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Tai Kai 2011 was a big success!

From Sweden Taikai 2012 by Sweden Taikai 2012

Picture by Perry Elstgeest (thanks!)

Right click on the image to download the high resolution image.

 
Thanks to everyone who made this great Tai Kai such a big success! Thanks to the instructors for being on top and such great guys! Thanks to the staff, some worked more than others (we know who you are, special thanks to you guys!). And also big thanks to everyone who attended, especially to you guys from abroad and outside Stockholm who traveled and spent extra money and effort to attend this Tai Kai. Because it was such a big success we decided to do it again, but this time in Linköping and organized by Anne Liljedahl with support from Svenska Bujinkanförbundet. We already set the date, it is October 6-7′th 2012, so book the date now!

 

What did you think about the Tai Kai?

We would like to hear what you thought about the Tai Kai this year, please add your comments and thoughts below!

 

Tai Kai DVD

The Kaigozan BUDOSHOP was there and filmed the Tai Kai and got 5.5 hours that will be edited down to two DVD’s that will be available for purchase at their web shop in late September or early in October.

 

Pictures from the Tai Kai

We (the staff) took many pictures and will upload them to different photo albums soon. If you took pictures and have them on-line in photo albums, please let us know the link in the comment field below. You could also send them to me and I will add it to our photo album.

This page will be updated often the following weeks (with links to pictures, video clips, comments etc). Check back often!

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The Natural Form of Gogyo Hidden in Steam

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Steamed Hokkaido potato seller, photo by robizumi
The study of form. It is where most classes begin. But it also leads to some of the biggest failures and flaws in martial arts training. So much so, that Hatsumi Sensei constantly reminds us not to focus on or memorize forms.

Yet, it is hard to teach or learn anything without using form as a starting place. How do we resolve this paradox? We can look at one of our basic forms to seek answers to these questions:

Gogyo no kata: why and how does form corrupt our training of this basic concept?

I will give two examples that have far reaching implications in the Bujinkan worldwide.

In the first, it comes from a natural human tendency to take something new and compare or relate to something else we already are familiar with. This happened many years ago in the Bujinkan with the Gogyo. It was the concept that the gogyo should be a spiritual concept like the godai.

Sensei has said this isn't the correct approach:
"We are training with the gogyo no kata: chi, sui, ka, fu, ku. If you think of this as something as religious then that can be a really bad mistake. Some people try to make this a study of "godai no kata" from a religious aspect but then you lose track of the real martial arts. Experience the gogyo no kata as a universal form - the natural form."
This seemingly small choice to compare gogyo to godai has travelled the globe and the decades so that the misconception persists very strongly even today. To the extent that people will insist on it. So if I am learning a form from someone who insists on this approach, what am I learning? What is the form in the form?

Form inherently limits freedom. Of thought, of movement. This brings me to my second example.

If you learn any form in a specific way, you end up memorizing it with your mind and body. Then the form gets repeated. A lot. It is supposed to be some kind of practice I guess. Memorizing and repeating form is substituted for real learning.

So if you are shown a new way, or are corrected, it is difficult to change. In the gogyo I see people all over the world perform it in a way that can be traced back to poor understandings from the '80's. I have even watched Sensei try to correct them. Over the years he continues to correct when it comes up. But bad habits die hard.

In my own classes, I sometimes have people join us for training who learned different versions of the gogyo. No problem. I show them my version. Then I ask them to share their version so we can learn something new. But often, everyone is so attached to their own form that they cannot even do another. Even after being shown it repeatedly.

I observed this same lack of flexibility when Sensei corrected the gogyo he saw people doing. They were so trapped in their bad habit, they understood nothing he was saying or showing them in that moment.

