"I Like Weapons!"

Dear Friend,

Where does the desire come from? Unless you grew up around swordsmen, or weapons-based martial artists, you were drawn to weaponry through fiction, Star Wars movies, kung fu films, Samurai films, or cartoons, and nowadays video games.

That’s fine, and perfectly normal.  Stories of great warriors, and the skill of those great warriors, are among the world’s earliest stories.  Humans have always admired those with the ability to handle a weapon, either in combat or in hunting. 

Having your interest triggered by pieces of fiction is perfectly normal.  It is part of a tradition that is thousands of years old. 

 Maybe you’re not that person.

If, at this point, you don’t have that urge or desire for weaponry, and you’ve heard the stories or seen the skills, there is absolutely nothing that I’m going to say to you on this web page that’s going to convince you to take up training in the sword, the staff, or in the Filipino stick arts.  You just don’t have the impulse.  YOU DON’T HAVE THE THING IN YOU THAT WAS MEANT TO BE TRIGGERED BY THE OLD TALES.  You are better off clicking on one of the other page links to a program that better fits your nature and your psychology, or call us for a direct consult about your needs.

Count yourself lucky, because if you do have the bug, well, you’re in trouble.

 You face 3 really significant problems.

Collecting, Being a Dork, or Acting Like a Child.

Problem #1: The stories triggered a primal desire in you for weapons training, now what?  You’re left with going to the local Renaissance fair, and collecting.  You may even join the SCA, but the reality is that’s a journey into dorkdom that you don’t want to make.  The training with SCA stylists is at best like the play of a child in a warrior culture, before entering into real training.  Don’t get me wrong.  There’s nothing wrong with having a good time, and a bit of make believe.  Unless, of course, you want the real thing!

No one else to stand with.

Problem #2: Lack of the warrior culture.  It’s not so much the picture of a weapon that triggers the impulse.  Otherwise, those movies would simply be long documentaries on the weapon. It’s the skill with the weapon, and your ability to stand up in the face of fear, old style, man to man, and know that you can handle yourself, or at the very least, not die as a coward.  How many people are going to understand that?  Not many.  The only people that will understand it are those that share the same impulse as you, and have the same shared experience.

No Right of Passage.

Problem #3:  Male or Female, it doesn’t matter.  All early cultures have formal rights of passage that allow a person to transition from being a child into being an adult.  These passage rites are almost non-existent in modern America.  The lack leads to a great degree of irresponsibility and inability to handle oneself in difficult situations.  There are many old stories, across all the different people of the world, that associate a right of passage with a weapon or warrior tradition.  For those of us with the impulse toward a weapon, there is only one real way to have a rite of passage, isn’t there?  Until you’ve undertaken it, no matter your age, you won’t be complete.

These are 3 large problems, for anyone that has the bug.  Well, these are only problems if you don’t have access to a solution.  That solution is training at Water Mountain.  Let’s take a look at how Water Mountain’s weapons training can meet your needs, and whether or not you have the stuff to cut it in the programs.

Water Mountain offers 3 training programs to the general public.

1. Sword of the Dragon.
2. Staff of the Dragon.
3. Kombatan Arnis.

Let’s dispense with any illusions, Water Mountain doesn’t teach sword or staff for self-defense purposes.  You are unlikely to be walking around with a sword before an attack, and while it is more likely that you could convert a general found object into a staff, there are still easier alternatives for self-defense.  Water Mountain teaches sword and staff for the sake of teaching sword and staff to those with the impulse to learn them.

Details about the Source of the Sword and Staff training.

Your best way to find out about the sword or staff system is to actually take a 1-on-1, GUARANTEED, Private, Introductory Lesson for $29.  You can purchase that by clicking here (BUY NOW).  Students under 12 not accepted.

Where did these systems come from?

1. Both the sword and staff systems taught at Water Mountain come from an ethnically Korean clan known as the Soon.  Politically, they have been considered Korean, Chinese, and Mongolian.  The clan has sustained itself as a cultural and ethnic group for 1,500 years.  Its dominant historic weapons were the bow, the staff (spear), and the double broadsword.  Development of these weapon systems did not occur 1,500 years ago and then stop.  Development has occurred across 1,500 years of combat encounters.
2. In the modern clan, sword and spear are still taught as tools of body control and educating the mind’s response to fear.  The bow is still taught, but is not considered to be a martial weapon except among the elderly, where it is maintained at a high level.
3. As for success of the sword system—the clan has been around for 1,500 years.  A strong indicator of a successful combat system, isn’t it.
4. Dragon in the name of the Staff and Sword.  Many Americans make a huge misinterpretation of the names of these systems, because of the generally poor American education in history, and in Asian culture.  Dragon was a word used to describe a thing at its highest level of attainment.  In historic China, there were periods when the word, "Dragon," or the symbol of Dragon could only be associated with the Emperor, and required permission of the royalty to be used.  Dragon also refers to the greatest degree of adaptability.  For the Soon (a clan name that means Purity), Dragon referred to the highest skill and adaptability.

