I LOVE all of this. It reminded me that we all have human tendencies to react, which most likely comes from our childhood as well as our human desire to control our circumstances and protect ourselves from physical and emotional pain. Also, I think they really take some effort to understand. I can accurately say that my Nami Ryu training has taught me that I didn't have much of anything in place to understand the four horsemen or adapt to them until after the fact, when the consequences became apparent. For anyone who hasn't heard of the 4 Horsemen of Nami Ryu, I'm so glad that @Joanne Hunter brought them up. As kenjutsuka, our practice is to learn to recognize these four things in our life and in our practice. I'll record some videos on this, but here are a few of my thoughts on each one from my life and training. Assumption - Our practice in kenjutsu is to release our assumptions that an opponent will take a certain action or act a certain way. We train to develop the skills necessary to adapt in the moment, which helps us let go of the need to control and make assumptions. Assumptions are typically based on past experiences, which may not be what the present reality is. Q: What assumptions do I have for my training partner, spouse, friends, etc.? How do I react or act when my assumptions were wrong? Expectation - When we take an action expecting to see a desired result, we can become "caught" by the opponent when the result is different than what we expected. A great example in kenjutsu is when we expect our training partner to attack at a certain speed, and they attack differently than what we expected. We can find ourselves unable to adapt, as we try to perceive the reality of the situation but it's typically too late by then, as our expectation and resulting surprise becomes apparent to our opponent. Anticipation - In kenjutsu, anticipating what the opponent is going to do can cause us to act prematurely. We can become set in our ways and take the wrong action because we become committed what we believe will happen. We are acting from a false perception and even a fearful desire to control an event or action before it has happened. This can immediately lead to a fear-based response as we try to save ourselves.

@Katreena Baker Great way to add challenge, and really good way to improve structure and stretch fascia!

@Joanne Hunter thank you for mentioning that. Everything has a reason and a meaning in kenjutsu, so it's good to know these things and keep them in mind, just as you said. I'm so glad you asked about everyone in the shomen. I think it would be a fantastic section to add to the community. I do have those resources, so I'll get that together and add a section on it. Wonderful idea!!

@Alex Taylor I just added the links for both Monday classes and Saturday. Sorry about that, I meant to add them earlier. Today's class recording is in the Distance Student section.

Sensei recommends having plenty of tactical flashlights around, and especially flashlights that have a setting for low lumen lighting. It's enough to read a map or document and it won't drain your battery. I also recommend flares (other than just in our cars), tool kits, hand warmers (typically used when skiing), and portable water filters (the kind you'd take hiking). Some high-energy snacks and even gummy bears can keep your blood sugar up, too. We forget how draining the cold can be and running low on energy affects our ability to think and make critical decisions, and the speed at which we can make those decisions.

@David Teague 🧸😂. The trick is to buy the ones you don't like...those gummy bears that you can hardly chew. Or keep some Halloween candy corn in reserve. I guarantee you won't eat those ahead of time, lol.