Year: 2012

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Uto, Scenes from the Noh Theater, Tsuskioka Kogyo (1869-1927)

A sudden change in the atmosphere. The kukan shifts. The air itself feels alive. Only to be shattered by the tip of the bo.

This was the feeling I tried to communicate in one class. It was something I had experienced with Hatsumi Sensei and I wanted to share. But how to teach that?

How does this occur in a technique? How does the body and weapon come alive in that instant? And to make it absolutely crass, what are the mechanics?

In fact, the mechanics are super basic. Yet as with all basics, they quickly grow profound. We've been doing a lot of walking practice, or 足馴らし ashinarashi, in my classes recently. It's difficult to understand taijutsu without understanding this. Not just in our art.  Many disciplines start here, including Noh theater,

The walk is so important in Noh dancing that the highest compliment that can be paid to a player is that his walking is good. - Carl Wolz, 1976

The experience I had with Hatsumi Sensei was of the movement through the kukan having a particular quality to it, a particular way of walking. Sensei described it this way,

"You've got to walk like a Noh actor moving through yūgen 幽玄."

I've written about yūgen 幽玄 before, but how exactly are we supposed to walk? What do you do with your feet and legs? How do Noh actors walk?

There are many styles of walking in Noh, for example:

Ashibumi 足踏み : stamping
Uchimata 内股に: inward walk
Waniashi 鰐足: pedaling
Sotomata 外股 : outward walk
Tsumasaki 爪先: tiptoe
Yokoaruki 横歩き:side slide
Yokoaruki 横歩き: side cross step
Ashi o horu 足放る: side stamping
Shikko 膝行: squat walk


But before a Noh actor learns any of those comes suriashi 摺り足 or Hakobi 運ビ. This comes from 舞 Mai which is an old style of traditional dance. Mai means "to circle." In Mai the feet mostly stay in contact with the ground. While the arms gesture slowly and gracefully. This walking  has the soles sliding along the ground so lightly the performer appears to float.

If you study this movement through the kukan and Yugen, you may look towards Noh as an inspiration. The artist John Brzostoski gives a great description of the feeling of Yugen in a Noh theater,

"It appears upon the blank stage almost as if in a cinema, in slow motion, at the wrong speed of a recording, a stretched tape about to snap, pulled into intolerable pauses of holding breath, lack of breathing, lack of thought, the complete comprehension of all movements. You know where everyone has been and where everyone is going."

For me, that is what control of the kukan feels like. When I get it right anyway. The advanced form of this walking has a quality of 引張り間 hippari ai, pulling something or someone towards yourself. And if we go back to the roots of Noh Zeami tells us to walk so that, 目前神後 "the eyes look ahead and the spirit looks behind"