But it’s not Japanese Sword!

Yup, it’s not Japanese.  Before I begin talking to you about Japanese arts, let me give you some disclaimers, so you won’t mistake me as having a bias against the Japanese people when I challenge a number of incorrect American ideas about Japanese history.

1. I am bi-racial, born to a Korean National, and an American of Norwegian descent.
2. I was born in Tokyo.
3. I spoke Japanese, Korean, and English as a small child.
4. I was a dual citizen of Japan and the USA.
5. I am an admirer of Japanese culture.  I am simply aware of the history of Asia, and know that Japan was not the hub of culture for all of Asia.

 Is your Knowledge of the Japanese Sword Wrong?

In moving yourself from your position as a fantasizer of weapons to a practitioner of weapons you need to let go of some the information provided to you from anime and word-of-mouth sources.

1.      A Katana is a Japanese broadsword.  Many of the movements typical of Japanese Kenjitsu are typical of the broadsword and saber training of many other cultures.

2.      The katana had some really ludicrous, tricked-out forms, and was not always the model of efficiency.

3.      The Chinese invented metal folding, and used folded metal technology long before the Japanese.  Metal folding does not make the Japanese sword unique.  What made the katana unique was varied tempering of the steel that allowed a composite metal sandwich blade to be formed, providing it with flexibility and hardness.

4.      The katana can not cut through cars, or steel and be undamaged.  In fact, the cutting surface of a katana is very sensitive as swords go, and can not take a lot of impact without damage.  For this reason, Japanese sword systems have relatively little blocking, and are focused primarily on landing the first blow.  This emphasis is not a bad feature, as most weapons’ encounters go to the person that deals the first blow.

5.      The Samurai were not the end all be all of warriors.

a.       Samurai evolved fighting Samurai.  Japan is an island, and so received little exposure to outside combatants.

b.      The Samurai had two basic jobs: to fight other samurai and maintain control of the peasant classes.

c.       The Samurai never won a significant land war outside of Japan.

d.      The Samurai, when encountering the Chinese Mongol forces on the Japanese homeland, were easily beaten.

If you are obsessed with pursuing a fantasy of Samurai sword rather than the real pleasure of training, there’s not much more I can say.  Reality can never compete with fantasy.

Here’s what training in the sword is like at Water Mountain:

1. Dragon sword is a two sword system that begins with one sword.
2. Developing mutual trust is critical among partners.  It is the single most important training factor.  It must be consciously built at every single training session.
3. Training in the sword is basically divided into 8 points:
1. Cutting.  Controlling the blade during a cut.  Not injuring yourself.  Mastering the physics of a cut so that you can generate enormous cutting speed.
2. Blocking.  Preventing yourself from getting hit.
3. Two person forms.  Common battle problems placed into a 2 person routine.
4. Solo Forms.  Common battle problems placed into a solo routine.
5. Fencing.  Drills for building skill in free form exchange, tactics, and free form exchange (known as fencing).
6. Trust building.
7. Fear control.  Inducing fear in your opponent.  Controlling your fear.
8. Mentally releasing stress.
4. You spend your time in two general activities: large numbers of repetitions (80%), and fearing for your life (20%).  Really.  Strangely, this equals fun, for the right person.

If you’ve heard enough at this point, you can find out what it’s all about with a one-time, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED, private lesson.  It’s 30 minutes long, and $29.  Click here to BUY NOW!  Students under 12 not accepted.

Tradition of the Staff.

The staff (a big stick), and its cousin the spear (a big stick with a point), is probably the most commonly used weapon in all of history.  The reason: a staff is cheap, and a spear is only slightly more expensive due to the tip.  Warfare is as much about tactics as it is about having enough money to fund equipment, so having cheap troops available is relatively important.

The staff achieved its highest level of development on the Asian continent, mostly because of moral reasons.  The staff provided an opportunity to not kill one’s opponent, something that was very important to most monks (usually Buddhist), and other moral people that tried to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.  It is much more difficult to avoid killing someone with a sword, since a sword’s purpose is killing.  For a swordsman to avoid killing, a swordsman must avoid the function of the weapon.