Form is a container for ideas that cannot be seen. We can take some feeling from the Sui of gogyo. But what is the essence of water? How do you contain it? Even today science does not comprehend all of its properties. Sensei says he is teaching steam:
"In martial arts it's common sense to think of water as something that flows from high places to low places. But in places you can't see, this water turns into steam and rises up into the heavens."
This is a hidden lesson of water. Another is that it does not memorize the form of the landscape it flows over. Every rock and twist of geography, or falls in elevation. Water just flows or changes state as needed.

So if you look at the form that is being shown in class, look further. Sensei says,
"Always understand one step beyond what is being shown. then be able to go on to the next step. Even if a bad person uses some fantastic techniques, you'll always be able to go beyond that and defeat them."
Do you see that in the form of gogyo you practice?


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Sign up form is closed, but you are still welcome to attend.

From Sweden Taikai 2012 by Sweden Taikai 2012

The sign up form is closed now, we need time to sort and prepare. But… You can still come to the Tai Kai and sign up & pay (no extra charge!) at the door, there is no too late date. Yes we have places, just come!

147 people from 15 countries.
We have support from 19 of the 24 Swedish Bujinkanförbundet dojo’s.

I’m on my way to Arlanda to pick up Duncan and Steve soon, tomorrow I’ll pick up Sveneric and Rob on Friday. So everyone is coming. I will be pretty busy from now on and i won’t have time to update this blog any more. Follow us on twitter @taikai2011, use the hashtag #tks2011 or mention @taikai2011 if you tweet about the Tai Kai.

See you all soon, and Happy traveling!

/Mats

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Last Tai Kai newsletter and reminder.

From Sweden Taikai 2012 by Sweden Taikai 2012

The last Kaigousru Taikai 2007. We will use the same dojo with tatami mats

Hello, here is the last newsletter for the Swedish Taikai. If you feel I forgot something, please respond immediately so I can get that out in time!

Right now we have 143 people from 15 countries signed up. We have room for many more, so please try to make it. Don’t worry about signing up, you can do that when you come! If you don’t come we will miss you!

Payment: From now on please pay cash when you come to the Tai Kai. Note we only accept Swedish currency, and cash (no credit card!).

Friday extra training: The training is at Bujinkan Bushin Dojo (Svea Kampsportcenter) on Sveavägen 130 in Stockholm. We will start around 15:00 and finish around 20:00. This training is free for everyone attending the Taikai. If you come late, please don’t disturb the class, wait for the first short break or until the instructor invite you to the mat.

Saturday Tai Kai: We will open up the registration soon after 09:00 when we are ready. Meantime you can change downstairs. Please do not come the last minute if you can avoid it, we want to start on time.

Sleeping in the dojo is free for all participants. If you come on Thursday already, come to either To Nan Dojo or Kaigozan Dojo after 18:00 when it is open for training until 21:00. If you come later, someone probably already got the key and can let you in (use the door bell!). If you can’t get in, then please call (phone numbers is not posted on the web). If you come on Friday or Saturday, please come to the training and get advice from there. The central station have lockers you can use meanwhile. Also please clean up after yourself in the dojo, including dishes, taking care of the trash etc. This is why it is free sleeping in the dojo.

Saturday dinner and party.Unfortunately we was not allowed to use the training place for even dinner (like we did a few years back), our dojo is too small for serving food to 100-150 people. So it would be best if you all took care of eating on your own in smaller groups, and then join everyone else at the Kaigozan Dojo Pub Evening from 19:00 until 24:00. We will make a list of restaurants in the area.

When you are outside any of our dojo’s please do not disturb our neighbors with loud noises, when you see someone from our group do that please tell them to calm down.We have a good reputation among our neighbors and like to keep it that way.

Training schedule. As you see it is very short lunch break on Sunday, so bring something with you to eat.

If it is your first time in Stockholm, please see the official tourist information page here! You can find everything from transportations, hotels, things to do and much more. 

Please study and print out the map!

 

This Tai Kai is sponsored and possible only by the Svenska Bujinkanförbundet. Without them we could not keep this very low seminar price and such excellent instructors. 

