Frequently Asked Questions

Why is competition not included in your martial arts program?

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Traditional Japanese martial arts are an outgrowth of the training that the samurai engaged in. Since the samurai were the ancient Japanese version of soldiers, their military training wasn't a sport or game. It was, instead, focused on battlefield application. Sports create an artificial structure based on rules that don't exist in actual combat. Rules are needed for safe competition, but they change the way a martial art is practiced.

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As Japan entered a more peaceful era, the samurai had fewer battles to fight, but they continued to train in martial arts. Owing to this social shift, they considered ways that martial arts training had value beyond the battlefield, and this trend has continued in Japan. It's an inward focus based on refining the individual, so that he or she can contribute to society. Martial sports, however, often have an outward focus that aims at winning a trophy, a cash prize, and so on. This can take attention away from the goal of personal growth.

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At our dojo, martial arts practice concentrates on personal development. Students compete with themselves--our most difficult opponent--with the goal of continual advancement and growth. The techniques practiced are useful as a defense against many types of attacks, including those rarely allowed in competitive martial arts.

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What do you mean by "nonviolent martial arts?"

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This refers to teaching controllable techniques and offering students a wide range of responses. Not every situation warrants the same reaction. Having this broad range of application makes the techniques practical. For example, there are legal repercussions in most states for excessive use of violence in defending oneself. Our legal response needs to be equal or less than the severity of the attack.

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Plus, the martial tradition we practice (Saigo Ryu) was created with an ethical dimension. It centers on compassion tempered with practicality. Students train with the objective of reaching a high level of skill, which will let them neutralize an attack without killing or maiming their opponent. It's a philosophy of kindness and forgiveness, a philosophy with a pragmatic application, and one which deescalates violence in society.

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At the same time, Saigo Ryu is clearly taught, without the quasi-mystical focus found in some martial arts. Because the techniques we practice are based on yielding to force, the size or strength of an opponent is of less consequence. However, not every martial art clearly and scientifically explains how to achieve this pliability. We do.​

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And while some believe that studying the most lethal techniques is the most effective self defense, this is often just a theoretical practicality. For instance, neck breaking methods can only be simulated in training; the same is true for eye gouging. Such skills are too violent to be realistically practiced. The theory is that in actual combat students will fully apply the techniques they've only simulated in practice, that they'll do something different from what they have studied.

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Real self defense situations, however, are chaotic and scary. Even in less stressful scenarios, we tend to do what we've practiced. Fortunately, the martial art taught as the Sennin Foundation Center features controllable techniques, skills that can be executed in classes. In other words, we actually apply, as opposed to simulate, the throws, strangleholds, immobilizations, and pain compliance techniques we study. These skills can be practiced while standing, sitting on the floor, sitting in a chair, lying on the ground, with weapons . . . really in most any situation.

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There's a difference between choosing not to hurt an opponent and being unable to hurt someone due to unworkable skills. It's hard to have confidence in such skills, which makes it difficult to use them to develop confidence in ourselves. We teach methods that are useful for both self-protection and self-mastery.

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Why is there a spiritual and psychological emphasis in your martial arts program?

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Some people mistakenly believe that the samurai were only concerned with physical training and combat application. While this was true for some martial traditions, others had a workable spiritual component. This isn't a recent development. The question is why.

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Traditional Japanese martial arts, as opposed to martial sports, are concerned with living and dying, in that the samurai had to face the reality of death more than most people. In this respect, martial arts that evolved from samurai practices are similar to religion, which also deals with death. While Saigo Ryu isn't a religion, it has a spiritual aspect to help students find calmness in action and the ability to face adversity with composure.

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Without this capacity for calmness under pressure, no martial arts technique will work in real combat. We will simply freeze.

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But not every martial arts school recognizes this. At our dojo, students practice meditation and exercises to aid in controlling the mind, because without mental control, martial arts training is rarely effective. This isn't something that can be fully resolved with hard, aggressive classes, because regardless of the severity of the practice, it can't truly recreate the chaotic stress of combat. A different approach is needed for practical martial arts, and this approach can also tremendously help us in our lives.

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What do you mean by "kata-based practice?"

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Kata means "form," as in the formal practice of prearranged techniques. Many martial arts enthusiasts have heard this term used in karate, where kata are a series of predetermined solo techniques directed toward imagined opponents. Karate is an Okinawan variation of Chinese martial arts, which also place a heavy emphasis on solo training. Traditional Japanese martial arts, however, are different from this. 

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While individual kata practice exists in Japan, aside from arts like karate, iaido, and kyudo, kata training usually involves two people. The opponent is actual, not imagined, which allows students to learn to control distance and timing.

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In our dojo, students start by practicing handed down sequences of paired techniques, which are designed to internalize a principle (or principles). Once these principles are absorbed, advanced practitioners create personal variations, such as applying a throw or immobilization against a different attack than is found in the classical kata. Eventually, students practice randori, in which they defend against any unexpected attack and intuitively create techniques in the moment (based on principles internalized through kata training).

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Kata-based practice is a time-honored, intelligent, and progressive way of building up skill in a martial art. The kata we practice are taught in a specific sequence, allowing students to gradually and scientifically develop their abilities in a way that's easily understood.

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