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Ninpo and Mu: Waxing and Waning Like the Moon

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

Full Moon over Nagoya Castle; photo by ka_tate
In a Ninja's view of the universe, Soke Hatsumi comments on how beautiful it is to see a crescent moon peering between the clouds...  And he suggests that the "secret is to let your own existence resonate with the universal consciousness" ... whether in the form of moonlight or other natural phenomena.  He has also told us that taijutsu henka are like the phases of the moon.  These phases occur naturally, in a natural connection to the movements of Earth and Sun.  Your taijutsu should reflect the world as natural as the moonlight.

What is to be learned from cold moonlight?  In Japan, the moonlight has an empty longing to it that resonates deeply with the Japanese spirit.  Hatsumi Sensei has made reference to the author Yasunari Kawabata who, on winning the Nobel prize for literature in 1968, spoke movingly about the moon and it's deep companionship with the Japanese.  Here he quotes the priest Myoe,

"On the night of the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year 1224, the moon was behind clouds. I sat in Zen meditation in the Kakyu Hall. When the hour of the midnight vigil came, I ceased meditation and descended from the hall on the peak to the lower quarters, and as I did so the moon came from the clouds and set the snow to glowing. The moon was my companion, and not even the wolf howling in the valley brought fear. When, presently, I came out of the lower quarters again, the moon was again behind clouds. As the bell was signalling the late-night vigil, I made my way once more to the peak, and the moon saw me on the way. I entered the meditation hall, and the moon, chasing the clouds, was about to sink behind the peak beyond, and it seemed to me that it was keeping me secret company."

Hatsumi Sensei writes about his intentions for sharing Ninpo:

There is a saying: "The village that shines in the moonlight leaves a different impression in the souls of different people."  The Chinese characters for strength and nothingness are both read "mu" in Japanese.  Therefore, nothingness is the same of strength.

My intention is to introduce you to the world of Ninpo through the method of expression based on nothingness.
Sensei also wrote, "There is no village on which the moon does not shine, the moon lives in the mind of the gazer."

What do you see in the moonlight?  Where does the light fall?  Does it illuminate something beautiful for you or melancholy?  One way to grasp our training is to approach it with the clarity of moonlight. Don't train with ego, just allow the nothingness of the teachings to fall over you.  You can find great joy if you sacrifice yourself to your training.  Have the feeling of surrender or sutemi.  And like the moonlight, understanding will flash in your eyes.

Soke talks about finding a purity of focus in life so that there is no worry for death,

In order to do so, we must have a clear purpose in our daily life.  If we live our daily lives with sutemi, the mind of budo, and the passion of the artist who pours his soul into his works, we can almost forget about death, and never regret our life at the moment of its end.
Moonlight is nothingness yet shines on all the world.  That is a clear purpose.  And the strength of Mu.


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Holger Kunzmann, 30:e April – 1:a Maj i STHLM

Holger Kunzmann frĂ„n Tyskland gĂ€star Stockholm och Kaigƍzan Dƍjƍ den 30:e April och 1:a Maj 2011.

Holger Àr ingen frÀmling för oss, detta Àr 5:e gÄngen vi bjudit hit honom för ett seminarium i Stockholm (2007, 2008-1 -2, 2009-1 -2, 2010).

AnmÀl dig i tid, antalet platser Àr begrÀnsat och de som anmÀler sig och betalar i förskott har förtur.

Tema = Gyokko-ryƫ

Pris för seminariet

LÀgret kostar 850 SEK för bÄda dagarna eller 500 SEK för en dag. Observera att platserna Àr begrÀnsade och vi vill fylla dojon med 25 deltagare bÄda dagarna (varken mer eller mindre för att hÄlla budget). De som betalar först har förtur och en garanterad plats!

Betalningsmetoder

Vi rekommenderar och föredrar att betalningar inom Sverige görs genom en vanlig PG inbetalning till
PG 310 765-3 (Kaigozan Dojo).



VĂ€lj vilka dagar du vill trĂ€na i rull-listen nedan och klicka pĂ„ PayNow knappen. Observera att vi tar ut en extra avgift pĂ„ 50 SEK för PayPal betalningar. 




Glöm inte fylla i anmÀlningsformulÀret nedan

Plats

LÀgret Àr i vÄr egen lokal pÄ Albygatan 117 Sundbyberg, Stockholm med begrÀnsat antal deltagare.

TrÀningsschema

Fredag: Om det blir en extra trÀning sÄ kostar den 100 SEK för lÀgerdeltagare och 200 SEK för övriga. Vi uppdaterar hÀr nÀr detta Àr bestÀmt med instruktören.
Lördag: TrÀningen startar kl 11:00 och slutar ungefÀr kl 18:00. Vi öppnar upp 30-40 minuter innan för registrering och uppvÀrmning. Vi kommer att ha kortare pauser och en lÀngre lunch under dagen. PÄ kvÀllen har vi middag pÄ restaurang med Holger för de som Àr intresserade.
Söndag: TrÀningen startar kl 11:00 och slutar ungefÀr kl 15:00. Observera att vi har endast nÄgra kortare raster sÄ ta med ett mellanmÄl sÄ att ni klarar er. Efter allt Àr avslutat sÄ blir det middag om nÄgon Àr intresserad att hÄlla den trötta arrangören sÀllskap ett tag.

