Sword Kata's 1 through 5 on the web

Test team.. check it out:

http://dontbedead.blip.tv/#2051222

Snake

Ok.. test team.. yesterday I saw a 3 foot long snake, it was a Mojave viper, very poisonous... here is a link that all must read before the test.. http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/995_snakes.html

Making darts

As you can see.. we have had some technical difficulties in making darts for this years test. Why, you might ask? Well, each year it seems that we must redesign darts do to the differences of the materials tolerances in manufacturing. Key to dart design is that they are safe. A dart can be made to really hurt and fly out there, but make one with good flight characteristics, with range, and be safe, is another task altogether. Here is what I'm seeing:

First the foam rod that the test team got is a slight bit smaller in diameter. Given everything else with the dart design being the same, what this meant was blow by in the tube, thus the force on the dart itself, was lessened. The result is a dart that didn't go far and also had some flight issues as the weigth to lifting body ratios had changed. So, I varied, or well Matiase and I did, the aft end of the foam body to try and stop the blow by, but that lead to a more unstable dart in flight. I added some more weight to the front in hopes of allowing the dart more mass, thus more flight time... this was marginal at best but did increase the striking power, which is the wrong way. So, we finally had to compromise and go back to a dart with less range but maintained the safety value. Here is a picture of the range of my darts...

That distance is about 150 feet.. the test teams darts are around 80 feet at best. Oh well.. darn, that means you will need to use stealth, cunning, and the natural aggressive nature of an anjing banfaist to overcome my ballistic advantage. Darn, huh?...

Darts under construction...

And finally our new knife throwing target:

And my blow gun is home at last! I will have an update on the tubes we are making and painting today for the test...

I am Master Peter Brusso, and I hope you enjoyed this update!

April 30 Black Belt Test

Update: Well lots has happened since Dec... I moved out to my new house in the desert where I can train everyday, shoot, 4 wheel, and more. What is most important is that the house is set up for Anjing Banfa training. As such, we are going to have our black belt test this year, out here at the Salton Sea. It affords us a variety of training environments and capabilities that we have never had before; which is just great. This is our own private beach with fire pit and all.

So this year we will have one of the highest speed low drag tests of all time. We have a stellar group of visiting sensei's and masters who will be here for the 4 day test. We have activities that we, in the past, could never do so it should be another record breaking Anjing Banfa test. We have two master candidates: Grant Smillie and Larry Ahlquist, so wish them well; as they are going to need it. I will keep all posted on the test... Master Peter Brusso