Author: kumafr

From Shiro Kuma by kumafr

Is Mutō Dori the first step to knighthood?

Is it possible to become a knight in the modern times (Jidai), or was it only possible in the past (Jidai)? (1)

Here is an occidental Knight’s oath that reminded me of the Mutō Dori theme:

Be without fear in the face of your enemies.

Stand brave and upright.

Speak the truth always, even if it means your death.

Protect the helpless and do no wrong.

When you read this oath from the past, you see similarities with what Hatsumi sensei is teaching at the Honbu dōjō. The Mutō Dori of 2017 is to move towards the opponent with no fear even if you might die. And this whether you have a weapon or not. Ethics and values will keep us brave and upright. But this requires physical courage and high values.

How many Bujinkan Shihan and practitioners understand that today?

Sunday after the calligraphy session, Sensei was speaking to us, saying that the next year’s theme would be “Ninkyō”. “There are many meanings for it” he added. In this post, I’d like to share with you some of them.

Ninkyō 任侠 means chivalry. Thence my interrogation about knighthood.

It also carries the ideas of generosity; heroism; chivalrous spirit; and helping the weak and fighting the strong. Aren’t those values what Sensei tried to achieve by developing the Bujinkan during these past forty years?

We all know that the Bujinkan has developed without any “master plan”, as Sensei only follows the path of nature, and adapts his vision permanently to the situation. In fact, Sensei, like the Ishitobashi of 2015 (2), bounces on the surface of life following the changes on the surface of the water. After the Fukushima catastrophe I phoned Sensei, and when I asked about how he felt, he answered: “Banpen Fugyō”, “10000 changes, no surprise”. Change is permanent, and as a Bujinkan member and a follower of Sōke, we have to go with the flow of things. The Bujinkan is not an organization; it is a gathering of people following his understanding of life.

Or it was supposed to be like that. Because these days, things are changing (decaying?) fast, and I am witnessing abroad, and also in Japan, a negative evolution in the Shihan’s behaviors and values. Respect and obedience are disappearing, and I’m concerned that some turbulent times are coming. I hope that Sōke’s dream will prevail, and maybe this is why the next theme might be Ninkyō, chivalry.

Chivalry, knighthood, regroup values that our society has discarded to a more profit-oriented life. If money and power are the only values the majority is seeking, then no wonder why our Budō is not developing in the proper direction. But don’t blame Sensei for that, blame yourself! We are the Bujinkan, and now is the time to stand up and to fight for re-establishing our values.

Ethics and morality might be outdated, but they are the real foundations of the Bujinkan Budō. I’m not referring here to the modern vision of Budō exposed in the Hagakure or the Bushidō, even if some aspects of these books can still be of value today for the serious practitioner. (3)(4)

With Ninkyō, Hatsumi sensei’s Budō is turning us into new knights, and this is our duty to make ours, the values of the old Jidai (時代) to bring them into the Jidai (次代) of the future because the future is now. If we do not act rapidly, all that Toda Sensei, Takamatsu Sensei, and Hatsumi Sensei have created might vanish like a “puff of smoke”.

Toda Sensei showed the correct path:

To know that patience comes first. Know that endurance is simply a puff of smoke.

To know that the path of man comes from justice. Know that the way of men is justice.

To renounce avarice, indolence, and obstinacy. Forget the heart of greed, ease and relying on others.

To recognise sadness and worry as natural, and to seek the immovable heart. One should regard both sadness and malice as natural laws, and just gain the enlightenment of an unshakable heart.

To not stray from the path of loyalty and brotherly love, and to delve always deeper into the heart of Budō.

In your heart, never leave the ways of loyalty and filial piety, and aspire greatly for the ways of the pen and the sword.

