Skip to content

How Hatsumi Sensei Adapted the Ura Waza of Sanshin no Kata to a Confined Space

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Not so clumsy Butterfly at Nihon Minka-en. Photo by Michael Glenn
When anyone tries the ura waza for our Bujinkan Sanshin no kata for the first time they “blunder and fumble like a moth,” in the same way I quote clumsily from Faulkner. I show it to them, then they try it… then crash and burn. You can almost see the synapses misfiring across the hemispheres of their brain.

Not many Bujinkan teachers train the ura waza of 三心の型 sanshin no kata. And our bodies get used to the kata we always do. In my own classes, I use many approaches to sanshin to keep us adaptive. Each time we do it, it should be new again.

I will be teaching this as part of my Rojodojo Expert Rally if you want join us in Phoenix or Chicago. If you can’t make those cities, you can invite me to visit your dojo. As Hatsumi Sensei says, these things are 参考書 sankousho (a reference) for training.

I felt new again when Hatsumi Sensei showed a very practical use for the ura waza of sanshin no kata during one of my visits this year to Japan. He was showing how to use kakushi buki and he said,
“It's like the sanshin no kata. You go with the body like this.  When you don't have space (kurai dori for a 狭い semai, narrow confined, small space) you do it like this. Study that when you can't move.” 
We all tried it, but I think you can’t master it immediately. Especially when your brain and body are used to the kata you normally do. When I teach this ura waza, I literally start with putting one foot in front of the other. If you can get that small detail, you are on your way.

We should not try to be experts all at once. Rather, we should strive for the process of continual small improvements in training. It is the aggregation of these marginal gains that leads to mastery. I hope to see you at one of my Rojodojo Expert Rally’s! You can also join my email list for future updates. …

Is this the most adaptive word in the Bujinkan?

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

In a recent class we studied Bujinkan uke kihon gata. I demonstrated how to physically do a jodan uke. But here is what I wrote in the training notes that I send out to my subscribers:
 "performing jodan uke begins with an attitude. Remember, uke comes from 受けるukeru which means to receive. There are three important moments when I  have to remind students of this: during ukemi; when performing uke nagashi; and even when being an uke."
But the fourth moment for this attitude is the MOST critical for your Bujinkan training. It is so important that I made a video about this word that you can watch below:


the most adaptive word in the Bujinkan?
Is this the most adaptive (and important) word for your Bujinkan training?
Posted by Rojodojo on Wednesday, September 9, 2015
you can also watch this on http://youtu.be/2pN1StVJhD4
receptive. that’s the sense
of an approach

no, more of an attitude for training.

some students arrive clear and receptive
others show up closed off
should they even be called students?

those who insist they are open
are the most dangerous to themselves
Their attitude fills them like the zen master’s
teacup. Can I serve them any more tea?

When I am a training partner. I receive.
In this moment I am filled with knowledge.
Do I even care that my role is to lose?

I receive an attack. this is the flip side of my counter.
Not a block.
after, I reverse the flow.
just enough
to match for that which I was given

I float here. In the space.
My ukemi protects me not because I am good
But simply receptive.
comfortable in my own space
that belongs to everyone else too. …

If You Only Do The Densho Version of Bujinkan Kata, You’re Doing it Wrong

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Bujinkan Honbu Dojo and Summer Grasses, photo by Michael Glenn
In a recent class in my dojo we were studying the Bujinkan kata, 彈指 danshi. It is important to note that the waza is not in the densho. The densho cannot capture the fullness of the technique. The waza is transmitted from teacher to student as densho PLUS kuden. If you just do the densho version, you are doing it wrong.

This was evident when I had a student read from the densho and show the technique. Then I showed the actual waza as I learned it from my teachers. There are many subtleties not contained in the densho that make the technique real and functional. Some of these are burned in my own memory from experiencing them in person, some I recover from my personal training notes.

For example, when striking with the boshi ken, there is a particular way to trace the anatomy to the target. This comes from Hatsumi Sensei who shared 切紙  急所説明 48穴当込みの場所 , 口伝。This art of paper cutting (kiri kami) is used to show the kyusho locations of 48 openings for striking, and it is a kuden (verbal transmission).

