Nashville Seminar with James Williams Sensei

We at the Dojo of the Southern Wind in Nashville are proud to host James Williams Sensei for a two day seminar.  Come join us to learn traditional Samurai military strategy, tactics, and techniques from the founder of Nami ryu Aiki Heiho.

Click HERE to find more details.

Interviews with James Williams Sensei

Here are a couple really interesting interviews with James Williams Sensei on a podcast called "Everyday Samurai Life."

Click HERE for Interview 1, Part 1
Click HERE for Interview 1, Part 2

Click HERE for Interview 2, Part 1
Click HERE for Interview 2, Part 2

Interview with the Last Swordsman

Yoshio Sugino (suit) on the set of Yojimbo with Mifune and Kurosawa

Thank you to Garrett Clark on providing the link for this article.

    Please read HERE for a 1961 interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori-Shinto ryu.  For those of you (including me) who didn't know his name, here a quick list of his many accomplishments.

• He was a Judo student of Kano Jigoro at the Kodokan,  
• He was an instructor of Katori Shinto-ryu, the oldest continuous koryu in Japan.
• He was an Aikido student of Ueshiba Morihei at the Hombu dojo
• opened up the second ever Aikido dojo in Kawasaki.  
• He was also the sword choreographer for both The Seven Samurai films and Yojimbo.

  In the article, he describes the importance of kata and how sport martial arts are not Budo.  It seems funny to me how his arguments and ideas are the same as the ones we're still having today.  However, it is a very good article, and definitely worth the time to read it.

Podcast Interview with James Williams Sensei

    Here is an interview done by Jaredd Wilson of the Martial Thoughts Podcast.  As normal, Sensei is worth a listen to and if I might add, overall, all the other episodes are worth checking out.  There's lots of good information in lots of different styles

First posting of the new website

Good Day,

This will be the new website/blog/contact place for the Dojo of the Four Winds.  We will use this space to make announcements, write blog articles, and generally make any public posts for the dojo.

If you have a good idea, or want to write an article for this space, please let us know.  This is not a space to "lecture from on high" but rather a place to share our shared experiences as martial artists and practitioners of Nami ryu.