Head organizer for this years Tai Kai is Mats Hjelm from the Kaigozan Dojo, with the help from Kaigozan Dojo members and other Bujinkan members.

If I forgot to bring something up here, please don’t hesitate to post a comment here (or e-mail me)!

 

Happy Training!

/Mats

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Värdet av att gå på läger som “nybörjare”.

From Sweden Taikai 2012 by Sweden Taikai 2012

Ibland får jag frågor från nybörjare som undrar om det är värt att gå på läger, kommer man att kunna hänga med? Kommer jag att förstå någonting? Jag kan förstå att det tyckas vara lite skrämmande att gå på träningsläger för första gången när det är så många högt graderade som också tränar.

Men jag måste poängtera att även de som är högre graderade är “nybörjare” när man går på träningsläger! Det finns kanske de som tar på sig en hjälpinstruktörsroll, befogat eller obefogat. Men de flesta går på träningsläger för att utvecklas, träna, ha kul och få inspiration.

Vad man kan ta åt sig är givetvis olika beroende på tidigare erfarenheter. Har man tränat en kortare period så kommer man att få med sig väldigt mycket i bagaget som räcker till flera års inspiration.

Jag vet att det finns instruktörer som sällan eller nästan aldrig går på träningsläger, det kan finnas flera anledningar till det (jag vill inte döma ut dom). Om instruktören inte uppmuntrar sina elever att gå på träningsläger så kan det också bero på någonting. Han kanske inte vet om lägret, kanske inte själv kan gå och är rädd att balansen i dojon rubbas om eleverna lär sig något nytt.

Vad jag vill säga är att det är du som är nybörjare som är framtiden! Det är du själv som måste se till ditt eget bästa, bry dig inte om att dina icke tränande kompisar vill ta med dig på fest just denna helg. Om du har bra kompisar så förstår dom att just denna helg ska du träna. Du måste själv bestämma dig för vad som är viktigt, varken din kontrollerande instruktör eller tjatande kompisar får hindra dig att träna om det verkligen är det du vill.

De instruktörer du ser upp till har kommit till denna nivå och färdighet genom att just själva välja att deras egen träning går före kontrollerande instruktörer, flickvänner, pojkvänner och kompisar. Dom var också nybörjare en gång och lärde sig att sätta prioriteringar. Frågar du dom så kan jag nästan lova att dom ser sig fortfarande som nyfikna nybörjare. Det är därför dom är duktiga utövare och ingenting annat.

Jag kom ihåg en diskussion för en tio år sedan med Soke i Honbu dojo. Soke pratade om olika nivåer, dimensioner och dylikt i Mikkyo. Någon frågade vad den högsta nivån var, jag kommer ihåg Sokes reaktion. Han sade att han inte visste, men att han var ganska säker på att det alltid finns en högre nivå (än den man befinner sig på) och att det är därför vi måste fortsätta träna.

Det är detta som jag tycker gör Bujinkan så underbart jämfört med många andra budoarter, det är bara att kasta sig in i träningen försöka ha så kul som möjligt under tiden, utan att bry sig om att det är svårt eller enkelt.

Jag hoppas detta har uppmuntrat några nybörjare att ta steget och komma på detta fantastiska träningsläger nästa helg.

Ganbatte kudasai!

/Mats

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Purifying the Senses with Less Muscle

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

photo by davco9200
There are different ways to consider the words rokkon shoujou.  When Hatsumi Sensei put this idea out for us as a theme for 2010, many of us gave the concept a lot of thought and smiles (he did say it was the purification of the senses through laughter). But it is not only about thinking. To succeed with rokkon shoujou, we need to include it in our everyday practice and training for it to have any effect.

Our training consists of fighting and combat. How does one purify the spirit while fighting?