Written on New Year’s Day in 1891 Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu

If we don’t take action rapidly to correct our attitudes, follow the guidelines set up by Toda Sensei, and the ethics and values of chivalry, then the Bujinkan will turn into anarchy and tyranny, and prove Plato right. (5)

Ninkyō (任侠), “chivalry” is also our Ninkyō (任今日), our “duty for now” (6); if we do not want to become Ninkyō (仁虚), “evil humans!” (7)

___________________________

1. 時代 vs. 次代, Jidai vs. Jidai: If the first Jidai, 時代 means: 1. period; epoch; era; age ; 2. the times; those days ; 3. oldness; ancientness; antiquity; it is interesting to know that Jidai, 次代, means “the next era ”

2. Ishitobashi: 石飛ばし, skipping stones (on a body of water)

3. Hagakure and Bushidō: The Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo was written by a clerk (?) during peace time in the 18th century, fifty years before Meiji. The author had no clue of the Sengoku Jidai period. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagakure

4. The Bushidō by Nitobe Inazō was written even later in 1899 and published in the 2oth century! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido

5. The Plato Republic, book VIII: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~davpy35701/text/plato-democ2.pdf

6. Ninkyō (任今日), obligation; duty; charge; responsibility + today

7. Ninkyō (仁虚), human + falsehood

From Shiro Kuma by kumafr

From Shiro Kuma by kumafr

From Shiro Kuma by kumafr

Buddha said that “thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

This sentence is resuming my feeling entirely during Noguchi sensei’s class, on Sunday morning. Anyone who trained in Japan knows how “foggy” you feel during this first class beginning the training day. In the old days, this class used to happening after Sensei’s class. But less and fewer people would come, so they changed the order. We now have to wake up earlier.

To me, Noguchi sensei is a candle of happiness, even though his life has been tough at some point. (1) These events could have destroyed his happiness. It didn’t happen. The Bujinkan is about being happy and to keeping going whatever hardship one meets in his or her lifetime.

Sunday, I was glad to meet my teacher again after my last Japan trip in April. (2) But to be honest, I was a little sleepy after a short jet lag night. This tiredness vanished after the first movements, as his permanent happiness spread all over the dōjō, and motivate everyone. The light of happiness spreads in all directions, and everyone is in the light.

I love Noguchi sensei’s creativity and the way he reinterprets the well-known Waza and basics of the Bujinkan. This ability to do something new with old known techniques is amazing. It has nurtured my whole Budō approach for nearly a quarter century now. I owe him a lot for the level I have today.

Sunday we rediscovered some basic techniques of the Tenchijin. (3)

We began the class with the Tonsō no Kata (4), the escaping techniques of the Tōgakure Ryû. Those nine Waza are the essence of the school and are much more than one thinks at first glance.

There are 3 sets of 3 simple techniques. The first three Waza, deal with taijutsu; the second set of three, with Mutō Dori, the last three with strategy when facing multiple opponents.

“When dealing with multiple opponents, always attack the weakest one first”, said Noguchi sensei.

If some of the techniques use Metsubishi and Shuriken, to me, this is not the important lesson. I see the Tonsō no Kata more like the Juppō Sesshō of the Tōgakure Ryû.

We continued with the Suwari Waza from the Jin Ryaku no Maki, but we did them standing up. That is where his creativity became visible. Playing with the concept of Juppō Sesshō, we did those techniques in an entirely new way, changing the angle of the grip in the ten directions. It was refreshing and reinforced our feeling of happiness.

Then we moved to the Nage Kaeshi part, reviewing Okyō, Zu Dori, Fûkan. The Okyō was entirely different from the basic form I knew. Instead of the simultaneous double hits (chest and lower back), Noguchi sensei, rotated the upper torso to the left at the start of the throw, destroying Uke’s Nage Waza, and turning it into a soft but efficient Ô Soto Gake. That was effortless and beautiful.

We finished with some creative Hanbō Jutsu starting from Kata Yaburi no Kamae (5)(6) and Otonashi no Kamae. (7)

Once again, I want to emphasize that, when you come to Japan, you have to know your basics before leaving your country as you will not train the fundamentals here, only their evolution.

If you know your basics, learning their new interpretations is easy. But if you don’t, you cannot understand the Waza and will have a wicked sense of knowledge mixing the primary forms with the advanced Henka.

For the light of the candle of happiness to shine, you first need to get a candle. Learning the Tenchijin and the schools is how you get your candle ready for the light.

