2014 - NinZine 3.0

虚実 Kyojitsu: A Path to Natural Power

Michael GlennOctober 10, 2014October 10, 2014

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Soke is a Trickster, photo by Michael Glenn

Hatsumi Sensei swung the bo across the line of the swordsman's cut. In the dojo we hear a sawing or zipping sound. The bo is hollow!

A weight from the 忍び杖 shinobi-zue swings through the air, barely missing the overhead lights. It continues wrapping around Soke's attacker until he and the sword are wrapped up. But Soke doesn't appear to move at all!

He finally drops the bo, and his attacker collapses in a tangled heap. What just happened? How can any of us in the dojo use that same feeling?

Soke called this 自然力 shizenryoku, natural power or the power of nature.

One of the secrets to this type of natural power is understanding power itself. Power that is not from your own effort or what you put out. It is how you are felt, or the effect you have. The perceptions of the opponent are what matter.

This is the heart of 虚実 kyojitsu.

I go to Japan to study the yearly themes and more. But I never know what I will learn when I arrive. During my trip last month, I learned about some of the paths that the power of 神韻武導 Shin Gin Bu Dou may take.

You may be lost about this year's theme. Then lighting strikes in the night. In that brief flash, you see a path. Then darkness again. Hatsumi Sensei encouraged us to follow a path of natural power.

Soke describes this 自然力から神の力 shizenryokukara kami no chikara. This power of kami that arrives from the force of nature. That's the path or channel by which we experience this power. There's a natural power or strength from kami, a non-physical power. That power channels down from above and you should follow it.

But tonight in the dojo, Hatsumi Sensei was talking about skipping stones across water. And the moments between skips, The 間 Aida of Skipping a Stone Across Water . He said we should alternate between small kyojitsu and big kyojitsu in this very small moment or aida in the kukan. And each moment is connected in this continuation.

He added that this year is about 自然力 shizenryoku or the power of nature like a stone skipping across water. We should apply kyojitsu in this way. After Soke wrapped his opponent up with the chain and bo, he said,

"This year's theme is to not use our weapons. Or not to beat up the opponent. Just let the opponent become bound up (or bounded) by his own technique."

He told us that to be able to apply kyojitsu tenkan you have to separate yourself from your own desire. And then follow the path of natural power. Maybe it's the path you see in a flash of lightning.

Hatsumi Sensei said that the very survival of the Bujinkan is because it has been passed from one Soke to the next in this way. Down through the path of the Kami. Along this natural line of power.

This is the lineage and how it is inherited.… Read More

Ikai 異匀

IwatoOctober 10, 2014

From Sida 16 – Iwato 1810 by Iwato

Ikai är en person som förekommer i förhistorien till många av våra skolor.

I förhistorien till Iga ryu, Gyokko ryu och Togakure ryu omnämns en person vid namnet Ikai som en ursprungskälla till dessa skolor. Namnet Ikai [異匀], med det alternativa uttalet “Ibou”, kan tolkas som ”en karismatisk person” (I 異) från ”utlandet” (kai 匀). Namnet går även att tolka som ”annorlunda person”, dvs kanske en ”transgender”? En man som klädde sig som en kvinna eller tvärtom?

Tecknet [異] symboliserar ”en person med demonhuvud”. Det kinesiska uttalet av dessa tecken är ”Yi Hui” eller Yi Gai”, men med samma betydelse. En hypotetisk slutsats man kan dra är att Ikai var en främling och annorlunda även i Kina, kanske ursprungligen av ett folkslag från östra Kina.

I Hatsumi senseis bok Sengoku Ninpo Zukan (s.81) från 1978 skrivs det om Ikai enligt följande:

”Under Huang You’s första år (1049 evt) gick Ikai från Sijiang i landsflykt till det avlägset belägna Japan, efter att förlorat kriget mot Ren Zong’s armé, på Qidan’s och Xia’s sida. Han kom till Ise och bosatte sig i en grotta på Iga”.

Shandong

Sijiang är sannolikt samma region som Shandong [山东] i dagens Kina. På grund av sitt läge på den nordkinesiska slätten kom Shandong-området tidigt i beröring med den kinesiska civilisationen vars vagga ligger strax väster om den nuvarande provinsen. Båda de första historiska belagda dynastierna Shangdynastin och Zhoudynastin, kontrollerade västra och centrala Shandong. Själva Shandonghalvön låg dock länge utanför det kinesiska inflytelseområdet. Där bodde det folkgrupper som kineserna gav namnet Dong Yi och som betraktades som barbariska, d.v.s. nomadiska.