I can give you something to work on in every training session that will get you started. But first please consider how training reflects your spirit. Maybe you've heard a song of the gokui that says,
"If you possess a heart like clear water, the opponent is reflected as though in a mirror."
Well the opposite of this is also true: if your heart is muddled and confused it will be reflected and magnified in your taijutsu. Another gokui reflects this idea,
"Bottomless waves that reflect on the water's surface, it is humiliating for my mind to be known."
One of the easiest ways to spot this in yourself or an opponent is the over reliance on strength or force. I know you've heard this from your teachers before. "don't use force," or "do it without muscle…"

So you seek to remove force. This is an act of purification. Overuse of strength and muscle in training reflects something about the spirit of the forceful. There is something in your personality or in your heart that seeks that release of power (or fear).

Hatsumi Sensei says,
"In the case of any technique you are practicing, it is necessary to absolutely eradicate any excess strength or power from your technique - in essence you must purify yourself of these ways."
If you do this every class - focus on this one simple aspect of training - then you will be living the practice of rokkon shoujou. And you may discover that one natural way to remove too much strength is to train with laughter and a light heart.


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嵐 Arashi: Don’t Get Caught in Your Own Storm

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

when it rains in HK, photo by rocksee
I read a curious poem this morning in a story from Saigyō.
The Japanese poet Saigyō (1118-1190) was a Buddhist monk and lived most of his life as a traveling mendicant and hermit. His poems often relate the tension he felt between renunciatory Buddhist ideals and his love of natural beauty.
In the story I read this morning, he was caught in a rainstorm during his travels through Osaka. He tried to take shelter at a brothel. Yet he was turned away by a prostitute. But this was no ordinary prostitute. In the legend, she was an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Fugen who symbolizes meditation and practice. Knowing this, Saigyō was frustrated that someone so enlightened would  force him back out into the rain. He wrote:

How difficult I suppose,
    to reject
This world of ours.
    And yet you begrudge me
        a temporary stay.

In his frustration, Saigyō could get angry at this teacher in disguise and miss an important lesson. Do you ever get angry at your teachers? What happens after the storm fades?

I have been angry at my teachers. Or at least, thought they were wrong about something. The worst is when someone shows me something about myself I do not wish to see.

In Bujinkan training I have seen many students get angry. I have seen them quit training over it. I have had my own students angry at me. And Hatsumi Sensei has had many critics and ex students who got stuck on some point of contention.

When we get angry at our teachers, an inflection point occurs where learning stops cold. Or, if we are ready, learning explodes forward from that point to even greater understanding.

Anger at teachers happens for many reasons:
  • The teacher is flat wrong or in error.
  • You think teacher is wrong even though he is right.
  • You want your teacher to be wrong because you don't like what he is showing you.
  • You don't feel acknowledged for how well you are doing.
  • Your teacher focuses only on how badly you are doing.
  • You don't like the way a teacher runs his class or handles other students.
  • Your teacher sets a bad example.
  • The teacher fails at something.
  • What the teacher is teaching doesn't match your view of reality.
  • The teacher reflects something in you that you don't wish to see.
If you get angry at your teacher, first look at these reasons and decide what they say about YOU before you dismiss the teaching. And then, if you still think your teacher is bad, you should try to consider your history with them. Is it a history based on trust and respect? Has the teacher taught you well in the past, and is there hope of learning and growing more in the future?

For Saigyō, the prostitute in his poem responded in this way,

Having heard you were one
    who rejected this world,
My thought is only this:
    Do not stop your mind
        in this temporary stay.

A deep lesson if Saigyō was ready to hear it. Admittedly difficult to hear in the middle of a rainstorm. But the most profound lessons often show up when we are most uncomfortable.

The rainstorm symbolizes something temporary that will not last. In Japanese there is a play on words: a rainstorm - 嵐 arashi, but it will not stay あらじ araji.

For us Bujinkan students, in our training, this means we can't let our minds stop or get stuck on technique. But also, don't get stuck on points of disagreement with teachers. If you stop to argue you might miss the learning that never stops. Keep going.

It doesn't matter if you think your teacher is wrong, because your only teacher is yourself. 


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