Another example comes from Soke’s use of 親殺 oya goroshi. I rarely see him do this kata without emphasizing this aspect.  It has an out-sized effect on the outcome of this kata. But it is not in the densho.

To finish, I shared some of the feeling from my two Japan trips so far this year. We move beyond the waza to defeat the opponent using 繋がり tsunagari alone. The ability to do this supersedes all form. And it is one basis for the theme this year.

繋がり tsunagari means connection, link, or relationship. And maybe the most important connection in the Bujinkan is to the lineage of the art in Japan. Strive for the most direct connection possible. Go study there yourself, or study with a teacher who does. In my opinion, I think you should do both of those things.…

Go Ahead, Ask Me About Sanshin Again…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Michael Glenn, Bujinkan Honbu Dojo, Last Month
Sometimes I go on a rant in my personal Bujinkan training notes. I usually don't share it publicly on my blog. But this one happens SO often, I will just hit you with it.

Not a week goes by that someone doesn't ask me "how" to do sanshin. This week, I'm really annoyed with this question. For two reasons: one, this question always comes from people who don't even know what they are asking... and two, because they never listen to my answers!

Anytime I do sanshin, I am reminded of my last class with Oguri Sensei and him teaching us these movements. He studied these even to the end. More than 45 years of Bujinkan training, and in his last class on earth, this is what we studied.

If you need a quick summary of sanshin in the Bujinkan, I wrote it: Sanshin no kata, are you doing it wrong? But nobody listens. People do whatever their ego tells them.

I know this because of the wide "variety" of basic versions I have seen from different teachers and at different dojos over the years. The one that I focus on is directly from the Japanese text as shared by Hatsumi Sensei.

But I have watched him teach it this way, and people ignore him. Even in Japan!

It always surprises me when people bring their baggage with them even to the Bujinkan Honbu Dojo. You would think after all the expense and effort it took them to get there, they would be ready to learn something. But something else happens...

Hatsumi Sensei will show them how he would like the form practiced and studied. But they never let go of their baggage of how they learned it from some teacher outside of Japan. People make excuses and call it henka, but many times it is just wrong.

They can't even bother to try it his way even right in front of him at the Honbu dojo. Then they go back home, and continue to show their badly formed kata. I feel sorry for their students.

The saddest part is, they or their students never actually "see" the lesson Soke is sharing. So they think they are studying the correct form. And will even argue with someone who tries to help.

I admit, "seeing" what Soke is teaching us is often a challenge. And I screw it up too. But people who never trained in the Bujinkan at all will argue with me. And even "experienced" Bujinkan students who are trapped in their so-called "kihon" that they never understood in the first place will debate with me about it. It gets really old.

The kicker is, you don't have to take my word for it, why not just copy Soke? That seems straightforward, but with sanshin, people don't. But I guess you can't be bothered because YOUR teacher taught it differently.

I say YOU because no one ever thinks it is them. It is always that other dojo over there that is messed up.  When I have this same discussion face to face with someone, they nod like they agree. But what they agree with is that OTHER people do this, never themselves.

So please, don't ask me "how" to do sanshin unless you are "really" asking and prepared to forget all that you already think you know about it. I hope my rant doesn't prevent you from blindly continuing to do what you think you know! …

Bujinkan Nagamaki in the Mountains with Peter Crocoll

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Robert, Peter, and Michael in the Forest of AZ
I went to the annual Arizona Bujinkan campout in the mountains of the Coconino national forest. This is an event I have been participating in for more than 20 years. Big thanks to my teacher, Peter Crocoll, and all of my friends in AZ who welcome me back home every year.

After an 8-9 hour drive from Santa Monica, we arrived mid afternoon to our campsite of over 7000 ft elevation. We set up camp quickly because this time of year, afternoon rain showers are common. But the rain came in the evening.

Heavy and loud with lightning. But I was happy to curl up in my sleeping bag in the cold mountain air for some rest. Adjusting my heart and lungs from sea level can be hard work.

