2013 - NinZine 3.0

Ken no Nigiri

kumafrMarch 18, 2013

At the end the class Hatsumi sensei came to me, took the wooden ken I got from Tanaka san* and showed me how to hold the Ken.

The Ken is versatile and the many possible 握り nigiri (grips) reflect this. Sensei demonstrating these grips to me precised that the many ways of holding the weapon implied the ability to change the grips freely according to the body movements. If you play tennis or golf you already know that. Different grips are used in different situations.

The Ken is really a refreshing weapon because it is the extension/expression of our taijutsu. Nothing is wrong and everything goes.

The freedom of action of the Ken should reflect the way we lead our lives. After many years when sensei taught us to be happy, we are now free to live for ourselves.

During the calligraphy break, sensei wrote in gold letters the bija mantra for Fudô Myô on my Ken.

As you all know, Fudô Myô is a major divinity in Japanese Budô, and he holds a Ken with a vajra/sanko handle in one hand. Fudô Myô is often represented symbolically by a Ken. You would often find a simple Ken or a dragon wrapped around the Ken engraved on the blade of the Samurai to bring the divinity’s protection to the warrior.

Fudô Myô (Acala)** is dark skinned, surrounded by the flames of sapience in which are hidden 9 karasu (crows). In Japan, the legend goes that the crows are the eyes of the gods watching our human behaviour.

They caw to report to the gods.

Fudô is a myô***, i.e. a “angry-faced” divinity. He is benevolent, his left hand carries a mala (nenju, rosary) to catch those of us going away from the righteous path. He is holding a Ken in the other hand to cut our passions. Fudô has one eye looking up and the other looking down, one tooth going up, one tooth going down.

Fudô is a protector like all Myô divinities.

Hereafter you will find the grips that sensei was kind enough to teach me at the end of Sunday class. In his explanations sensei insisted again on the importance of having a lot of mobility with the fingers to make the blade alive and move freely. Train that at home.

Keypoints:

the tsuba is flat and the fingers are a natural extension of your body movements.
the blade is not sharp close to the tsuba allowing you to hold it with the fingers without getting injured
thrusts are done with flat blade
the body is behind all your movements, the legs are hitting uke through the sword
using the legs allows you not to use chikara (strength)

One finger (forefinger)

You hold the tsuka and your forefinger is extended on the tsuba and directs the blade.

One finger (thumb – new)

You hold the tsuka and your thumb is extended on the tsuba to thrust the tip flat in a kind of boshi ken.

Two fingers (forefinger and middle finger)

You hold the tsuka and your fingers are extended on the tsuba and direct and secure the blade.

Holding the Tsuba (thumb and forefinger – new)

I see it as a kind of “ihen” in-between grip. It can be used also for thrusting (palm up).

Reverse grip

Used when hiding the blade and to change side rapidly or to hit with the kashira.

During the break and before writing on my Ken, sensei drew a bird diving to attack that I believe to be a crow: “hichô” he said simply while handing it to me.

Later when he wrote the bija Fudô Myô on the Ken, he also wrote: カー ”kaa” on the opposite side of the Ken: the cawing of a crow.

Everything is connected.

Be aware of coincidence and be open to reinterpret always what you think you know until you stop thinking and only act freely.

This is what you learn when training in the Bujinkan under such a fantastic master.

Be happy, be free!

*Tanaka San is selling two types of wooden Ken to the Bujinkan members

** Fudô Myô: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acala

*** Myô: http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/400424/Myo-o

Norikae: Change Your Mindset

kumafrMarch 17, 2013

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumafr

Do you think Hatsumi sensei is reading my blog? we can think so because in today’s class he gave us the next level to understand the Henka article.

I was asked to begin the class with some taijutsu technique. Uke attacks with a fist at short distance and by moving up and down, left and right you pull him down softly at your feet once uke’s balance is broken. Quoting Noguchi sensei in class today I would say it was a juppô sesshô technique. Hatsumi sensei did many henka around that, not using force at all, grabbing the fingers, crushing the nails having uke dance like a fool with pain. At one point he turned to me and said: “Norikae!”. Totally taken by surprised I said the only logical thing: “nani?” (what?). Sensei explained that the new taijutsu he is developing these days the key was to understand the possible changes that could be done and not to be lost in the way.

Softly he did many “henka” taking uke’s balance only by holding a finger and controlling him seamlessly. As my friend Sven would say the technique “is not about power it is about control”. Sensei added ”this is moving like a butterfly”, it was soft and light at the same time but very powerful. To keep the control with these soft movements was the spirit of woman self defense which we will study during the taikai.

乗り換え norikae or 乗り換える, norikaeru is a verb used when transferring trains or changing buses. If you take the wrong track you never reach your final destination. Norikae is the keypoint to develop proper control of the opponent. Once again there is no strength at all (he repeated many times again 力じゃない, chikara janai, don’t use strength). Having no preconceived plan of action you move like a butterfly from one control to the other, never stopping until uke is defeated. But if you make one mistake, i.e. miss a connection, you end up dead. To reach this ability one must have developed a powerful taijutsu and, he added, this is the most difficult expression of taijutsu, .

Let me illustrate this 乗り換え ”transfer, change” concept with an example. Mistakes are always possible and the results can be dramatic. If during your meal you use tabasco instead of ketchup you might get quite surprised after the first bite. On a side note and speaking of tabasco, sensei said that you could put some chili on your nose to peek into the eye of the opponent. This way of thinking is also ninjutsu.

