From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

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!…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

candlelighten paperhouse photo by Konstantin Leonov

Tonight's class was entangled with violent local events. I will share them here because I have compassion for the victims and because they expose a deep concept for our own training and lives. This idea was expressed by Takuan 沢庵 as,

心こそ、心迷わす心なり、 心に心、心許すな  "It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray; of the mind, do not be mindless."

An hour before my class, I heard news that two police officers had been shot and killed in Santa Cruz. I didn't know them, and this unfortunate event has no direct impact on my life. This could be just another tally from the daily news but tonight felt different for some reason.

When I arrived to our training area, the roads were shut down with police barricades.  As I followed the stream of cars being detoured around the perimeter, I noticed the officers manning the barricades had their assault rifles at the ready.

I asked one of them if there was access to where we train. He said it was open, but the roads were closed. So I drove around to the nearest point and parked. I saw many pedestrians streaming past the blockades without interference from police, so I followed to see what was going down.

I approached the center of the gathering crowd. I saw SMPD’s SWAT, Beverly Hills Police Department,  and the Santa Monica Fire Department as well as HAZMAT trucks. Wow, ok, maybe we were not having class tonight.

I asked some bystanders what was up. They said there was a hostage situation in one of the residential houses. I peered down the street, past the second level of police barricades. In the dark I could see the house they were focused on. It was far enough from our training location for us to be safe with our class.

So I coordinated parking for some students then we walked over as a group to the training area. Along the way, I asked several police, park rangers and other "official" looking people if it was safe for us to be there. No one would give me an easy answer. They just shrugged and said they didn't really know what was going on.

I told everyone to keep their gear contained and ready in case we needed to make a fast exit.

After our class warm ups, several TV news vans arrived and parked near us. Then the Red Cross van showed up to provide information and refreshments to the neighbors who had been evacuated from the area. We continued training on the kata 輦輿 renyo.

A friend of mine who is a media photographer arrived so I took him aside and asked about the situation. A man (later I learned his name was John Carroll Lowery) had tied up his 15 year old son and 86 year old mother in law. The son escaped and called police.

Later that night, he let the mother in law go. The police crisis negotiators said he seemed depressed and indicated marital troubles when they communicated with him. After the communication stopped, the police made entry around 4:30 in the morning and found he had shot himself.

There have been a lot of 無理心中 murishinjuu (murder-suicides) in the U.S. and around the world recently. I think about how the person who commits these acts has cornered himself. The trap he is in is lonely and all in his own head.

This illusion of being trapped then sets the person on a timeline or course of action that leads to being trapped for real by violence. Thoughts have immense power. They are life and death.

Later when I was alone in our training area, a breeze swept over the park with the breath of tonight's desperate action. Then stillness.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

candlelighten paperhouse photo by Konstantin Leonov

Tonight's class was entangled with violent local events. I will share them here because I have compassion for the victims and because they expose a deep concept for our own training and lives. This idea was expressed by Takuan 沢庵 as,

心こそ、心迷わす心なり、 心に心、心許すな  "It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray; of the mind, do not be mindless."

An hour before my class, I heard news that two police officers had been shot and killed in Santa Cruz. I didn't know them, and this unfortunate event has no direct impact on my life. This could be just another tally from the daily news but tonight felt different for some reason.

When I arrived to our training area, the roads were shut down with police barricades.  As I followed the stream of cars being detoured around the perimeter, I noticed the officers manning the barricades had their assault rifles at the ready.

I asked one of them if there was access to where we train. He said it was open, but the roads were closed. So I drove around to the nearest point and parked. I saw many pedestrians streaming past the blockades without interference from police, so I followed to see what was going down.

I approached the center of the gathering crowd. I saw SMPD’s SWAT, Beverly Hills Police Department,  and the Santa Monica Fire Department as well as HAZMAT trucks. Wow, ok, maybe we were not having class tonight.

I asked some bystanders what was up. They said there was a hostage situation in one of the residential houses. I peered down the street, past the second level of police barricades. In the dark I could see the house they were focused on. It was far enough from our training location for us to be safe with our class.

So I coordinated parking for some students then we walked over as a group to the training area. Along the way, I asked several police, park rangers and other "official" looking people if it was safe for us to be there. No one would give me an easy answer. They just shrugged and said they didn't really know what was going on.