Ovan nämnda Ren Zong var kejsare Song Renzong av Song dynastin, regerade mellan 1023-1063. Hans riktiga namn var Zhan Zhen och var en kejsare i den norra Song dynastin.

Xia är även kända som Hsia och Qidan är också kända som Khitan. De var båda ett folkslag som var besläktade med Tunguser, som i sin tur var ett folkslag som levde i nordöstra Sibirien. De var ett betydande nomadfolk som dominerade delar av det som idag är Manchuriet och Inre Mongoliet. Det ryska ordet för Kina, Kitaj, anses härstamma från Khitan, liksom den äldre Kina-benämningen på engelska – Cathay.

Om nu Ikai hade varit en kines som slogs på Khitanernas och Hsia/Xia’s sida mot Song dynastin, så kan man förstå att han var tvungen att fly den kinesiska kontinenten vid nederlag, men mer sannolikt är det nog att han var en Khitan.

Muntlig tradition säger att Ikai hade varit en general, och var mycket skicklig i hicho ongyo no jutsu. Det sades att främlingar, som Ikai, Yi Gyokko (Yao Yu Hu) och Cho Busho (Zhang Wu Sheng) spred kunskapen om hichojutsu, tode koppo jutsu, senban nage jutsu och liknande till Japan. Ur detta föddes senare Gyokko ryu kosshijutsu, Koto ryu koppojutsu, Gyokushin ryu kosshijutsu och Gikan ryu koppojutsu m.fl.

Om man betänker att alla Koga ryu ninjutsuns 53 traditioner, och Iga ryu ninjutsuns 30 traditioner utvecklade happo bikenjutsu baserad på Gyokko ryu’s läror, så kan det sistnämnda anses vara den äldsta källan till japansk stridskonst.

Sakagami klanens mon

I en text av Takamatsu står det att Ikai hade två elever under Johou perioden (1074-1077), nämligen Gamon Doshi och Hogenbo Tesshin. Ninjutsu grundlades därmed under perioden mellan 1049 och 1077.

En alternativ bakgrund för Ikai är att han egentligen var samma person som Hogenbo Tesshin. Orsaken finns i boken Essence of Ninjutsu, på sidorna 121-122. Där berättar Takamatsu en historia om en gammal man som samtalar med två elever. Den gamle mannen berättar om kriget när han slogs på Kittan Ka’s (d.v.s. Khitan och Xia) sida mot kung Jinso. Jinso är det japanska uttalet av det kinesiska tecknet för Renzong.
Berättelsen om den gamle mannen stämmer överens med berättelsen om Ikai i Hatsumi senseis bok Sengoku Ninpo Zukan (finns endast på japanska). I Essence of ninjutsu, på sidan 122, omnämns att den gamle mannen är Hogenbo och eleverna benämns som Ryutaro och Dosan.
Enligt boken blev Ryutaro senare den store ninjutsu mästaren ”Garyu Doshi” och Dosan fortlevde vidare under namnet Tendo Sakagami. Denne Tendo Sakagami kan vara samma person som Sakabe Tendo (nämnd i förhistorian till Togakure ryu och Shinden Fudo ryu Dakentaijutsu).

Otomo klanens mon

Enligt muntlig tradition blev Ikai när han kom till Japan presenterad för Otomo klanen som erbjöd honom en fristad i den avlägsna Iga regionen.
Otomo, som betyder ”stor eskort”, var en militär klan som ansågs sig vara ättlingar till Amaterasus sonson, som pacificerade Japan. Otomo klanens makt sträckte sig från tidig Yamato period (250–710) fram till Sengoku perioden, och spände därmed över 1100 år.
Mellan Yamato och Heian perioden hade Otomo höga militära poster i det kejserliga hovet, som t ex kaptener i livgardet för kejsarinnan Suiko.
Den mest berömda ninja familjen – Hattori – var medlemmar i denna klan. Enligt en legend bestod livgardet av krigare av Hayato folket och det är därför möjligt att Hattori familjen kom ur detta ursprungsfolk.

