By Asaf Hochman

Go to Setto no kata in the AKBAN-wiki

Koto Ryu is one of the Japanese martial arts systems learned in Bujinkan and the various X-Kans. It is an extensive martial art system that exits also outside the Bujinkan.

By Gabi Frishlander

In every visit to Sinai, I felt that this desert carries a different and sometimes enchanting flow of life. Good karma goes a long way there. Nir Unger and I were on our way to Muhammad's family near Santa Katrina, when we met on the beach with an expert on finding water, a real dowser, there by invitation of the Egyptian government. He was invited to help locate water in the arid expanses of Sinai. He was also on his way to meet Muhammad, who is known and respected throughout Sinai. Andre, Nir and I were in a minibus loaded with groceries for the family when it started to drizzle. Water came down from the sky after a dry spell of years. Although not a torrent, the drizzle signified to me that this visit will be extraordinary.

Here are two of Oded's favorite boxers (one that he did not even know he liked).

Gatka is a Sikh martial art that has a unique and efficient use of weapons. Gatka warriors practice randori, shiai and the instructors practice too. Many places in India host the Gatka dojo in the Sikh temple grounds.

For us in AKBAN the background upon which the system rose is not the main issue. The main issue here is the superb method. Martial arts that originated in the Indian sub-continent have been poorly researched in comparison with their Chinese and Japanese counterparts. We begin to remedy this with a special section in our martial arts encyclopedia, the AKBAN-wiki.

By Gidon Zaghar

When you go down to the beach in Brazil, you can see, aside from the amazing view, many people playing volleyball of two types. One of the types is the known form of the game; the other is played without using the hands. The latter requires agility even for a single move. Interesting, it's not a small group of talented people who play the no hand volleyball, but rather many regular beach goers. I asked one of the players who had taught him to play, "the ball" he answered.

By Yossi Sheriff

Few days ago I heard someone say: "Everyone is replaceable". At first, I agreed, but then rethought, of course not, only machines and certain kinds of food are replaceable. Even so, margarine is only margarine.

Human beings never have a substitute. What gives these people their wholesomeness is the place they occupy in my life. If someone occupies a functional, narrow place in my life then this place has a substitute, but the person never has.

By Yossi Sheriff

Just two years ago, G. called me and asked: "Renzo Gracie is in Israel and he has a free evening".

"Well, let's hone our BJJ skills with the best".

When Renzo walked into the Tel Aviv dojo he took a step back, either the smell, the beer or the number of people took him by surprize. As some veterans in AKBAN have been to Renzo's New York place the hesitation changed to smiles.

You can see this visit here

Courtesy of Gaby, of course. End of the 1980's, begining of the 1990's. Never knew we looked so, ah, well, young?

Ancient part of history, thanks Gaby for restoring and editing this stuff from VHS oblivion.

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If you can't see the flash movie, download it here:http://media.revver.com/qt;sharer=35965;download/121256.mov