__________________________________

1. Noguchi sensei was born the same day as the Hiroshima bomb destroyed the city, his elder brother was killed during the war, and his beloved son died a few years ago at age 36.
2. For some reason, 24 years ago, in July 1993, Hatsumi sensei asked me to train exclusively with him and Noguchi sensei. Noguchi sensei became my teacher.
3. A new reprint of the original Tenchijin has been released in Spanish (the English version should be released very soon), check the Shinden Ediciones by my friend Fernando Aixa, Jûgodan. Without a doubt, the best-published version so far. A must-have for any serious practitioner.
4. 遁走/tonsō/fleeing; escape
5. Kata Yaburi no Kamae is often called Hiraichimonji no Kamae in basic programs.
6. 型破り/katayaburi/unusual; unconventional; mold-breaking
7. 音無しの構え/otonashinokamae/lying low; saying nothing and waiting for an opportunity

From Shiro Kuma by kumafr

Buddha said that “thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

This sentence is resuming perfectly my feeling during Noguchi sensei’s class, on Sunday morning. Anyone who trained in Japan, knows how “foggy” you feel during this first morning class beginning the training day. In the old days, this class used to be given after Sensei’s class. But less and less people would come, so they changed the order. We now have to wake up earlier. 

To me, Noguchi sensei is a candle of happiness, even though his life has been tough at some point. (1) These events could have destroyed his happiness. It didn’t happen. The Bujinkan is about being happy and to keep going whatever hardship one meets in his or her lifetime.

Sunday, I was glad to meet my teacher again after my last Japan trip in April. (2) But to be honest, I was a little sleepy after a short jetlag night. This tiredness vanished after the first movements, as his permanent happiness spread all over the dōjō, and motivate everyone. The light of happiness spread in all directions, and everyone is lit by it. 

I love Noguchi sensei’s creativity, and the way he re-interprets the well-known Waza and basics of the Bujinkan. This ability to do something new with old known techniques is amazing. It has nurtured my whole Budō approach for nearly a quarter century now. I owe him a lot for the level I have today. 

Sunday we rediscovered some basic techniques of the Tenchijin. (3)

We began the class with the Tonsō no Kata (4), the escaping techniques of the Tōgakure Ryû. Those 9 techniques are the essence of the school and are much more than one thinks at first glance.

They are divided into 3 sets of 3 simple techniques. The first three Waza, deal with taijutsu; the second set of three, with Mutō Dori, the last three with strategy when facing multiple opponents.

“When dealing with multiple opponents, always attack the weakest one first”, said Noguchi sensei. 

If some of the techniques use Metsubishi and Shuriken, to me, this is not the important lesson. I see the Tonsō no Kata more like the Juppō Sesshō of the Tōgakure Ryû. 

We continued with the Suwari Waza from the Jin Ryaku no Maki, but we did them standing up. This is where his creativity became visible. Playing with the concept of Juppō Sesshō, we did those techniques in a totally new way, changing the angle of the grip in the ten directions. It was refreshing and reinforced our feeling of happiness.

Then we moved to the Nage Kaeshi part, reviewing Okyō, Zu Dori, Fûkan. The Okyō was quite different from the basic form I knew. Instead of the double simultaneous hits (chest and lower back), Noguchi sensei, rotated the upper torso to the left at the start of the throw, destroying Uke’s Nage Waza, and turning it into a soft but efficient Ô Soto Gake. That was effortless and beautiful.

We finished with some creative Hanbō Jutsu starting from Kata Yaburi no Kamae (5)(6) and Otonashi no Kamae. (7)

Once again, I want to emphasize that, when you come to Japan, you have to know your basics before leaving your country as you will not train the fundamentals here, only their evolution.

If you know your basics, learning their new interpretations is easy. But if you don’t, you cannot understand the Waza and will have a wrong sense of knowledge mixing the basic forms with the advanced Henka. 

For the light of the candle of happiness to shine, you first need to get a candle. Learning the Tenchijin and the schools is how you get your candle ready for the light. 

__________________

1. Noguchi sensei’s was born the same day as the Hiroshima bomb destroyed the city, his elder brother was killed during the war; and his beloved son died a few years ago at age 36.
2. For some reason, 24 years ago, in July 1993, Hatsumi sensei asked me to train exclusively with him and Noguchi sensei. Noguchi sensei became my teacher.
3. A new reprint of the original Tenchijin has been released in Spanish (the English version should be  released very soon), check the Shinden Ediciones by my friend Fernando Aixa, Jûgodan. Without a doubt, the best published version so far. A must-have for any serious practitioner. 
4. 遁走/tonsō/fleeing; escape
5. Kata Yaburi no Kamae is often called Hiraichimonji no Kamae in basic programs. 
6. 型破り/katayaburi/unusual; unconventional; mold-breaking
7. 音無しの構え/otonashinokamae/lying low; saying nothing and waiting for an opportunity