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The Origin of Tsuki Kage Ryu Tsuki Kage Ryu is an eclectic stew consisting of techniques, ideas and training I've accumulated from various schools and teachers I've encountered in my 30 years of practice as a student of zen and martial arts. The foundation art of this school is Kwanmukan, a school founded in Ohio by my first Sensei, Hanshi George Anderson. Kwanmukan is itself a synthesis of Chinese, Korean and Japanese empty hand self-defense techniques, Okinawan weapons (Kobudo) and Kenka (street survival). I was also privileged to have met Minobu Miki at Hanshi's dojo in the seventies who introduced me to Iai Do. I later studied Iai and Aikido in San Bruno CA with Takahashi Sensei, a renowned swordsman and calligrapher. In San Francisco, I studied Omoto Sanke tea ceremony with Shimaoka Sensei who introduced me to the harmony, beauty and exquisite refinement of this ancient art form. I am current studying bokken and jo with Rick Rowell Sensei at Aikido of Diablo Valley in Concord CA. One must always be a student. One translation of Tsuki Kage Ryu is Moon's Reflection School. If debris flows within a stream at night and passed through the moon's reflection, it never attaches to that reflection. It is high-lighted for an instant and passed right on through. This same feeling must govern zazen breathing. Interfering thoughts enter the mind, are briefly touched and allowed to pass through as the focus snaps back to only the breathing. Similarly, in mortal combat, nothing must distract the mind from the opponent. The sound of honking geese overhead is registered and released. The mind instantly snaps back to the foe. Conscious thought bogs the warrior down in quick sand from which it is impossible to fight well. The thought: "I don't want to die!" is the most shackling one of all. This essential state of "no mind" is the central theme of this school and the origin of its name. Michael R. Ayers |