I told everyone to keep their gear contained and ready in case we needed to make a fast exit.

After our class warm ups, several TV news vans arrived and parked near us. Then the Red Cross van showed up to provide information and refreshments to the neighbors who had been evacuated from the area. We continued training on the kata 輦輿 renyo.

A friend of mine who is a media photographer arrived so I took him aside and asked about the situation. A man (later I learned his name was John Carroll Lowery) had tied up his 15 year old son and 86 year old mother in law. The son escaped and called police.

Later that night, he let the mother in law go. The police crisis negotiators said he seemed depressed and indicated marital troubles when they communicated with him. After the communication stopped, the police made entry around 4:30 in the morning and found he had shot himself.

There have been a lot of 無理心中 murishinjuu (murder-suicides) in the U.S. and around the world recently. I think about how the person who commits these acts has cornered himself. The trap he is in is lonely and all in his own head.

This illusion of being trapped then sets the person on a timeline or course of action that leads to being trapped for real by violence. Thoughts have immense power. They are life and death.

Later when I was alone in our training area, a breeze swept over the park with the breath of tonight's desperate action. Then stillness.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Rearview Graffiti, Ameya-Yokochō アメヤ横丁 photo by Michael Glenn

You should know when you understand something and when you don't. Have enough room in yourself to acknowledge it. When you don't, you are trapped in yourself. And you will not learn.

If we go beyond what Hatsumi Sensei calls 一般的 ippanteki, 初歩的 shohoteki - the general, rudimentary or surface level of what we think we know there are many treasures to be discovered. For instance, these very words I write have power in them. It is a transfer of meaning from my thoughts to yours. This power should not be ignored or taken lightly. Do you know how it works?

Hatsumi Sensei refers to this as 口伝言魂 kuden kotodama. This is the spirit or power of language. But it is not simply about thought. This same phenomenon can be harnessed in self defense. This 目的論 mokutekiron or teleology of kuden can be for the sake of survival.

An example is found in muto dori. You don't simply evade the strike. You disappear. But how does one do that, practically?

Here's how Hatsumi Sensei describes it. He says "意識空 ishiki kara" which is making your intent, consciousness, or self disappear.  Or he says  "意識を避ける ishiki o sakeru", or even "意識を割ける" which is evading the consciousness or intent of your opponent, or simply separating from it.

These methods of hiding the self or evading and enduring are ninjutsu (意識を忍ぶ shiki o shinobu) and stem from the same power that we give to words. It's not a question of avoiding at a specific geometrical angle or by so many centimeters. This is another dimension of evasion. This is not a purely physical phenomenon.  

This subtle effect of 隠身遁形の術 onshin tongyou no jutsu comes from 天津鞴韜 amatsu tatara and teaches us how to disappear.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Rearview Graffiti, Ameya-Yokochō アメヤ横丁 photo by Michael Glenn

You should know when you understand something and when you don't. Have enough room in yourself to acknowledge it. When you don't, you are trapped in yourself. And you will not learn.

If we go beyond what Hatsumi Sensei calls 一般的 ippanteki, 初歩的 shohoteki - the general, rudimentary or surface level of what we think we know there are many treasures to be discovered. For instance, these very words I write have power in them. It is a transfer of meaning from my thoughts to yours. This power should not be ignored or taken lightly. Do you know how it works?

Hatsumi Sensei refers to this as 口伝言魂 kuden kotodama. This is the spirit or power of language. But it is not simply about thought. This same phenomenon can be harnessed in self defense. This 目的論 mokutekiron or teleology of kuden can be for the sake of survival.

An example is found in muto dori. You don't simply evade the strike. You disappear. But how does one do that, practically?

Here's how Hatsumi Sensei describes it. He says "意識空 ishiki kara" which is making your intent, consciousness, or self disappear.  Or he says  "意識を避ける ishiki o sakeru", or even "意識を割ける" which is evading the consciousness or intent of your opponent, or simply separating from it.

These methods of hiding the self or evading and enduring are ninjutsu (意識を忍ぶ shiki o shinobu) and stem from the same power that we give to words. It's not a question of avoiding at a specific geometrical angle or by so many centimeters. This is another dimension of evasion. This is not a purely physical phenomenon.  

