Hi there from Australia

Not once did I talk about the touch over the engagement....

Footwork for example is all about how you engage; weight distribution is all about how you engage. I'm sorry my posts are too long for you and you are not interested in learning anything new because you are busy teaching what you know: "I have no intention of learning entire new systems of martial arts."

Any repetition is for the sake of clarity and developing things further. Where is what I have said been in error? How has it not related to Makashi? I don't just post for the most experienced I try and help and adress many people's questions and thoguhts.

I am not speaking arguementively just making my case as best I can - I did not think of this in any way as a duel of blades but a exchange of ideas. I try to share my thoughts and opinions and experince freely, not to be shut down because you don't know what I am talking about. Posting is a iimperfect medium; it does not easily convey nuance, humor or subtly.

Not once have I said you disagree; I have been sharing and assessing off what has been said nothing more: "There are some things that I think you are on the right track on, but either do not fully understand or cannot communicate them fully." Can I not respond nicely without being disagreeable?

I have no idea where you got the impression that what I have been speaking about that I have not been speaking to the principles and tactics you speak of? "In our Makashi the focus is on the engagement not the finnish. Striking , lunging, stretching, running through, etc. are the ends of engagements. We prefer to focus on the moves and tactic leading up to the opportunity and leaving the touch to to take a secondary role in training. Train accuracy and hand eye co-ordination. Footwork drills and movement are far more important than the depth your lunge. There is little trick to getting the touch,if your skill with the engagement is up to snuff."

If I have said anything that seems in disagreement this is actually a blessing; diversity is strength; variety is a good thing and my 'long' posts are trying to elevate the discusion from tabard or no tabard

I have never assumed you disagree with me at all; I have just responded as I understand things and given my take on things. There was so much useful information for people in the post that I do not need to quote them all; they speak for themselves. This knowledge is not old hat; every genration must rediscover the lessons of old. For example; I said "Slow advance into a quick advance drop your weight back onto the rear foot and kick out the front as you lunge or execute the reversed; fast into slow. Makashi are devious duelists; everyone liking the easy victory. "Fast, Slow, Fast, do you see me coming?"" - How is this old hat? How is this not meritous? Especially for Makashi?

Most fencers will tell you the lunge/footwork is the most important mechanic, most fencers will tell you I am not talking at all about the touch but how to get it. I'm just an easy going Aussie; don't take anything I say as a disparagement - What you do is excellent; it seems that what I have to say is not up to snuff so to make it easy for you I wont adress you, so how can I disagree with you? As for difficulty to read is that such a bad thing?

"I cannot take the time to read through a bunch of dense, hardly understandable writing when the purpose of what we are trying to do is get away from that kind of stuff. We want this to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible." - Fair enough; I will stop sharing...

Kind Regards
Bluesky

[ForrestWolf]

Think I understand your perspectives on this... I personally enjoy the rapid fire way you've set up information on this Bluesky, albeit from a bit of a personalized perspective. I think if read slowly it makes sense. Just keep in mind that dropping personalized terms can keep an exchange of information streamlined

I agree with it being like a buffet, that everyone can take what suits them. However it makes sense that it could be daunting to the 105 readers who don't post anything  . I would love to have crazy amounts of experience based tips be thrown around on here. Bluesky's enthusiasm is much appreciated, and the video about "Ludosport" that he dropped on Master Nero's Makashi thread was jaw dropping good. That said: Perhaps if we get complex discussions going all over the place then people could post "Advanced Discourse" or something like a spoiler warning to people who are looking for Shii-Cho type proficiency.

For instance, a friend of mine started Lightsaber combat at the same time as I did, and I ended up teaching him things immediately just because I've done more physical activities and have better balance. So even though we have no experience between us, I can still bring things to the group like "As much as possible stay back in your lunge; don't fall forwards unwisely.", "When you retreat your weight must be mostly forwards", and practice going slow-->fast-->slow with creativity.

Don't get me wrong, I love the moon guards    I use them every time I'm practicing alone; I just also think having lots of people post their agreement to some of his food for thought ideas, and then throwing out their own in large posts would be pretty ideal for a capable onlooker to forge their own path among all the information. I respect your thread Master Nonymous, and I understand if you'd like the dulon threads to be more straight forward. Just let us know. Please keep up the dedication. Both of you. I couldn't be happier with what I'm hearing from the two of you across the forums.

