Yozan LLC

09/11/2025

Since our founding, we have been a place of welcome and fellowship, *regardless of* gender, sexual identity/orientation, race, political ideology, religion -- in fact, any potential lever that has been weaponized to stoke division in our society.

We have had meaningful and honest conversations among Constitutional Conservatives, Socialists, Christians, Satanists, Atheists, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Anarchists, etc. Genuine and lasting friendships. Difficult and raw conversations.

Let me now be absolutely clear. We will continue to be a welcoming place for all.

However, I will personally not tolerate anyone who is currently cheering or mocking or weaponizing the political assassination of Charlie Kirk.

If you do not understand why such a heinous act is fundamentally at odds with training in martial arts as we do, then you are not for us, and we are not for you.

We train in some of the most brutal, savage, and deadly techniques and strategies of armed violence in human history--not to glorify it, but to build character and to take seriously the fragility of human life and the gravity of its willful destruction.

In short, what we embody in our training is, in part, what happens when all efforts at peaceful dialogue have broken down. And no one who has experienced it and thoughtfully proccessed it comes away thinking that *that* is something we want to actually become a part of our reality, with real and permanent consequences.

I don't care whether you agree or disagree with what Charlie believed and said. He was talking. His hands held a mic, not a weapon. Taking his life represents a rejection of a good faith offer of communication and dialogue. Whether you loved him or hated him, no one actually wants the only alternative an act like this leaves us, especially those of us who understand the visceral anatomy of armed violence.

Unfollow, block, or do whatever you feel you need to do. Anyone who is cheering the death of someone like Charlie Kirk is not someone I want holding a sword, PERIOD.

11/05/2024

More than just a sticker. I am grateful on this day for the blessing of being a citizen of this mighty and special nation. I am grateful to the Founders and their wisdom in crafting the Constitution of these United States--an unprecedented work of moral and practical genius. I am deeply grateful to my parents, who went through the arduous effort of making it possible for me to inherit this right to participate in our Constitutional Republic. Regardless of the outcome of this election, it is important that we remain vigilant and united in spirit as fellow Americans. God bless and guide the USA. 🇺🇸

05/27/2024

12/24/2023

Let's add "Samurai Santa" (and his army of ninja elves) to the list of reasons to avoid the Naughty List 🎅 🎄

Merry Christmas!

10/25/2023

What's this?? A new blog entry?!

It has been quite some time (over a year!) since the last blog post. Our group continues to grow-- in spirit, technique, and size.

06/05/2023

We were invited to participate in the annual Japan Festival this year! So grateful to the Japan Society of Greater Hartford for their invitation!

But the moment I took the mic, I suddenly realized how many young children were actually present... and decided then and there to omit a substantial portion of the demonstration, because I was not at all prepared to explain those katas for a general audience, without understandably horrifying the parents of those young children. This is nothing against the lovely audience; here, I simply speak as a father to young children myself.

For example, I normally delight in explaining (to adult trainees) the usefulness of sniping/chopping at the opponent's wrists/lower forearms, pointing out how close to the surface of the skin (and thus exceptionally vulnerable) the radius and ulna bones are (especially the radius). Even a relatively shallow strike can be sufficient to cause a serious fracture! Hooray!

But would I want some stranger at a family-friendly festival demonstrating/explaining that to my own child in between a serene bamboo flute performance and a calligraphy demonstration? That's a serious NOPE.

So, next time, I will be more thoughtful in how I prepare to address an audience that includes children. A part of me cannot help but to second-guess and overthink this... wondering if I'm not being disingenuous or glamorizing what is, in fact, a brutally violent combat art.

At the same time, learning how to adapt to one's audience is fundamentally the same lesson as learning how to adapt to one's opponent. And today, I was unprepared and thus failed in conveying the true depth and purpose of our art to others, which happened to include children. More importantly, I let down my friends, who look to me for leadership and are certainly capable of doing and showing so much more than what I allowed to be showcased today due to my own unpreparedness.

Lesson learned. And I will prepare to never repeat the same mistake again in the future.

05/29/2023

Honoring those who made our lives possible requires reflecting on whether we are indeed leading lives that justify and honor their service and sacrifice.

09/14/2022

An unscripted exercise in improvisation and adaptation. As Joshua (left) deftly blocks Matt's strike with the spine of his sword, he simultaneously moves in for a powerful thrust, adjusting the angle of the sword tip accordingly. Matt, however, avoids the thrust by swiftly moving into Josh's blindspot, forcing him to turn in that direction. Matt then takes Josh's wrist as the latter repositions for a follow-up attack.

While it is at a lower intensity than sparring, even in an unscripted exercise like this one, it still takes tremendous focus and restraint to avoid serious injury when moving and striking with such purpose and power.

Meaningfully pressure-testing one's skill, distance management, and reaction time in a combat martial art is only possible with the thoughtful collaboration of a like-minded training partner in real time. Such things simply cannot be accomplished alone or even on-line.

This is why we should always show respect and gratitude to our training partners.

09/05/2022

Testing slo-mo editing... Many thanks to for the footage!

08/30/2022

Testing video editing.

05/20/2022

Mike showing Brandon a Kali/Escrima technique during class (close quarter joint-lock and disarm). While not an official part of our kenjutsu curriculum, it has nevertheless been interesting and instructive to learn and incorporate relevant techniques from other martial arts systems. [Kali/Escrima, aka Arnis, is Filipino; our kenjutsu is Japanese]

Being open to learning from each other is an essential part of how we do what we do at Yozan. It is how we embody the ideals of humility and respect. It is the foundation of the friendships we are building. I am deeply grateful to each of you for being my students and, at the same time, also my teachers.

03/11/2022

Please check out our latest blog post!

Some time over the past few decades, we seem to have lost our ability to argue effectively as a society. This is more than a little ironic, considering that we have more technological means at our disposal than ever bef...