This subtle effect of 隠身遁形の術 onshin tongyou no jutsu comes from 天津鞴韜 amatsu tatara and teaches us how to disappear.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Japanese Plow (notice grip), 1914-18 photo by A.Davey

There is always a lot of curiosity about how to properly hold a weapon. Different arts and schools have their secret or preferred methods. But there is a simple way to understand gripping a weapon.

You may have seen the practice of linking fingers in shinto (こりてくみ koritekumi, みてわざ mitewaza), or in mikkyo (手印 shuin). Two common variations are 本手 honte for yielding or being gentle, and 逆手 gyakute for vigorous strength. 観音菩薩 Kannonbosatsu often assumes the honte finger position for mercy, while 勢至菩薩 Seishibosatsu applies the gyakute method for wisdom.

So we may apply this to 手の内 tenouchi and holding a weapon:

• If you are gripping honte style, hold the weapon across your palm with the middle finger and thumb coming together. This method is preferred for freedom and flexibility.
• 
  With gyakute, you may shift the weapon in your palm so the index finger and thumb come together. Gripping in this fashion shows strength and power.

That's it. Most other variations are specialties for very specific situations or for specialized weapons. You may try to get tricky, but human hands have been holding tools and weapons since our ancestors first grew thumbs.

Of course what I'm not sharing is the knowledge of how or when to use these grips. You must speak to your teacher for that. Only real training can fill in the blanks.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Japanese Plow (notice grip), 1914-18 photo by A.Davey

There is always a lot of curiosity about how to properly hold a weapon. Different arts and schools have their secret or preferred methods. But there is a simple way to understand gripping a weapon.

You may have seen the practice of linking fingers in shinto (こりてくみ koritekumi, みてわざ mitewaza), or in mikkyo (手印 shuin). Two common variations are 本手 honte for yielding or being gentle, and 逆手 gyakute for vigorous strength. 観音菩薩 Kannonbosatsu often assumes the honte finger position for mercy, while 勢至菩薩 Seishibosatsu applies the gyakute method for wisdom.

So we may apply this to 手の内 tenouchi and holding a weapon:

• If you are gripping honte style, hold the weapon across your palm with the middle finger and thumb coming together. This method is preferred for freedom and flexibility.
• 
  With gyakute, you may shift the weapon in your palm so the index finger and thumb come together. Gripping in this fashion shows strength and power.

That's it. Most other variations are specialties for very specific situations or for specialized weapons. You may try to get tricky, but human hands have been holding tools and weapons since our ancestors first grew thumbs.

Of course what I'm not sharing is the knowledge of how or when to use these grips. You must speak to your teacher for that. Only real training can fill in the blanks.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

観音寺 Kannon-ji Cemetary, photo by Michael Glenn

It makes me laugh when I hear that someone has "modernized" or "updated" our training methods for modern times. When I hear about the latest guru, self-proclaimed master, or "Shihan" that has reinvented what he never understood in the first place, I can only shake my head. Where do these people think our techniques and the foundation of our art came from?

The trials of warfare and turbulent Japanese history have been like a bloody form of natural selection for the techniques that survived into our time. Those that didn't work died on the battlefield. Which of these modernized systems have been tested in life and death combat over hundreds of years?

But beyond actual technique, there is a quality inherited by fighters that may also be in our DNA. Hatsumi Sensei describes it this way:

"In the long history of natural selection (淘汰 touta), or many fights (闘多 touta), we have survived  because of our killer instinct."

A killer instinct supersedes technique. It can make even bad technique brutally effective. But modern warfare has proven that this too, must evolve.

The modern expression of killer instinct is death for all. Including the killer. Whether this be from weapons of mass destruction, pathetic suicide bombers and idiots with guns, or apocalyptic shock and awe.

What should a killer instinct evolve into? Hatsumi Sensei has suggested a path forward. He tells us that the process of honing the killer instinct leads to an expanding of perceptions and clarity of mind.

Eventually one reaches what Soke calls 超感覚の世界  choukankaku no sekai, or the world of super consciousness. This is like a sort of ESP or greater awareness that moves us beyond concepts of life and death struggle. How does this apply to your training?