Enligt samma legend utbildade Ikai (ibland även omnämnd som Chan Basho i Koto ryu dokumentation) delar av Otomo klanen i en unik form av stridsteknik – d.v.s. sig det som idag känner till som ninjutsu, kosshijutsu och koppjutsu.…

San ryaku

IwatoOctober 5, 2014

From Sida 16 – Iwato 1810 by Iwato

San ryaku – de tre strategierna – är en av de sju klassiska militära texterna från forntida Kina.
Man tror att den är skriven av Jiang Ziya, alias Taigong, som kanske även har skrivit boken Rokuto – de sex lärorna. Men de är en omstridd uppgift och det finns fyra andra teorier om dess ursprung.

Huang Shigong

Den första säger att de sannolikt var Taigongs elever som sammanställde texten, snarare än han själv. En annan teori säger att de var Huang Shigong som skrev den. En del boklärda har sedan begynnelsen förklarat boken som en förfalskning. Den sista teorin säger att den skrevs under Östra Han-dynastin (25 – 200 eKr) av någon tillbakadragen följare av Huang-Lao’s filosofiskola.

Som titeln antyder är San ryaku uppdelad i tre kapitel, som kan tolkas som en prioritetsordning;

Jo ryaku – den överlägsna strategin
Chu ryaku – den mittersta strategin
Ge ryaku – den låga strategin

Denna uppdelning är den samma som för kategoriseringen av vår Gyokko ryu.

Texten själv påpekar att alla tre strategierna är viktiga för att kunna regera. Mycket av texten ägnas åt administrativa frågor, men även några taktiska koncept är inkluderade. Generaler är högt skattade och måste lydas utan frågor när de tar kommandot. Angrepp skall vara snabba och beslutsamma mm.

Det finns tre områden som måste behärskas:

Växling mellan hårda och mjuka angreppssätt. Detta betyder att ledaren måste vara både välvillig och kunna inspirera till stordåd.

Agera enligt de verkliga omständigheterna. Undvik responser som är baserade på fantasier, gamla minnen eller vanor från andra omständigheter. Man måste förlita sig på aktuella underrättelser och vara villig till att anpassa sina planer.

Rekrytera endast skickliga och kapabla personer. Detta kräver en förmåga till insikt om våra medmänniskor.

Var och en av dessa principer har många olika och djupa innebörder.…

The 間 Aida of Skipping a Stone Across Water

Michael GlennOctober 2, 2014October 2, 2014

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Michael Glenn Shares a Stone from the Santa Monica Mountains with Hatsumi Sensei

My punch at Soke left me hanging over the depths. Beneath me was the profound moment of life or death falling into darkness below. I felt I could sink with it.

Above was Hatsumi Sensei, who had just bounced me off the surface of this pond like skipping a stone across the water. I looked at him, he laughed. He wasn't going to let me sink. Not today.

Not today because he is sharing the idea of skipping a stone across the water with the whole class. Last week he used this image again and again in his classes. And right now I was the stone.

When I heard him talk about this in previous classes, I nodded my head. The concept made sense to me. It reminded me of another image he had used last year of 乗換 norikae. Changing trains, going from one track (or technique, kyusho, etc…) to another.

But now when I experienced what it felt like to be the skipped stone, I realized there was so much more. There is the stone, the person throwing, and the surface across which you fly. But there is also the entire body of water. What lies beneath?

If you've ever skipped stones across a pond, you may recall the rhythm. If you have a nice flat stone and a good throw (angle and speed), the stone will skip or bounce off the surface a few times. The first bounce is long, the second shorter, and each one after has less space between bounces. You may even get 6 or 7 before the stone sinks.

But the stone does sink. Just as the opponent is defeated. The final result is the sinking of the attacker into the depths.

Hatsumi Sensei wants us to focus on 間 aida. This is the space between, or the interval from one time the stone contacts the water to the next. During this moment, the stone flies through the air, but falls again toward the water.

Today, in this class as Hatsumi Sensei's uke, I am powerless to stop myself from hitting the surface again.

In this moment, this aida... I skim across the surface and I glimpse something that really surprises me, and that I don't know how to explain. I realize my fate is in the depths below. I am going to sink. But when I look down at the water I also see Soke's reflection, smiling at me.