I think something very potent for beginners that he mentioned, is keeping your poise with Makashi. "No acrobatics."     
* Specifically:  Using distancing and footwork to allow them to complete their attacks and to quickly respond while still maintaining a wise distance for further counter attacks.
Is that a fair paraphrase? I've encountered this many times while dueling. Miyamoto Musashi (A famous Japanese Swordsman) advocated no wasted motion, and if an opponent makes a useless strike, or over-commits, then your response can be a decisive one. If I find myself bearing no fruit while forcing a hole open, then I tend to relax, and fall into a good congruence with what he describes here. I focus fully on distancing and on my opponents movements, looking for naturally occurring holes to be struck with precision. These things are important for all forms of course, but I think uniquely so with Makashi.

I agree with what Master Nonymous says about not focusing on a finish to combat too much, i.e. a lunge. He did say that it was an opinion that the lunge is the heart of all good form. I feel each movement has great depth and importance. The lunge can teach you volumes about yourself and your opponent, but I think many other things can too. My Kung Fu teacher goes through each movement with us with great interest, and says that she still gets new insight while practicing basics.

Master Nonymous, don't you think that a sort of "dense, hardly understandable writing" will crop up pretty often on here? Regardless of whether of not his words qualify for this definition. While your students and fans gain proficiency with this sword analog, then they will seek depth and specifics, and they will ask each other questions that may not make much sense, and they will give answers that may not make much sense. They will be skilled, and seek to explain that skill, and that is very very difficult. Very few will have the foresight and ability to put it into simple terms as you do. And I am very sincerely not trying to say 'Deal with it.' I'm asking you honestly what you think about this, and if your goal is to help people simplify their byzantine expressions using your systems.

Lets keep things light and be understanding of talkativeness. Many of us have a great love for this type of thing, and I think we also have the maturity to take constructive criticism.

[eerockk]

Happy birthday, Bluesky!

[Bluesky]

Hi there from Australia

Thanks Eerock! It was a beautiful day on Sat my birthday and it has been wild storms since last night!

Thank you ForrestWolf for your well considered words; there is a great body of information I want to share so that it stimulates everyone else sharing on top of the fact I have a true joy in it; both theory and practice.

It is extremely difficult to sensibly and accurately write down theory. Theory can seem to repeat itself  - It must speak to all levels and it must be organized sensibly. Take for instance the Sword Diary Idea, I could write 10 posts on it but will only post about it rarely even though I have found it very important for my development.

The RG theory for instance that I am sharing are techniques that I have worked up against my training partners; things that don't work were discarded and a huge body of knowledge was explored to develop it and still it could of been written better...

I am sorry that some find it so dense; I really think if they give it a go they will think it is fascinating. When I am talking about deep stance over a close stance in Makashi; I really am not arguing or criticizing I am trying to have a serious discussion about it. When I fence if I used deep stances, wide blocks and so on I know what would happen! I would be slow and open. This is just the way it is....

The Sun Dog is excellent work and I have already started to learn it - I have nothing but respect and admiration; I just wanted to share some thoughts, tips and opinions for everyone to enjoy not cause trouble. (Not the Aussie way!)

Once again thank you ForrestWolf; I wish I was as clear as you!

Check out the posts on the RG - Pro's and Con's ForrestWolf ! I would love your thoughts!

Kind Regards
Bluesky

[ForrestWolf]

You are quite welcome, good Sir. And I thank you for the compliment 

However, I hope that my point formed correctly. Because I wanted to ease the conversation into parallel ground between the two of you, and I now worry we have thread jacked Master Nonymous, or at worst, annoyed him. So I feel bad about the form this has taken. I gravitate towards your Ataru thread more I think, but I'll check out the others, and I'm up for offering some feedback soon. But I'll post over there of course.

Anyone have some feedback on the new Makashi material?

I love the footwork, and balance. Recording one's self going through the same motions and comparing it to this video would be fruitful indeed. Especially if you can manage a side by side. I feel like doing the hutt slide with the guards could really help a friend of mine get used to moving with the moon guards. It helps a whole lot to see it broken down like this, because I don't always have the right language for him.

Chancing a question Master Nonymous, or Master Nero; in case they would like to diverge from all this with me. When I practice the moon guards, I get quite the burning workout in my shoulder. Is this the sort of thing that should be strengthened by repetition? Slowed down more? Or perhaps given more time, to increase my shoulder's capacity through the Turkish Getup and such.