From Comments for Classical Martial Arts Research Academy by
[…] call this Gyoun Ryusui, and its a little like having faith in your purpose in life, or simply not resisting the […]
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Read MoreFrom Comments for Classical Martial Arts Research Academy by
[…] call this Gyoun Ryusui, and its a little like having faith in your purpose in life, or simply not resisting the […]
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Read MoreFrom Kasumi An Study Center 霞庵 スタディセンター by カスミアン
BY Tomoe Gozen
I really liked visiting Nikko Toshogu(日光東照宮). It has so many decorations of animals like monkeys, elephant, cats, horses, Kirin, Dragons…and so on!
Now I see how these places have perhaps influenced the way Hatsumi Sensei decorates the Bujinkan Honbu dojo and even how my husband, Paul, decorates the Kasumian Study Center.
They both really like using animals in the Dojo and offices. I honestly thought that Paul was putting too many animal statues and things at our study center. But I found out that each animal has a symbolic meaning or important mythological role.
I truly enjoyed listening to the stories about each animal. I grew up in Shiga/Kyoto or Koga region, famous for Ninja. You can find many Ninja related spots in my hometown. The temples in this area and Kyoto seem more simple and less decorated than Nikko Toshogun.
“Wabi Sabi” is the word for a more simple and austere Japanese aesthetic. And it is this Wabi Sabi that I am more accustomed to in the Kyoto, or Koga area.
This was my first trip to Nikko and it was very interesting to see the differences between Kyoto’s temples and Nikko which is 17th century’s architecture.
Thank you to Stephan from Germany and Ricky from the USA for joining me on this lovely day trip. If you have not visited Nikko, I highly recommend it. It is an easy day trip from Noda city and it’s beautiful temples and inspiring forest paths with towering sacred trees will certainly refresh you and nourish your spirit! I will definitely visit again.
Read MoreFrom Kasumi An Study Center 霞庵 スタディセンター by Kasumi An Study Center
BY Tomoe Gozen
I really liked visiting Nikko Toshogu(日光東照宮). It has so many decorations of animals like monkeys, elephant, cats, horses, Kirin, Dragons…and so on!
Now I see how these places have perhaps influenced the way Hatsumi Sensei decorates the Bujinkan Honbu dojo and even how my husband, Paul, decorates the Kasumian Study Center.
They both really like using animals in the Dojo and offices. I honestly thought that Paul was putting too many animal statues and things at our study center. But I found out that each animal has a symbolic meaning or important mythological role.
I truly enjoyed listening to the stories about each animal. I grew up in Shiga/Kyoto or Koga region, famous for Ninja. You can find many Ninja related spots in my hometown. The temples in this area and Kyoto seem more simple and less decorated than Nikko Toshogun.
“Wabi Sabi” is the word for a more simple and austere Japanese aesthetic. And it is this Wabi Sabi that I am more accustomed to in the Kyoto, or Koga area.
This was my first trip to Nikko and it was very interesting to see the differences between Kyoto’s temples and Nikko which is 17th century’s architecture.
Thank you to Stephan from Germany and Ricky from the USA for joining me on this lovely day trip. If you have not visited Nikko, I highly recommend it. It is an easy day trip from Noda city and it’s beautiful temples and inspiring forest paths with towering sacred trees will certainly refresh you and nourish your spirit! I will definitely visit again.
… Read MoreFrom Shiro Kuma by kumafr
Leon Tolstoi said, “Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.”
Benjamin Franklin said: “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.”
What we train is Art but requires some strong basics to be expressed correctly. Because of that I’m too often stuck between two attitudes: teaching the form or showing the feeling?
Put differently; the question is: as a Martial Arts teacher, should I be an actor or a coach?
The actor is showing his level of expertise to the student; he doesn’t actually teach.
Acting is what you can do when you are teaching high ranks so that they get the feeling, the forms being different for everyone. More or less this is what you get when training in Japan with Hatsumi Sensei and the Dai Shihan.
The coach does it differently. He does his best to transmit his knowledge simply so that each student can get to reproduce the technique.
Coaching is what you are supposed to do when you are teaching beginners.
The more I teach, and the more I turn into a coach. And I like it.
This year has been very active for me. I gave multiple seminars: 4 in France, 3 in India, 2 in Germany, 2 in Dubai, and 1 in Argentina, Brasil, and Colombia. And I went twice to train in Japan. Over the course of the year, I saw my teaching evolve to turn more into coaching. At first, I had the feeling to be lazy, but then I understood that this was the way to go.
Too often, teachers use their seminars as an excuse to show off. The dōjō becomes a theater stage where they demonstrate their excellence to be worshiped by the attendees. And this is wrong when the majority of participants in a seminar are not Shidōshi. Let me explain that.
When you are a beginner or a young black belt, what you need is not to attend a show, you need to learn how to be able to move correctly. When I was much younger, I loved to watch the Formula 1 races. But honestly, it didn’t better my driving abilities! We have many gifted high ranks in the Bujinkan, but not all of them are destined to teach. A high-rank diploma does not come with teaching ability. You have to like to teach. In my dōjō, I teach the beginners and let the Shidōshi show the black belts. I find it more interesting and also more challenging intellectually. Showing your excellence is only challenging your ego. I did it long enough to be aware of it.
The Denshō are for Transmission. (1)
If knowledge were supposed to be just a show, then teachers would be Kenshō, “natural show offs”! (2)
Show your level to the high ranks, and be a coach for the beginners, this is Sekinin, your moral responsibility. (3)
____________________
1. 伝承 Denshō: handing down (information); legend; tradition; folklore; transmission.
Denshō is the name given to the scrolls of a Ryū.
2. 衒性, Kenshō: show off + nature (of a person or thing)
3. 責任, Sekinin: duty; responsibility (incl. supervision of staff) , liability; Moral responsibility