You must train tirelessly and simply. Throw away that which you don't need. You will then find a quintessential goal of training which Hatsumi Sensei says is to:

"purify your heart, and gain the calmness of a fresh spirit- then you will know peace of mind."

When you reach that place in class, or in your life, what is on the other side? Well, 超感覚 choukankaku can be read as transcending emotions to wake up. If you have woken up then you will naturally "strive to change the world from one of war and massacre into a true and great world of peace."

I respectfully thank our teacher, Hatsumi Sensei for this inspiration.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

観音寺 Kannon-ji Cemetary, photo by Michael Glenn

It makes me laugh when I hear that someone has "modernized" or "updated" our training methods for modern times. When I hear about the latest guru, self-proclaimed master, or "Shihan" that has reinvented what he never understood in the first place, I can only shake my head. Where do these people think our techniques and the foundation of our art came from?

The trials of warfare and turbulent Japanese history have been like a bloody form of natural selection for the techniques that survived into our time. Those that didn't work died on the battlefield. Which of these modernized systems have been tested in life and death combat over hundreds of years?

But beyond actual technique, there is a quality inherited by fighters that may also be in our DNA. Hatsumi Sensei describes it this way:

"In the long history of natural selection (淘汰 touta), or many fights (闘多 touta), we have survived  because of our killer instinct."

A killer instinct supersedes technique. It can make even bad technique brutally effective. But modern warfare has proven that this too, must evolve.

The modern expression of killer instinct is death for all. Including the killer. Whether this be from weapons of mass destruction, pathetic suicide bombers and idiots with guns, or apocalyptic shock and awe.

What should a killer instinct evolve into? Hatsumi Sensei has suggested a path forward. He tells us that the process of honing the killer instinct leads to an expanding of perceptions and clarity of mind.

Eventually one reaches what Soke calls 超感覚の世界  choukankaku no sekai, or the world of super consciousness. This is like a sort of ESP or greater awareness that moves us beyond concepts of life and death struggle. How does this apply to your training?

You must train tirelessly and simply. Throw away that which you don't need. You will then find a quintessential goal of training which Hatsumi Sensei says is to:

"purify your heart, and gain the calmness of a fresh spirit- then you will know peace of mind."

When you reach that place in class, or in your life, what is on the other side? Well, 超感覚 choukankaku can be read as transcending emotions to wake up. If you have woken up then you will naturally "strive to change the world from one of war and massacre into a true and great world of peace."

I respectfully thank our teacher, Hatsumi Sensei for this inspiration.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Raising a Pole, Japan 1914-18. photo By A.Davey

During the 2012 Daikomyosai, Hatsumi Sensei showed us some very mysterious forms of bojutsu. He was showing things most of us had never seen before. After watching one that was very surprising to the whole crowd,  Nagato Sensei turned to some of us and said, "Sensei has been reviewing his training notes from Takamatsu Sensei and he is remembering new things that he studied."

This statement can be interpreted in different ways. But my own feeling about what I witnessed Soke do with the bojutsu he learned from Takamatsu Sensei, is that it is connected to 詒変の棒 Ihen no bo. So I resolved to study this when I returned home.

How to study ihen no bo? If you have a basic grasp of bojutsu, then adding ihen requires tossing aside what you think you know. This is a scary starting place, because you must abandon what you thought were kihon. Why does ihen require this?

詒変の棒 ihen no bo can be defined as the deceptive or changing bo. Hatsumi Sensei says the "詒 i" in ihen can be read as 詒 azamuku or 欺く, which is deception. But you cannot deceive with just your own intention.

The deception comes from 虚実 kyojitsu, truth and falsehood, two sides of the same reality in the opponent's mind. In one of my recent classes, when we made a Bujinkan ► video of me demonstrating this, I explained this type of striking. It is an echo of the opponent's mind. If he believes you are striking him, you do not. The strike becomes false. If he doesn't believe you will strike, then it becomes real or true, and you strike.

With ihen the "hen" is the same as 変化 henka. It is the bo constantly transforming every moment in the kukan. This is reflecting life. Every moment is unique and the life of the bo changes with it.

Right now, one of my rokushakubo is leaning against a window shade to keep the wind from blowing through. It is not being used to beat up a swordsman. This is a natural henka for the bo.…