The Two Big Interests.

Most people are interested in 2 parts of staff practice:

1. Fancy twirls.
2. The ability to lay out multiple enemies.

Good News! This is one area where the myth of practice and actual practice overlap.  If you want to train to do these things, you can!

Fancy twirls are drills for strengthening the body, improving handling of the staff, and showing off.  Showing off is a traditional part of all weapons’ cultures, and a part of all weapons-based martial arts.  A good showing off can intimidate opponents, and prevent fights from ever emerging.  Twirls are not, however, an effective means of fighting.

The staff is also a true 360 degree weapon, able to move easily through any point on an imaginary ball surrounding the body.  This gives the weapon the ability to easily defend against a wide circle of attackers.  It does require a higher level of skill than the sword to be useful.

Basic twirling can be learned in one 30 minute lesson.  If you want to learn twirling, or generally see whether or not the staff is for you, try a SATISFACTION GUARANTEED, private lesson.  It’s 30 minutes long, and $29.  Click here to BUY NOW!  Students under 12 not accepted.

Staff practice outside of twirling follows the same 8 point approach as sword.

Gun wielder attacker loses an eye to the power of Arnis.  Try it Now!

The Weapon System that is taught for self-defense: Kombatan Arnis.

You’ve come a long way reading this far.  Good for you.  Perhaps you do have an impulse that extends past mere fantasy.  I make no bones about the fact that we don’t offer sword and staff training for self-defense.  People train in those two weapons, because they have the impulse to do so, and because it is a pleasure to do so.  What about those people that have the impulse, and want to learn something that is for the purpose of self-defense?  We offer Kombatan Arnis for such people.

Arnis is Filipino stick and knife training.  It is fun, safe, and highly effective as a means of self-defense.  For people that are unfit, the use of a weapon is probably the only real chance at self-defense that they have, because they are unable to generate the type of force needed to stop an attacker empty handed.  If you are fit, Arnis gives you even more power.  You can examine details of that art by clicking here (ARNIS INFO).

What can Arnis do for you?

1. Be able to pick up any object and use it as a weapon.
2. Prevent yourself from getting hit by anything being swung at you, even under the incredible pressure cooker of having something swung at you.
3. Prevent yourself from getting disemboweled in a vicious knife assault.
4. Be able to stop a physically superior attacker—stronger than you, better than you, more vicious than you—with an object that you just picked up.
5. It’ll make you look cool.  Really, Arnis has some maneuvers purely for looking good in celebrations.

Afraid of losing your Excuses?

It’s time to stand up and move away from fantasy.  A lot of times, people create situations where, psychologically, they have a way out of doing something.  “Ohh, I was too tired.  Ohh, I had something else to do.  Ohh, my madeupbodymajingthing muscle is stiff.”  That’s fine.  That’s human behavior, and frankly, WaterMountain expects to have to work with people to get them past these excuses.  It’s part of our training philosophy of “Training that’s about you!”  Working with students to build success skills is part of our total training experience. 

Training at WaterMountain isn’t a struggle to catch up with other people that have already been here, and it’s not a struggle to slow down if you’re a fast performer.  We start at your starting position, with whatever you bring in, and we move forward at a pace that you’re comfortable with.

Yes, you will lose your excuses!

There is no reason to be afraid of that though.  It’s how you will succeed at learning weapon’s skills.  Do you think those on the warrior path before you, those with the impulse, didn’t have excuses?  Of course, they did.  They simply chose to set aside those excuses, and pursue solutions rather than ways out.

There are two basic programs that WaterMountain uses to make our “Training that’s about You!” program so successful.  One, we offer a private lesson membership.  This is the option that is most accommodating to very odd schedules, or very special needs.  Two, we offer membership with group classes.  There are approximately 90 different package combinations available.  Both options require commitment.

These are the most successful training programs.

We do not use any others!

Most members pay between $100-$200 per month.  We can not provide you with a precise quote until after you have completed a Satisfaction Guaranteed, Private One-on-One lesson.  We will not offer you membership without completion of that lesson, so we will not provide you with a quote until that time.

Water Mountain makes no effort to be the cheapest school.  In fact, we are the most expensive school in this part of Arizona.  Our effort goes into providing high quality training experiences for our member base, and our members like it that way.  They also understand a basic truism of life, “Buy Cheap, Get Cheap.”