I was given the chance to close the Trans Asterisk Conference at UC Riverside. It was such an amazing warm and emotional experience. Not only did I run into Kay Ulanday Barrett and Jade Phoenix and Jade Hambaro, I made a lot of new friends. I read. I sold books, I talked to folks, I had […]
Happy that I finally worked out that rough spot in our basic hanbo (half-length staff) pattern. It works so much more like I intended it to. A little overbuilt to compensate for size differentials, with deflections, misdirections, targeted strikes to weak points. All key to what we do. We really are becoming our own school, […]
This is Melanie Cuesta. She’s the first student I’ve ever promoted to black belt. I’ve taught judo for many years, of course–but in judo, I never really promoted past brown belt because it is a competition-driven art. Most judo promotions happen on the mat. Not much to it–you win a lot of matches, you get […]