During the night, the rain broke. I woke up with moonlight illuminating my tent. I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. There was a dark silhouette crawling up the wall. I thought a big insect had gotten inside so I poked at it. It was a tiny frog!

The next morning, I had a very early hike. Then my student, Robert Grove prepared a very hearty breakfast. It turns out I didn’t need to pack any food at all, because he was quite the camp chef.

My teacher, Peter Crocoll began the morning session with nagamaki kihon. Then we moved into some bisento kata he did with Someya Sensei in Japan. The nagamaki has no formal kata in the Bujinkan, so the bisento forms are a useful starting point.

I did some of these forms with Someya Sensei myself during my March Japan trip. They are short, direct, and deadly. A sword on the end of a polearm is a formidable weapon!

During the whole weekend, I would find myself getting too flashy with the weapon. I wanted to twirl, cross step, and brandish it. But Peter kept reminding me that straightforward taijutsu was the best approach. This was also my experience with Someya. This is why it is so important to remain a student, because you never see your own movement clearly.

We trained all day, then had a dinner break. Now it was time for night training. I will not reveal much about this because it is meant to be experienced.

We start when it is dusk, but still plenty of light. Peter asked me to show some muto dori I did in Japan during my recent trip in July. Then he asked my friend Nate to share some of his experience.

As the light faded, our eyes adjust. But away from the city, and out in the wilderness, it gets quite dark. The moon wasn’t rising until early morning. So the darkness was nearly absolute.

Imagine doing muto dori in these conditions. We can’t even see our opponent, much less the weapon. Soon, it did not even matter whether you were facing the opponent or not, since you cannot see even your own hands.

Some people had revelatory experiences in these conditions. I felt myself become the darkness. And that was pure fun!

Afterwards the time around the campfire roasting marshmallows was very relaxing. We shared many jokes and old training stories. Normally this goes pretty late into the night, but many people were exhausted after training all day. I stayed to put the fire out around 11 pm.

Then I went for a solo hike in the blackness. No flashlights. Just pure sensory blending with the dark forest.

Later that night, I awoke in my tent to find the moonlight streaming in. The tiny frog was crawling up the outside of my tent again. I must have parked my tent on top of his home! or maybe he just liked all the dew that condensed on the fabric of my tent.

Next morning, I was up quite early for a hike. Robert again prepared a great and hearty breakfast. I told him that I decided he must come along on all of the camping trips!

Peter continued with bisento waza using the nagamaki. He showed the basic form and the ura waza. Peter takes detailed and extensive notes during his Japan trips. So he always shares the little details that reveal the secrets of our art.

I gave Robert a surprise promotion to nidan. He performed well in this stressful ambush I prepared for him. He already had a shodan from another dojo when he started training with me a year ago. But his martial arts background goes back more than 30 years.

It was hard to say goodbye to my friends (really more like family). And the mountain forest. Training in this environment brings me a bit closer to the experiences of my ninja ancestors from the mountains of Japan.…

Japan Effect

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

image
No comment

I left Japan for India a week ago, and I gave my first class here after the trip. 
When you are in Japan training with Sensei and the Shihan you are not aware of how much your taijutsu evolves. But when you begin to teach again, you can appreciate the number of new things you have acquired. That was the case in class. Needless to say that the students were lost.

When in Japan I behave like a regular student. I try not to teach my partners as I want to get the most of each class I’m attending to. After a few days at the honbu my brain is totally fried and I feel completely lost.

When you’re in Japan, do not try to do “your taijutsu” simply copy what Sensei and the Shihan are giving you. When you are back to your dōjō, train what you learn there.

Sensei told me once “Arnaud train what you have to train, and teach what you have to teach”. When in Japan don’t teach, train!

Teaching is easier than being taught which is why so many are not doing what the teachers are doing in class. If you trained properly then the teaching will come easily as long as you have good basics.

When I opened the class, I had no clue about what I was going to teach.  So I asked Eugenio to begin the class.

But then the “magic” happened. Suddenly every new feeling I had experienced, and didn’t get while at the honbu, everything was there in my taijutsu. The tsunagari, the awaseru, the mutō dori.

It was amazing to watch my body unfold naturally the same movements I was unable to do before at the honbu.