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From 自然行雲流水 by 自然行雲流水

Henka derives from your Kihon. If your Henka is not working, go back to the Kihon. How many people do this? The Shihan move with structure in their henka. They have left the forms of the original kata but, use the structure and principals within them. When Soke says that you don`t need the forms,kamae etc, he is talking to the people that have done them for many years. The 15th dans he says. Don`t try and rush in and understand Sokes movements etc. Train according to your rank. Even if you attend classes with details on subtleties in the taijutsu, are you really capable of understanding them? Are you at a point in your training that you can integrate these subtleties? It`s like trying to run before you can walk.
Don`t neglect the forms and kata of the Bujinkan. You will learn the process of training and come to understand the concept of Shu Ha Ri naturally from experience, not just from reading or being told about it.
Soke and all of the Shihan have, and still do, revolve their training around the structure learned from kihon and waza of the Bujinkan Ryuha. You can see it. The Shihans level of taijutsu is a result of training correctly for many years. But, it seems in this era, everyone is trying to jump forward a few decades of training to do what is being taught at the Hombu. This is not possible. People need to wake up and think about where they truly are. Remember, the Bujinkan ranks are Sakizuke. The Bujinkan is alive due to this. Other arts that have set standards ( regardless if they become skilled quicker in technique ) create people with boundaries and minds set in form. This is dangerous.
I`d like to say that the Bujinkan Dojo has developed vastly. The Bujinkan is natural and it`s showing this throughout the world. Just like mother nature, the Bujinkan is growing and developing freely. This is as it should be, I feel.
There are no shortcuts. There is only constant self re-evaluation through correct training in body,mind and technique.
The more you train and really get honest with yourself, you will see where you truly stand in actual skill level. This is very confronting and, many people dare tread there I feel. After generating a reputation, people feel they have to protect it or, they will lose students. They cannot look like they do not know something in front of their students. This is the end for them really.
It is important to understand your shortcomings and train accordingly. In fact, I think the more you come to terms with your place in the dojo, you will become lighter and enjoy training more with a renewed focus and knowing that your own shugyou is all that matters.
To know, is really to learn that you don`t know. This keeps the heart on track and the mind on correct training. The more I train in the kihon, the more I become aware of and develop a more in depth appreciation of the lessons that kata, kamae, and the principals offer. You also naturally come to gain a better appreciation of history, culture and the Japanese lifestyle. If you put too much of your own thoughts and desires into the training, you will push these learning opportunities away and move toward your own way or style. If this is the case, don`t call what you do Bujinkan and leave.
Nagato Shihan said to me that people around the world are teaching to use "no power" too early. He said, people are too soft and have not learned how to form correct kamae, blocks,strikes,kicks etc.
People are training in a lazy way. If you neglect the foundations, your future training will suffer greatly and, so will your students. Even if you are small, a woman, or have a weaker constitution, correct training in technique in conjunction with an understanding of the principles etc, will allow you to apply self defense. Remember, we are learning an art form. Everyone needs to understand that just like in Aikido,Judo,Karate Do etc, all the students need to follow the same path. If you cannot accept this. don`t begin training. It is only after a certain ability has been attained that you can start training with more of your own face. This time in the Bujinkan is when one reaches the level of Godan.
Before godan, the student trains hard and does what the teachers says.
Do not make excuses for your lack of training.
Our training is Shin Gi Tai training. We practice to develop these three essential points and unify them. This is the ultimate goal of bugeisha, according to Soke. We can also view this as a Sanshin. Therefore understanding and maintaining the heart of a three year old that lasts for a hundred years.
People say Budo is not about power or strength. That is true. But, it is about strength and power from correct body alignment and technique. It is true that with correct technique, the power will come.
Do not concentrate on power, concentrate on technique, your spirit, and your body. With endurance and focused training over many years, we all may come to have skills like the Shihan. However, if we just blindly follow them without knowing our true level, it will be detrimental to our development.
You have to have the ability to discern.
The Shihan and Soke are just training. This is all they do. They are not teaching. Don`t go to Japan and think you will be taught.
There are people here that tell you they know, and many people are attracted to that. Be careful. Often they are just good talkers. The proof is in the pudding. The art of observation is very important as is the ability to read the atmosphere of the moment or "Kuuki Yomu."
There is much happening in the dojo. If you are not open or have an overflowing teacup, you will miss a lot.
The only way to understand this art is to experience both sides of training. That is, the side of Uke and the side of Tori. Both equal %50. Therefore, together you are recieving %100 training. If you cannot be an uke, you really can only learn %50 of the martial arts. If your ego won`t allow you to give yourself, then you will not learn. Training is about understanding your spirit and Rokkon Shojou: the art of purifying your senses.

Thoughts on a cold winters morning.

南虎


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From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Blue Biker, Kyoto. photo by nWevurski

Lately I've been studying Kukan no Kyūshō 空間の九勝 in my classes. When Hatsumi Sensei introduced this idea at the 2011 Daikomyosai, not many seemed to have heard of it before, but it made sense in the way elegant mathematics make sense. In other words it just felt right. But that doesn't mean I knew what to do with this feeling.

I decided to look into what I felt and observed from Sensei's classes. What is a good way to study kukan no kyūshō? If you've been receiving my keiko kiroku training notes you have seen me describe various strategies for doing this. To get my mind around this concept and be able to use it in my taijutsu requires studying it from many angles.

One idea we were working with the other night was a movement Soke described as 撚り型 yorigata. This involved spinning the sword through the kukan after twisting the body. The twisting action begins with with exposing your own 隙 suki to discover or open up suki on your opponent. For example if you want to strike the opponent's left side you first expose your left side. Then when you twist or pivot there is the opportunity to connect to kukan no kyūshō in that moment.

Hatsumi Sensei describes what may happen in that moment as "二転三転 niten santen," which is to change again and again or be in a state of flux. The truly odd part about this is if you have found the right kyusho in the moment, these changes will be hidden from your opponent. From there you can strike or act freely, without danger. Soke says,

The place where one cannot see, it's here where changes to the extraordinary happen.

I definitely witnessed these extraordinary changes while in Sensei's classes. And in my own training there have been moments from this study that have surprised me and created wonderful results. Those moments are some of the gifts to be found in our training. You can find them too- they are just there waiting for you in the kukan!

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