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Paul Masse, kickin’ it in Santa Monica

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Paul Masse puts Dante in some weird Yoga Bondage
I was lucky to organize some last minute training when Paul Masse called me a few days ago to say he was going to be in Santa Monica.

Paul has traveled to India recently and studied yoga in Rishikesh. He was overflowing with an abundant need to share (or torment) us with some of his unique yoga experiences. So we began with Paul's 柔軟体操 Juunantaisou by way of India.

In between our normal taijutsu study, Paul would insert yoga experiences throughout the day. At one point when I looked around at everyone who was groaning as they tried to get into a pretzel, I raised my fist and said, "damn you Paul! Why did you have to go to India?" Even though these yoga poses were difficult for me, I gained a lot from Paul's enthusiasm.

As far as the taijutsu went, it was fantastic. Paul moved very quickly through concepts and henka to present the feeling he wanted to convey. If I had to pinpoint a theme for the day, it would be that kyusho are everywhere in the kukan and we attack them with kyojitsu..

If you know the meaning of these words, then you may realize what a deep idea this becomes. Someone asked Paul what kyojitsu means, and he worked hard not to fall down an ontological rabbit hole as he tried to explain. Simply put it means the interplay of real and unreal, or true and false in the moment. But the hard part to get your head around is that the real and unreal exist simultaneously, all the time, and everywhere.

After a yoga break, or was it the neti break, or maybe the handstands break? Paul focused on using the hanbo. Or rather, not using the hanbo. He and I spoke in some detail about our experiences in "not using" weapons and he riffed on that for the rest of the day.

He described one end of the hanbo could be the kyo, and the other could be the jitsu. His uke's might get hit with either. He shared the concepts of 中途半端 chuuto hanpa, and 決まってない kimatenai with everyone as a way of "not using" the hanbo.

At the end Paul did some calligraphy for us. He brushed out kamiwaza for me and did a variety of others for everyone there. He shared some of his new artwork with us. To my eye it was more refined than ever. Some of it was based on gokui. This matched up with the whole day as Paul was dropping the gokui on us with gusto!

Thanks for your visit my friend...…

Bo shuriken

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

Bo shuriken, basically  it is kind of nail,
in the old days nails were made by hand and they were in the intersection square, rather than round like today's (see photo)

 different school, and different shapes

soon more info, but also You can click on the "Idea's", where I write about how to make Bo Shuriken



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Nagamaki "PAART" version

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

Hi to all,

here is few pics of my new version of nagamaki, make with natural curvature of wood

as you all maybe know Nagamaki is version of naginata with longer blade, 
there is few shapes and I will try to make all which I find in different books about this weapon

soon more info



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Shinden Fudō Ryū Dakentaijutsu – article translation

From Wanderings in Budo by bujinshugyo

神伝不動流打拳体術
出雲冠者義照の伝えた骨指術の流れを汲み、源八郎為義が12世紀の中頃に創始。構え自然体ひとつしかないのか特長。ただし、実際わ心の中で映像を作って構えている。

Shinden Fudō ryū dakentaijutsu
Legend has it that Izumo Kanja Yoshiteru was the first to understand the flow of koppojutsu, Minamoto Hachirō Tameyoshi was the founder in the 12th century. The principal feature is the natural body posture. However, in actual fact I have an image (of a posture) pictured in my mind.

神伝不動流打拳体術 Shinden Fudō ryū dakentaijutsu – Divine transmission of immovability style striking body-technique or art.  Often referred to simply as Fudō ryū by teachers in Japan.

出雲冠者義照 Izumo Kanja Yoshiteru – Izumo (province), young man (coming of age), shining justice – A young man from Izumo.

In mythology the entrance to Yomi黄泉, the land of the dead, is to be found in Izumo province. An interesting link to the ‘natural hell methods’ of the Shizen Shigoku no Kata in Shinden Fudō ryū…

源八郎為義 Minamoto Hachirō Tameyoshi – Minamoto (clan), eighth son, source of justice. An eighth son of someone in the Minamoto clan, of which there were many…

In the 12th Century 3 major families/clans vying for supremacy were the Fujiwara 藤原, Minamoto (aka Genji 源氏 Gen clan) and Taira (aka Heike 平家 Hei family).

