Extending our reach: cutting the sky

Brad LarsonFeatured Posts, ShintaidoLeave a Comment

Last week, we continued our exploration of the boh — what it feels like to work with it and some simple movements to warm up with. One theme we started to explore was “cutting.”

Cutting is one of the basic themes in Shintaido, and you can do it a number of ways: with the boh, with the bokutoh (wooden sword), or with the bare hand. One thing I appreciate in Shintaido is the focus on extending beyond yourself — not just swinging the boh to make a cut, but extending yourself through the boh, all the way through the cut, from start to finish.

It is a good feeling, raising the boh up through the sky, and cutting down through the sky. It’s one of the ways we extend beyond ourselves and connect with nature above, below, and around us.

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