Full awareness leads to instantaneous changes and adaptation to uke’s reactions. Then strength is not necessary. Whatever move you are doing it can be wrong but if you don’t dwell on your mistakes, learn from them, and regain advantage over uke, it is good. In any situation you have to decide fast and often there is no time to think. You have to become so good that you surf on the best possible wave of action.

Ninpô taijutsu is a tool and your choice of action will determine your fate. But as it is the case with any tool there are always several options. A tool does not have 識 shiki, consciousness; you do. A lighter for example is a simple tool: it can be used for the fireplace, cook your food, or burn your house. Because you have shiki you don’t destroy everything. This is norikaeru.

If we dig deeper, 乗り換える norikaeru has also the meaning of “changing one’s mind”. You must be capable of changing your course of action at any moment. The quality of your listening to uke’s reactions makes the correct norikae.

This is why Hatsumi sensei’s techniques are so difficult to get. But the difficulty does not lie in the movements per se. It is based upon the awareness to adjust, in a blink, to uke’s reactions without thinking or using any strength. What sensei has been teaching today is indeed for me a new paradigm. I understand now why he was saying last year that this “goshin jutsu” was the hardest way to learn how to fight.

This is linked with 縁の切身ない, en no kirinai (don’t sever the connection) that we studied a few years ago*. By keeping the control and the contact with uke we are able to move freely and to defeat him. By understanding what sensei was teaching today we become able to 乗り代える, nori kaeru, “ride on the change”; and to 忍びの理科得る, shinobi no rika eru: “obtain the science of ninjutsu”.

*search for it on this blog, several entries

Henka: A Poetic Strangeness

kumafrMarch 16, 2013

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumafr

We often use the word “Henka” 変化 when referring to an adaptation of a given waza. But this word is more than it seems. I remember Sensei explaining once that in a Ryûha, a henka is described as a part of the level considered. A henka in a school is like another way of doing the same technique but respecting the 法 hô, principle of the original waza.

The dictionary gives different meanings: “change” or “variation”; but also the meaning of “transition”, as if a henka could be the passage from one technique to another. When one studies a Ryûha he is often surprised to see that the “official henka” links the waza from which it is created to the next Waza coming right after it.

Apart from these “official henka” the word in general refers to the ability to apply a prinicple of action to different situations. The Kanji 変 Hen alone has the meaning of “change” but also the meaning of “strange, curious, funny, unexpected”. When I first joined Sensei’s teachings at the London Taikai of 1987, I had no clue about anything, but even less the word henka. But I do remember vividly that each technique he was doing seemed “curious” and for sure totally “unexpected”!

Many Bujinkan practitioners do not know enough the basics and fundamentals of the art to produce correct henka, but I noticed that things are slowly “changing” and every time I meet bujinkan practitioner in Japan or abroad I can see a positive evolution in their understanding and performance. Like many of you I don’t speak Japanese but I keep digging in my dictionaries in order to understand Sensei’s budô better. As he wrote in his book “unarmed fighting techniques of the Samurai”, it is important to understand the meaning of the names of the waza.

Hatsumi sensei is not only a fantastic martial artist, he is a philosopher of the martial arts and his teachings can be applied in our daily lives. Like Monsieur Jourdain in Moliere’s theater play, we do henka everyday without knowing it! The Bujinkan is teaching us to adapt our lives to the situations and people we meet, and we are adapting our actions in permanence without really being aware of it.

The world of henka is endless but first you need to know your basics correctly. If “hen” means many things, this is also the case with “ka”. Ka, 化 is the “action of making something” i.e. the perpetual change, the perpetual adaptation. But written differently: 下, it is “under” meaning that change lies under, invisible to our senses. Creating a henka is the action of moving something from the invisible world to the visible and sensitive world.

In my opinion this is the real lesson of this world of henka taught by sensei. Funnily, the suffix 課, ka as a stand alone also means “lesson”. This is a lesson we learn by adapting our lives to reality. It is close to the sentence we all repeat before and at the end of the class: “shikin haramitsu dai komyô”; as each action taken brings a lesson to learn from. And often the lesson is unexpected, therefore it changes the regular understanding of henka 変化 into henka 変課 .

Seeing the world differently is the strength of 歌人 kajin, the poet who plays with the words in order to manifest the beauty that lays hidden invisible around us. I have the feeling that Sensei has transformed us into 変歌人 henkajin, eccentric poets ; or to be in the mood for the kunoichi taikai beginning in a few days into 変佳人 henkajin: unusual beautiful women.

Thank you Sensei to make us 変化仁 henkajin, men of change and adaptation.

A Class With Hatsumi Sensei and Chinese Sandstorms in Japan

Michael GlennMarch 13, 2013March 13, 2013

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Atago Bikes Blown Over by High Winds, photo by Michael Glenn

Here in Japan the winds have been intense. I've been dodging debris and digging sand out of my eyes and hair. Even the trains have shut down because of high winds.

They say the pollution has increased as it has blown in from mainland China. I've never thought of wearing one of those dust masks that Japanese people often wear, but it could have helped today. None of this has stopped me from training!

I will be updating with detailed training notes and videos for members of Rojodojo. If you haven't discovered everything there yet, now is a great time to help me out and sign up! Maybe then I can buy a dust mask, or at least go to more classes.

Here is more detail on Hatsumi Sensei's class last night: Ken 剣: Class With Hatsumi

Meanwhile I will keep adding great material to this blog as well as my Mosh Pit. So far training has been wonderful and I will find something to hold onto so I don't blow away. Bufu Ikkan!… Read More