This is what I call the “Japan effect”. The benefits of training in Japan need a few days to emerge in your taijutsu. It is not about trying to do what you learned in Japan, but to let this new knowledge sink into your body.

You have to appropriate it naturally, and this is only possible with strong foundations. Without a deep training in the tenchijin, what you do is fake. You have to have trained your basics so much, that your body moves by itself. Thinking is not at play. This is the taihen kuden Shinden of learning.

When you get to this level then you can copy Sensei’s movements. What Sensei teaches is beyond the form. It is so subtle that your brain cannot understand it. A long experience, kuden, is needed.

Often people ask me why, as a Dai Shihan, do I need to travel to Japan three times a year? 
I’m going there to get the “Japan effect”.


…

Fix And Softly Turn Around

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

image

Today at Senō sensei’s class more people were attending, and we had two hours of taijutsu. It was pure delight.

We trained the F. A. S. T. principle in slow motion.

F. A. S. T. is my acronym for “Fix And Softly Turn around”.

Uke launched a left Tsuki, and you wait until his fist is nearly touching you. At the last moment possible, you pivot to your left, living his fist with your left shoulder. It creates a sort of arm lock as you lock his elbow with your other shoulder. Your body is in line with his arm.
Replace your right shoulder by your hand and bring him down with a step forward.

The body moves softly and then around the fixed Tsuki. If it doesn’t work, grab the left hand and rotate the body around the arm, creating some omote. Lift the arm; hit the throat, the face, and then the neck with sunken.

From there either you apply:

A) a Ganseki Nage like movement bend the torso forward to bring him to the ground. If Uke’s left arm gets out of the lock and slides out, your left arm is there to outstretch him and continue.

B) a Ganseki Oshi like movement by stepping over with your right leg to off balance uke. Uke’s right arm is pulled horizontally and outside while your left arm lifts his left arm up in Ganseki.

Everything is very soft, only done with body footwork. Uke’s body reaction decides on your choice between the two movements.
The principle here is the usual concept from the kukishin ryû known as “teko shiten”. (1)(2)

梃 teko is the lever and 支点 shiten, the fulcrum.

What I found remarkable is that the same concept is applied in two distinct ways.

In movement A, the teko and the shiten are applied on the same point, here the arm. It is the usual application of the concept.

But in movement B, Senō sensei dissociated the two. The lever is still on the arm, but the fulcrum is done by Tori’s right foot, placed on the ground next to the right foot of uke to hinder his movements.

I have been playing a lot with this principle, but I never thought of using them in a double location. The applications for it are endless.

These small discoveries are why it is always refreshing to come and train in Japan with the best. (3)
_____________________
1. 梃/teko/lever
2. 支点/shiten/fulcrum
3. The “refreshing” part does not concern the heat that was too much.


…

Ignore The Opponent

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

image

Hatsumi sensei was in a superb mood yesterday, and he gave us a high-level training. He often says that he is teaching for the Jûgodan, but yesterday night I think his teachings were advice that rank.

I opened the class with some taijutsu but rapidly he put the level so high that we were all lost in a minute. And that includes my partner Kenji and I. The more the class advanced, and the more I had the impression that my brain and body were stuck as I was trying to swim in water full of seaweed. Each movement being hindered by hundred invisible hands.

We did many applications with taijutsu and ninja biken, but I was so lost that I can only remember one kaname for this class: “ignore the opponent”.

It seems to be for me the next step of my Budō evolution.

As in every class, Sensei moves in a very simple but strange way. There is no thinking, no intention, no force, only natural body motions. Until yesterday, we kept watching uke. Not that time. Even that has been taken from us!

Ignoring uke is easy to understand, but prices to be quite difficult to achieve.

Sensei said that we have to move as if not at all concerned by the attacker. Not paying attention to uke, not trying to avoid the attack, you just move forward in the attack and deflect the weapon or the fist, only because you don’t focus on it. I’m sorry, I know that it is hard to get it with words, but this is the best I can do to explain what it feels during the class. I went to him a few times to “feel it”, but there was nothing to feel until he dug his nails into my face or my finger joints.