The genealogy for Shinden Fudō ryū is fairly straightforward – from Ikai to Izumo Kanja Yoshiteru, Minamoto Hachirō Tameyoshi founded the style that was passed down to Toda Shinryūken Masamitsu to be passed on to Takamatsu Toshitsugu and then Hatsumi Masaaki.


There is a historical Minamoto Tameyoshi 源為義 – also known as Mutsu Shirō 陸奥四郎 sixth (rank) of the interior, fourth-son, with the position of Rokujō (Hangan) 六条判官 sixth-rank judge (under the Ritsuryō system mentioned in a previous post).

Minamoto Tameyoshi became the head of the Minamoto clan and supported Fujiwara Yorinaga in trying to place Sutoku on the throne in 1156, opposing Go-Shirakawa who was supported by Fujiwara Tadamichi, Taira Kiyomori, Minamoto Yoshitomo (the son of Minamoto Tameyoshi) – a mix of both Minamoto and Taira. This became known as the Hōgen war or rebellion (保元の乱 Hōgen no ran). Go-Shirakawa’s faction was the victor, with Minamoto Tameyoshi becoming a monk and consequently executed by his son. This begins the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira (源平 Gempei), with the Taira initially gaining dominance to then be defeated by the Minamoto at the battle of Dan no ura no tataki 壇ノ浦の戦. Minamoto Yoritomo was to became the first Shōgun of Japan.

(This is just here for interest – in no way to indicate that this person is the same as the founder of Shinden Fudō ryū!)


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The Kaname of 神眼 Shingan

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

真是厲害的鏡頭 photo By *嘟嘟嘟*
Hatsumi Sensei has suggested that another reading of 神眼 shingan is kaname. As we study this years feeling it might become important to see with the divine eyes of shingan. To truly comprehend this principle requires we understand how to connect to the divine.

In my recent video about 不動座 fudouza, I suggested some symbolism that connected the heavens, down through the conduit of our physical bodies, and into the earth. The way Hatsumi Sensei describes this connection, it's not him doing the techniques, but they are being created through this connection. No matter your beliefs or religion, it is crucial to understand the foundations of Japanese symbolism to get the feelings behind our art.

Hatsumi Sensei says that one way to learn this is through Sanshin no kata that is connected to the heavens. It is connected through heaven, earth, and man (tenchijin). He further describes this as  天動説 tendousetsu, 地動説 chidousetsu, and 人動説 jindousetsu.

天動説 tendousetsu is a word that describes Ptolemaic theory in Japanese. This is what we also call geocentric. An old theory where the earth is the center of the universe. Everything is connected to this axis and everything revolves around it. In my video I described this as the axis mundi.

地動説 chidousetsu is the Copernican theory which is heliocentric. Here the sun is the center of everything where we and the universe are connected to revolve around that axis. This idea of revolving or pivoting is crucial for our understanding of kaname.

人動説 jindousetsu is a theory of dynamic human change and movement. In the esoteric varieties of this theory, the stars are directly connected to the human spirit and move as we move. They shine brighter or may even blink out in connection to our lives. This theory seems to stem from the Chinese Xuanye shuo 宣夜說 Firmament hypothesis. Here the tian (天 ten or even kukan) is an infinite space. Celestial bodies are light matter floating on it and move by Qi.

Modern science has made these theories obsolete. But the cosmology and symbolism may still have resonance for us. Jindousetsu becomes connected to ideas of relativity in science and futurism in art. As we move through the kukan, our frame of reference constantly shifts and the world is in dynamic change from our perspective.

Soke says this is connected to the body language of fighting. Being able to read your opponent's ability, temperament, defenses and attacks tells you which frame of reference he is operating from. So if you adopt a larger frame of reference (possibly even one that is connected to the heavens), you can easily manage his attacks. In effect he becomes unable to harm you because you are operating above and outside of his ability.

This is like taking the high ground in military strategy. A drone operator has no need for body armour because his enemy's bullets can never hit him. The drone pilot is operating from a different frame of reference.