When he describes to the class a stone skipping across the water, it is easy to think of a stone, of throwing, and watching it bounce across the water. But that is the training that exists above the surface. That is beginner stuff. When you pass Godan you may glimpse below the surface.

He was not just skipping a stone. He was drawing on the power of the depths below without sinking into them himself. And even more, he had decided that he was not going to let me sink either. I felt that at the end. He let me see deeply into the depths of our training by protecting me from what was beneath.

I'm sure this all sounds crazy, but describing what I felt is difficult. So I offer you the metaphor of the skipping stone that Hatsumi Sensei gave us. It is up to you if you want to pick up the stone for your own training.… Read More

Hatsumi Sensei Shares Some Ninjutsu 文化 Bunka with Class

Michael GlennSeptember 28, 2014September 28, 2014

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael Glenn

Hatsumi Sensei Shares with us, photo by Michael Glenn

Last week Hatsumi Sensei set a tone for class that was subtle but very important. It started in a way that I have experienced before with Soke, with a show and tell before class. He brought out a sack full of books to show us.

Soke said these books were tales of ninjutsu 名人 meijin. They were mostly children's books and many were illustrated budo legends. But something was different about these from ordinary comics or manga.

Before I explain the difference, let me describe an experience from my own life that has the same echoes. It is an experience that is natural as you age, but the pace of change in our current era make it extreme. In my lifetime, a major change is the internet and smart phones.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this in relation to the experience of learning, training and daily life itself. Many people younger than me did not experience life before cellphones and the internet. They may not know that it had a different quality.

You had to learn differently. Train differently. Find and connect with teachers differently. This made your entire way of thinking.. different.

I have observed the effects of this change in younger students in the Bujinkan. Some aspects of it are really wonderful and Hatsumi Sensei embraces change like no one else. But our art was born of a different time and manner of training.

When I was a kid, I couldn't just look stuff up. I couldn't easily call or text my friends. We had to agree to meet (physically) somewhere ahead of time. Or just find each other.

That happened. Even with my own Bujinkan teacher, I followed my instincts and just found him. There was no website, or even a flyer with a phone number.

This may seem like silly "old man" nostalgia. But really, life was different. You HAD to learn stuff differently. Very few bother to learn this way anymore. Or experience the world through the interface of instinct and their senses.

When I teach Bujinkan, people struggle to remember the littlest things. And their first instinct is to reach for their phone to look it up.

But let's get back to class last week and Soke's books.

Many of these books came from when Hatsumi Sensei and Noguchi Sensei were children. Soke said to Noguchi, "you probably read these as a child…" and Noguchi said, "yes, then we would go outside for ちゃんばら chanbara with sticks" (play sword fights).

Hatsumi Sensei was a bit nostalgic when he spoke of reading these kind of books by candlelight. He said it was before television and children were riveted to these stories. Hearing him speak about this in person rekindled my own sense memories and childhood feelings of a time before things changed.

In Hatsumi Sensei's lifetime there have been enormous changes. Both for Japan and the world. The way people live in the world and interface with it for learning is not the same as that kind of candlelight inspiration from his childhood.

That night in the Hombu dojo he told us that Japan used to have this kind of warrior culture and it is important to preserve it. He said that the Bujinkan has it's own 文化 bunka or cultural heritage. He said we have to preserve these things because they represent and express the abundance of humanity.

One of the special things about martial arts training is that it HAS to be learned in the old way. With your mind, body, and heart working together. And it can only be passed down from a connection from teachers to students through their lives, experiences, and personal histories.

I come to Japan and train with teachers who lived in a time when the Japanese warrior culture was still alive as part of the fabric of their childhoods. And some of my teachers trained with Takamatsu Sensei which takes the thread of connection back even further into ages before internet, TV, radio, cars, telephones…

Back to a time when all they had for training was found in nature, the denshou, or in a teacher's heart.

What did the warriors learn then? And how did they learn it? This is the core of our Bujinkan heritage. Thank you Hatsumi Sensei for sharing that with us.

… Read More

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Year: 2014

虚実 Kyojitsu: A Path to Natural Power

Ikai 異匀

San ryaku

The 間 Aida of Skipping a Stone Across Water

Hatsumi Sensei Shares Some Ninjutsu 文化 Bunka with Class