LĂ€ger DVD

Kommer att filmas av BUDOSHOP.SE och finnas till försÀljning nÄgra veckor senare. LÀgerdeltagare erbjuds att förbestÀlla filmen (eller filmerna om det blir fler Àn en) för 200 SEK inkl porto. FörbestÀllningen ska vara kontant och gjord innan lÀgret avslutats. Detta kommer att annonseras ut under lÀgret.

Holger Kunzmann DVDs at BUDO SHOP

Tidigare seminarie-DVD med Holger Kunzmann

Finns att köpa pÄ Kaigozan BUDOSHOP.SE. BUDOSHOP.SE kommer att finnas med pÄ lÀgret, kontakta oss om ni vill att vi tar med nÄgonting speciellt frÄn butiken. Vi kan omöjligt ta med hela butiken, men vi tar gÀrna med det du vill titta pÄ.
Vi erbjuder ocksÄ bra rabatt pÄ det mesta ur butiken under seminariet.

 

Vi gjorde ocksĂ„ ett Facebook event, men observera att klicka “attend” dĂ€r gĂ€ller inte som anmĂ€lan!…

Kaigƍzan seminarier 2010

Vi arrangerade mĂ„nga trĂ€ningslĂ€ger 2010, vĂ„ra medlemmar deltog ocksĂ„ pĂ„ mĂ„nga andra lĂ€ger i Sverige och övriga Europa. HĂ€r Ă€r en lista pĂ„ nĂ„gra av dom…

2010-01-16 Mats Hjelm i STHLM arrangerat av Kaigozan Dojo
2010-02-20 Pete Reynolds i Uppsala arrangerat av Bujinkan Gefle
2010-02-27 Tre Amigos i STHLM arrangerat av Bujinkan Sweden
2010-04-03 Duncan Stewart i STHLM arrangerat av Kaigozan Dojo
2010-05-29 Mats Hjelm i STHLM arrangerat av Kaigozan Dojo
2010-08-27 Kikanjyu i Prague, Czech Republic
2010-09-18 Mark Lithgow i STHLM arrangerat av Bushin Dojo
2010-10-01 Kaigozan 20 Year Anniversary Taikai i STHLM arrangerat av Kaigozan Dojo
2010-12-04 Mats Hjelm i Eskilstuna arrangerat av Bujinkan Eskilstuna…

Kihon Happou by Soke

From Toku Bu Ryu Sui Dojo by Duncan Stewart

Kihon Happou

by Soke Hatsumi Masaaki

I have trained myself and instructed others in Kihon Happo and felt that those who have had previous training in Karate, Judo, Aikido, Kung Fu, and other fighting techniques tend to stay with those forms and have trouble learning Budo Taijutsu from a “blank slate.” The fighting forms stay with the student even though he starts the training of Budo Taijutsu. When do the previous learned techniques disappear? I think it is up to a person’s individual talent. The phenomenon is just like a dialect disappearing after one lives in a different part of the country.

No matter how hard one tries, he will never be a professional announcer if he speaks in dialect. The same can be said for Budo. I also studied various martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Aikido, old-style Budo, and Chinese Budo. In other words, until I encountered Takamatsu Sensei, I was a Budoka (martial artist) with many dialects. One day I began to wonder why and when did I lose those “dialects?” I realized that it was after I lost all my muscle tone after five years of illness.

Discovery of your own dialect is one way of improving Budo. When one reaches a certain degree of skill, he comes up against the “wall,” something he has trouble overcoming. This is the so-called dialect of Taijutsu.

I want to write about how to train yourself when you reach a higher rank during Budo training. I would like to use a Cat Competition as an example. I have had lots of experience in the competition because my wife served as judge of the World Cat Club and I was also vice chairman of the club.

Suppose five top cats are chosen out of hundreds of cats. All of them are wonderful and beautiful, but that alone cannot be judged. With no other way to judge which cat is more beautiful then another, the judges start to look for faults. The one with the most faults drops to fifth, the next, fourth, then third, and so on. The one with the least faults becomes Grand Champion.

Bugei is the same way. If one reaches to a higher rank, he need only eliminate his faults. It may sound easy, but eliminating faults is very difficult to accomplish, because we tend to think we are faultless. Faults can be translated into something different in Budo. They can be suki (unguarded points), or carelessness, presumption, arrogance, etc. they all become our fault. No fault, zero condition is the best. I am zero. I joke that the Soke has no Dan. Zero, no fault that is the target of Bufu Ikkan (living through the martial winds).

 


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Ninja Morality of Kogarashi Monjiro

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

This time of year is often spent helping, giving or thinking of others.  There are many people who misinterpret the life of a ninja as one of a solitary, dark and shadowy existence.  A lone wolf sneaking in and out of other's lives to accomplish some mission.