If we connect to this type of dynamic change in our training, the waza become alive. Sensei says that because this is a living thing it changes. It's varying within its existence. In this way it is connected to everything else.

Don't be static, have 人動説 jindousetsu! …

VIDEO: 不動座 Fudouza

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael



Here is a quick video for all my readers about 不動座 fudouza.

If you can't see it above here is a link to the video:  不動座 fudouza

This is not a description about technical details of sitting in this kamae, but rather more about the feeling and symbolism associated with the "immovable seat."

 I describe fudouza's connection to the symbolism of axis mundi, which is the central point around which the world revolves. I then tell a story about the Buddha and his battle with mara while seated under the bodhi tree. What happened when he got up after reaching enlightenment?

I detail a bit about 坐り型 suwari gata in the Bujinkan, and how Hatsumi Sensei sometimes approaches this with the feeling of Daruma.

Oh, I forgot, I also caught my first clumsy writing of the kanji for 不動座 fudouza on camera!

And lastly I suggest a tricky way to leave Fudouza. Be careful if you try it! …

Gikan Ryū Koppōjutsu – article translation

From Wanderings in Budo by bujinshugyo

義鑑流骨法術
骨指術の流れを汲んで、16世紀に河内の爪生判官義鑑房が創始した。
この骨法術から続く流れには、もうひとつ鈴木大膳太郎近政の本体玉心流という骨法があり、それが出雲の深尾角馬重義に伝わって出雲骨法となったが、初見氏にはその流れが伝わっていない。

Koppojutsu

Gikan ryū koppōjutsu

Drawing from the transmission of kosshijustsu, founded in the 16th century in Kawachi by Uryū Hangan Gikanbō.
From this koppōjutsu transmission there is another koppō school called Hontai Gyokushin ryū by Suzuki Daizentaro Chikamasa, passed on to Fukao Kakuma Shigeyoshi as Izumo koppō, this school was not transmitted to Hatsumi sensei (aka this is not the one that was passed to Hatsumi)

爪生判官義鑑房 Uryū Hangan Gikanbō

判官 Hangan, Zō – judge or magistrate, this term originates from the Ritsuryo 律令 system introduced to Japan from China in the 7th Century – originally it indicated an administrator of the 3rd or 4th rank (out of 4).


義鑑 Gikan
Paragon of Justice

Most commonly Gikan ryū is referred to as the ‘Truth, Loyalry and Justice School’, this name being repeated throughout any site in English in relation to the Bujinkan (schools).

It may seem strange to many to point out this out, however Truth, Loyalty and Justice are differing meanings of the first character ‘Gi’ 義 – so really the ‘Truth, Loyalty and Justice School’ should be Gi ryū.

The more significant, and completely ignored, is the second character ‘kan’ 鑑, used to indicate several ideas from ‘to learn or take warning from’ or ‘a specimen or model’.

Gikan can be understood as the Example of Righteousness, Model of Honour, Paragon of Justice, Exemplar of Truth, To Take Heed of Morality.

Gikan ryū, to narrow it down in English parlance, can be the Paragon of Virtue or Paragon of Justice Style.

Example of loyalty

Gikan ryū is one of the 4 styles attributed to Gyokkan, who learnt the Gyokko ryū of Hachidō Nyūdō through Tozawa Hyakuunsai Kaneuji. Gikan ryū is passed though Ishitani Matsutarō Takakage and then on to Takamatsu Toshitsugu to arrive at Hatsumi Masaaki.


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8 September – Naginata-jutsu med Mats Hjelm i KGZ Dojo Stockholm


En dags studier av Bujinkan Naginata-jutsu, hillebardstekniker.
Träningen kommer att vara utomhus i närheten av dojon. Vi träffas i dojon kl 10:30-11:00 sedan går vi ut och tränar.
Om det är för dåligt väder så tränar vi inomhus och då Hanbojutsu (kort stav) istället. Vi har vapen för utlåning.
Kostnad 200 kr

One day seminar, studying the Naginata-jutsu (halberd techniques).
Training will be outside. We meet in the dojo between 10:30-11:00 then we go outside to train. If it is really bad weather, we stay inside and train Hanbojutsu. We have weapons you can borrow.
Price 200 SEK…