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Taage:

I joined the Western Circle of Swordfighters in February of 2000. I make and fight with my own two-handed long sword boken. As of this writing, I received the rank of Red Rope a few months ago and have begun steel training and combat, and was granted permission to open my own dojo to teach and spread the modern sword art of the Western Circle. Additionally, I am actively pursuing my next rank and have chosen the path of The Complete Blade as part of this goal, so I now train and fight primarily with one-handed boken of my making.

In my time with the Western Circle, I have met and had the opportunity to cross swords with many honorable sword fighters. I have relished in the training and the challenge that being a part of the Western Circle brings. I am pleased to now pass on these skills to students of my own.

When I began my training with the Western Circle of Swordfighters, I chose to give back to the Circle in the form of the original website for the organization. I created, maintained, and publicized the site for almost a year and half before turning it over to the Council to maintain and it has grown from there. I am pleased and somewhat surprised that so many swords people have found the site, and through it learned of the Western Circle of Swordfighters. It has in several ways far surpassed my original expectations.

Since late 2001, I have resided in deep Northern California and have, much to my sorrow, been without weekly classes until the recent opening of my own class. I continued to practice as best I could on my own, whether in my back yard or wherever I found a good place out of the way, such as when I went backpacking or hiking. Despite the extra distance, I attempt to make as many of the combat events as possible.

In addition to the arts taught by the Western Circle of Swordfighters, I train in Shotokan Karate and Myo Sim Kendo, and have had minimal training in Tai Chi Chuan and Aikido. I record my training notes in an online journal which is open for general reading. If you are so inclined, you may find it at http://taage.livejournal.com.

Fare well,
-Taage

"Sweat more in training that you may bleed less in battle" - unknown