Sensei suggests to us that this is not a healthy view.  He says that it is an ideal to have others depend on you.  People think they are too busy to help others, but if you decide to ignore everyone else, trusting only yourself, you will soon become one of the busiest of all men.  He continues,
To give a helping hand to poor people and to want to save them is the humanity of Japanese, and of a warrior's heart.
Hatsumi mentions the character Kogarashi Monjiro from the novel and 1970's TV series set in the Edo period, originally written by Saho Sasazawa. Acted by famous samurai actor Atsuo Nokamura.  Monjiro lived the wandering life of a gambler.  He had a nihilistic attitude and sought to eliminate and avoid involvement with others as much as possible.



The main character is said to have been born in a poor farming family in a village called Mikazuki (half-moon), Nittagori Country in Gunma Prefecture. When Monjiro turned 10, his family left their native soil and was separated. Why the lonesome Monjiro started to live as a homeless wanderer is unknown.
Monjiro’s typical posture includes a wooden toothpick between his teeth, and his nickname “Kogarashi” (the sound of a cold wind wailing) comes from the sound he makes when he breathes with the toothpick. He is a guy who knows no love for people, but cannot overlook evil deeds.
Soke says,
"It doesn't concern me," is a famous Monjiro quote that best represents today's irresponsible times.  In reality, Monjiro never left without helping somebody.  While he says, "It doesn't concern me," he still becomes involved and fights the villain.  This is what is so very charming about the Monjiro character.  He gives justice to people's morality. 
Hatsumi Sensei continues with this advice,
You might be living in a nihilistic manner with a callous attitude but I would prefer you have the Japanese spirit deep in your heart.  Compassionate people make others feel gracious and trustworthy
So please get into this wonderful ninja holiday spirit!  But I don't suggest wearing your red, fur lined ninja/Santa Claus suit out in public...


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Munenmusƍ  ç„Ąćż”ç„Ąæƒł: Free From Worldly or Worthless Thoughts

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by Frogman!
There is a common saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  We see this all the time in training.  People begin to grow in their skill with taijutsu and two things often occur:

  • They injure themselves or others.
  • Or... they stop learning because they think they got it already.
This blind spot is very dangerous, because by their nature the person that is full of "knowledge" is unaware that they are ignorant.  And sometimes they convince others that they know something or have "secrets".

Hatsumi Sensei talks about this knowledge as if it is a burden.  A weight that should be shed.  Soke said that people want to possess the densho or secret scrolls.  But that when people learn the secrets they were searching for, they become too tense to move freely.  They are burdened with the knowledge and trying to use it correctly.
I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness.  - Shakespeare
Sensei likened this to kareteka who used to train with iron geta.  This is a similar principle to the modern fitness training with ankle weights.  At first they are heavy, but eventually the wearer gets used to them and doesn't even notice the burden.  But how freeing and light it will feel to remove them entirely!

I am amazed at people who attend classes or train at a seminar yet miss everything being taught because they are full of knowledge already.  Their consciousness is heavy with what they know.  Leaving no room for anything new.

A great example for us is the theme for 2011.  How many people think they know kihon happo?  There are teachers already teaching this theme or planning their seminars for 2011.
Alexander Pope shared this idea:
That a little knowledge is apt to puff up, and make men giddy, but a greater share of it will set them right, and bring them to low and humble thoughts of themselves.
 I watched Hatsumi Sensei write the scroll with this theme for my teacher on November 23.  He said it was the first time he had written the theme for next year.  But the kanji were not the "normal" way kihon happo is written.  This signifies Sensei's intention to take a fresh approach to the kihon.  Or, at least, to get us to drop our preconceptions and learn it anew.

So what effort in learning can you make?  Sensei suggests:
From nothing (not thinking), something (an action) comes forth, and the person who masters this idea is the one who can comprehend the secret teachings.  This understanding in your heart is more important than the techniques.  The mind of "munen muso" (no thought, no mind) in the heart is the real secret teaching rather than the waza.


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KlubblĂ€ger, Lör 15:e Januari i Kaigƍzan dƍjƍ

Vi kommer att ha ett klubblĂ€ger Lördag den 15:e Januari i Kaigƍzan dƍjƍ. TrĂ€ningen kommer att ledas av alla Shidƍshi (instruktörer) i Kaigƍzan dƍjƍ; Mats, Eric, Kent, Viktor, Daniel. Detta Ă€r ett ypperligt tillfĂ€lle att lĂ€ra kĂ€nna alla instruktörer i Kaigƍzan dƍjƍ.

TrÀning kl. 11:00-17:00 med kortare raster. Ta med mellanmÄl sÄ att du klarar dig, vi tar ingen lÄnglunch!

Priset Àr en symbolisk summa pÄ 100 kr. Alla Àr vÀlkomna, nybörjare, fortsÀttare, avancerade. Medlemmar frÄn andra klubbar Àr ocksÄ vÀlkomna!

Efter trÀningen blir det middag tillsammans pÄ Bishops Arms.

OBS! Vi har inget speciellt anmĂ€lningsformulĂ€r, men anmĂ€l gĂ€rna erat intresse hĂ€r pĂ„ Facebook.…