Martial Science - Appealing to Logos

[Derrick Roffman]

I have been training in Nami Ryu Aiki Heiho for almost 5 years now. One of the things that lured me to Nami Ryu Aiki Heiho was the feeling of practicality. I was looking up tameshigiri on youtube and finding all sorts of Sensei cutting bamboo and mats. But when I saw James Williams Sensei cut tameshigiri I just saw something more fluid and more practical feeling.

From the beginning, June 26th, 2007, training was with the idea of doing stuff because it works more than because it was studied and made by a super famous Samurai back in the day.

Martial Science. That was the idea of the way the dojo should progress. Since then buzz words have turned into scientific method, biomechanics, kinesiology, etc.

I like the way we are going, we are progressing faster than ever and doing so with a mental model that allows us to see the same results over and over. This allows us to gain a mental organization of the body and how it works, thus strengthening our practicality and not just relying on old sayings.

This also makes it easier to pass on to new students, and hopefully to the next generation who will be even more removed from hand to hand combative arts.