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Posted August, 1998
I have been reading your magazine since issue #1 and have been very pleased with its content. In your issue #7, I read an article that really hit home. This article was The Inner Learnings of Daito-ryu by Ayako Yamamoto. It is refreshing to see that there are some Daito-ryu practitioners that really understand the true essence of Daito-ryu. Nowadays there are some Daito-ryu instructors that have seperated from their organizations are are rapidly awarding dan ranks in Daito-ryu in order to spread their organization.
My hat is off to Yamamoto sensei for having written such a great article. Please continue to write more. And keep up the excellent work. You are one of three serious magazines of the arts that I am happy to read.
--Jose Garrido
It was worth the wait. Furyu #7 is outstanding. I'd have sat by my mailbox longer without a problem. I knew you people do too good of work to rush, kind'a like fine wine. I believe your devotion to Furyu stands as a pillar to honesty and a touch of class not found in other periodicals. If you are having money troubles or whatever, you should start a "donation hat" which your loyal readers are given the opportunity to give a little back. (If ya need help don't be afraid to ask. . .)
I mean, I once had a subsription to another "magazine" (-wanna be) that came once a month on the button. . .but it sucked. I paid too much as it was just to receive junk mail on time.
--Anxiously awaiting the mailman, Russ Ebert
Thank you for publishing a quality martial arts magazine, they are few and far between. . .Issue #7 has an article of particular interest to me, the Chito Ryu article by Mike Colling. There are so few articles about the style that I know almost nothing about its origins. I've been in touch with Mike a fair bit recently, hopefully he'd continue to publish. . .
--Travis Cottreau, Canadian Chito Ryu
Thanks for the new issue. I haven't had time to read anything but the letters section. This is in response to Mr. James' letter complaining about late issues: Some things in life are just worth waiting for. We all sometimes fall prey to our desire for instant gratification without any thought of the process that brings us to that place. Usually that process is just hard work, climbing a mountain to enjoy the view from the summit; long hard training in the dojo to polish your technique; or putting in the time it takes to put out a great work of art. Whatever the process is it is usually worth it in the end to receive the finished product. Patience and trust in the process is always well rewarded. Please keep up the process of putting out a great work of art for all of us who do wait patiently for our next issue of Furyu to arrive.
--Thanks, Jim Alvarez, Chief Instructor, Aikido of Livermore Valley
[I've] been involved in martial arts now about six years, studied several different styles of karate, and currently judo, only because of this particular club's approach to budo. I'm not interested in the macho bullshit atttitudes. . . Nobody, no one carries a candle stick to your insights, you must truly be awaited. I'll await the next issue, patiently. It's well worth the wait. . .You guys are good, worth the meager broken bones received in the last six years, Thank you.
--R.J. Kurszewski
Since being introduced to your journal at its inception, I have made a concerted effort to read it and to absorb the perspective contained therein. I know that your journal's presence has filled a gap in our branch's research, and Dr. (Stephan) Fabian and myself have spent much time discussing Furyu's articles and perspectives. Thank you again for what you are doing, and best wishes for the continued success of your teaching and writing.
. . .I really could relate to the recent article on Zanshin's element of respect, especially as it relates to a teacher of the martial arts. Dr. Fabian has always been a positive influence on his students' ethical growth, as I'm sure you have been to your students. Having studied at several other schools, I feel confident in stating that teachers (or even just "people"!) with your perspectives are rare. Thanks for the continued campaign and encouragement. Hopefully, the martial arts philosophical tide will shift back in the direction of respect for self and others.
--Brian G. Barnes
One of the things I like about your company is that you've always made me, as a reader, feel important. . . I don't know why I even bother to browse through the mainstream martial arts mags anymore (yes, I do know. I need a quick fix of glossy pictures of martial artists doing martial arts "things") as everytime I pick up one, I just get incensed. Heck, in the last issue of [Brand X], the editor admitted that he maintains his non-partisan viewpoint on the martial arts by (gosh, I love this. . .) not practicing any martial arts whatsoever! Maybe it's just my Generation X cynicism coming through, but I read the subtext to that as "We don't know what we're talking about; and we're proud of it! Better still, you keep buying our product! So who's the moron?"
Thanks for existing! And stop answering wierdo e-mails and get back to work! I'm running to my mailbox everyday waiting for the next issue! ;-)
--Peace, John FitzpatrickJohn, I read the same editorial and I thought it was pretty bizarre myself. Don't get me wrong; I really wish all the other "pro" magazines well, and I'm sure they service a community that adores the kind of articles they publish. But that editorial pretty much said it all. You can read their stuff, edited by people who admit not knowing anything about martial arts, so they'll print just about anything that's sensationalized enough. Heck, there's an audience for that.
But I'm hoping that there's people out there like you and me, who approach martial arts training with a bit more sophistication and depth. Not that it's necessary for everyone. It's a free country, and you take your choice of what to read.
Thank you for this essay [on martial arts cults] so amusingly written, and terrifying in its implications. Very well done.
--Many blessings! Yours in Christ,
Father Douglas Skoyles SSCIn a private corresondence with Father Skoyles, we noted that we are considering taking a more serious, expanded look at this problem. Since that time, we've learned through our gossip grapevine that a major organization, considered a "cult" by many Western religious groups, has been trying to muscle into existing karate and tae kwon do groups. Once they gain control of the groups, they hope to proselytize the thousands of youngsters who sign up for classes. This will be done under the guise of teaching children martial arts philosophy, but is really intended to convert them to their own unusual brand of fundamentalist-New Age-syncretic religion.
Many well-positioned martial arts instructors who have been approached have turned down the proposal to join the cult outright, but there may be many others who will have a hard time turning down all the money that was offered to them.