Sensei is teaching a higher level of Mutō dori this year. Each class he insisted on it. But sometimes words are not enough to grasp it. Our senses are limited and their inability to feel the invisible creates a permanent fog in which we get killed. When you are uke, there is nothing. When you watch him do the technique on somebody else, there is nothing to see.

It is like there are nothing and all of a sudden there is too much pain. His uke Nagase, Shiraishi, Paul, Yabunaka, were destroyed by his non-actions. It looked like there was no pattern, no form, no movement. It is not magic, Sensei did things, but as he was impersonating the mutō dori it was like some kami (divine power) was doing it instead of him.

Once again the “tsunagari” (connection) and awaseru (matching) where the key of this class.

Mutō dori is the next big thing to master, and I begin to consider it to be the ultimate level of taijutsu. Mutō dori when completed with “ignore the opponent” is so powerful that fighting is useless. In fact, there cannot be any fight. Uke attacks and die, and he doesn’t know why.

After the class, I went to his house, and he gave me a 桃 momo, an enormous peach (1) coming from Togakushi.

So, trying to find some logic there, I can say that he wants us to be 藻も, momo, “moving like some seaweed”. That means to have no intention, no strength, and only following naturally the water flow and the tide.

Seaweed ignores the water; it follows the flow.

______________________
1. Momo: 桃/momo/peach; prunus persica (tree)
2. Mo: 藻/mo/algae; waterweed; seaweed; duckweed
3. Mo: mo/also; too; words of similar weight|about (emphasizing an upper limit); as much as; even|more; further; other; again


…

Ganseki Nag(ato)

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

image

Since he was promoted to Dai Shihan last year,  Nagato sensei has been teaching directly from the densho.

His powerful taijutsu re-encountered the basic forms of the ryûha and helped us deepen our taijutsu. This summer apparently, he is going back to his regular way of teaching and I must say that it is a renewed pleasure.

I have been following his classes since the opening of the old honbu in 1997, and I can see a new depth in his movements.

I had the same epiphany when I taught the tenchijin, the ryûha and the weapons to Shiva’s students in India. I noticed that my body moved in a more subtle and powerful way after reviewing with them, all the techniques of the Bujinkan.

During the class, Nagato sensei used a technique done by one of the high rank attending his class and taught his “ri” (1) vision of the Ganseki principle. It was simple and soft and terribly efficient.

Efficiency had never been an issue for him, but I felt that he improved more,  if possible,  his general understanding of taijutsu.

Speaking of Ganseki he said that we do not have to do it like in the basic form, but adapt it seamlessly to Uke’s attacks. The basic forms are there to teach beginners the general body mechanics. It is another thing to make them useful to survive an actual fight.

We did many variations around Ganseki, changing from the basic form to many non orthodox ones. Sometimes only his arm, totally bent, would be used as a lever to throw his opponent; sometimes, he would simply hold lightly the top of the fingers of uke and, with a shoulder and full body movement, would throw him in a variation of Ganseki Nage.

Each time his distance and busy angle would adapt to the openings of his partner. It was brilliant.

Following exactly what Sensei is teaching in his classes these days, his movements are all connected.
The tsunagari (2) matches exactly (3) the intentions of uke. There is no thinking, only a natural reaction of his body.

If I had to summarize this fantastic class I would say that if Nagato sensei’s taijutsu was good, it just got better. And again, I think this is because he matters his basics and spent a year reviewing them through the densho.

If you are a teacher, please review your ryûha regularly because there are still many gems for you to find there.
If you are a student, be happy to be training these basics, because they are building the strong foundation of your future.

Please try to let go of the cosmic movements. They are often unrealistic and will give you a wrong feeling of security. Your survival is hidden in the quality of your basics.

______________________
1. The last level of Shuhari
2. 繋がり/tsunagari/connection; link; relationship
3. 併せる/awaseru/to match (rhythm, speed, etc.)|to join together; to unite; to combine; to add up|to face; to be opposite (someone)|to compare; to check with|to cause to meet (e.g. an unpleasant fate)|to place together; to connect; to overlap|to mix; to combine|to put blade to blade; to fight


…