From 自然行雲流水 by 自然行雲流水

THINK BY YOURSELF
- By Soke Masaaki Hatsumi
 
In ancient times, a person who strve to learn budo would do individual keiko. After learning skills from his teacher, he trained himself to master those lessons. He had to have the determination to study through the techniques alone. Going into the mountains, he would repeat his solo training in nature, fighting with animals and trees.
These days, so many people forget to " go into the mountains." These people tend to desire the easy way out. If they are having problems that are complicated, they immediately ask someone older to solve it for them. Moreover, the elder gives them easy advice. Most people answer nicely because they think it would be good to help the situation along, but in fact, this often ends up hurting the individual`s growth.
 
It might be a little different from keiko in budo, but some problems can only be understood by the person who has the problem. An advisor gives suggestions trying to solve the problem through applying his own experiences, while the listner ( who does not have those same experiences ) listens to the guidance as if it were being recieved from some divine being. There is sometimes a serious danger in issing a lesson`s important point.  Therefore, you should sometimes offer the advice, " Ponder the dilemma yourself,"You may consider this " coldhearted." However, being cold illustrates the need to solve a problem ( finding warmth ).Perhaps some days later, the individual will return saying: " I can`t figure out a solution..." and he will recount his problem in a totally different manner than his first telling. You will now be able to discern how to offer advice that is more appropriate by judging from his revised account.
 
In budo, we inform students of the proper answer after the "torment", of making them think for themselves. Some things must be learned through suffering or they will be forgotten for the rest of your life. We must all learn to solve our own difficult problems.Furthermore, in budo, we suffer great pains to master the best techniques. It was throught the pains and labors of our ancestors, who became the founders of our traditions, that these techniques were invented.
 
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From 自然行雲流水 by 自然行雲流水

The more I train, I find I know very little.
 
When I do train though, I am searching out for the kotsu or "knack" of what is being transmitted. 
 
To do this requires a particular focus and understanding of the feeling behind the training in the Dojo.
 
In order to practise, the uke and tori must assist in each others learning.
 
The beginning stages of the physical training can be related to SHU level. This is the stage of taking the time to learn set movements with set attacks. In this stage, there is no Henka or "variations". The Tori is learning a new skill set and pursuing the training as an "in depth study of the self and uke".
Nagato Shihan has said once, " Move,Stop,Think." The training is about moving with logic to learn the mechanics of the body, basic physics and the workings of the principals of timing,distance and angles.
You learn about leverage and how to achieve it with correct body movement. 
We Move to an attack from uke and then Stop. At this point you can Think/observe your balance and that of your uke. You can see if you are in distance for another attack, does he/she have a hidden weapon, what is around you, does your angle of position put you in advantage or disadvantage, etc etc.
Training is about discovering your weak points and learning how to make them into strengths or how to make them work for you ( kyojutsu ). To do this, we must take the time and practise slowly so the mind,body and the technique can unify. This is Shin Gi Tai Ichi - the ultimate goal of the martial artist.
 
We are studying to live with balance. The process of learning Budou is helping us to ahcieve this. Just as there is a process to life, there is a process to learning. 
 
Basically, people are trying to run before they can walk. People want to make the training "more realistic" by increasing attacks with speed, power and resistance. They do ths too quickly. They have not taken heed of the first code of the Dojo - Know that patience comes first.
The fact is, most of the training we recieve ( in a Shihans class ) is at a level where we are to "mimic" and learn their taijutsu. We do this to rid ourselves of our bad habits and learn to move correctly like our masters. We are all beginners in their class. If you are not, then you cannot learn. It is very important to generate the right mind set. This level of training is the first level. If you cannot get what is shown to you in the basic form, then how can you move forward and train in henka? You first have to have something ( SHU ) before you can break ( HA ) it.
 
The teacher asks his Uke to peform a set attack. The attack for this example shall be a right punch.
The Uke lunges at him with deep but centered attack with body. The teacher moves, captures the energy and redirects the energy to control the uke. He then asks everyone to "do just that".
What is important during this stage, is that the students watching observe both the uke and tori during the demonstration. If the students want to try and gain a "feeling" of what was shown, they must "mimic" both roles the best they can.
Nagato Shihan has recently had to resort to lining people up in the dojo and counting out the sequence of movements while getting everyone to mimic him. It comes down to " having a childs mind". If the mind is cluttered and full of things " we want to see" rather than empty and absoring directly the things " that really are " then we will always have difficulty learning. 
 
In Dojo around the world, I see people who are Dan ranks that cannot even perform the basic te-sabaki ( hand movements ) for the Koshi Kihon Sanpo. As to help these people and also to help their students, I break the fundamental kata down into three physical skill sets.
Te-sabaki
Tai-sabaki
Ashi-sabaki
When I do this, people can see their shortcomings in each waza. Then, after they can "see" ,they have the opportunity to practise and learn correctly. After these skill sets are mastered, then they are unified to complete the kata as we normally see them. 
 
There are people that are offering " Soke revision classes ". This is laughable. They are saying they can do it, or "they get it". People that say that about themselves are strange. where can they go from there? Once you have got it, what do you do then? These people will fade away.
No Japanese Shihan says this at all, and they especially do not offer classes to teach you what Soke did the night before. These men have been training with him for over 40 years. Something to think about.
 
Training is about learning to open the "eyes of your soul" that little more. It is difficult for all of us to travel this road less travelled. However, as buyu, we can all support and nourish each others growth in many ways.
 
Bufu Ikkan.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Catching the Ox, digital c-print photograph by Andrew Binkley

Hatsumi Sensei describes the journey of a Bujinkan student through the Dan ranks as being akin to the Ten Oxherding pictures in Zen Buddhism. These pictures describe the seekers journey to enlightenment.

If you haven't read my other posts in this series, please check them out. You may find them useful no matter what your rank is:

Bujinkan Shodan 初段: Searching for the Bull
Bujinkan Nidan 弐段: Discovering the Footprints
Bujinkan Sandan 参段: Perceiving the Bull

So now you've made it to Yondan. For many people in the Bujinkan this is a pivotal moment. This is a moment of getting a hold of yourself… and finding the form of the self is empty.

Woodblock print by 德力富吉郎 Tokuriki Tomikichirō

得牛 Catching the Bull
I seize him with a terrific struggle.

His great will and power

are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau

far above the cloud-mists,

Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.
I have abandoned the whip and ropes

After some years of training, you go from thinking you know something, to realizing you know very little. Then you might chase various threads and ideas or teachers to see where they lead. At some point you caught hold of something real. But you don't know what to do with it. You've caught the Ox, but you can barely hang on as he stampedes around.

Occasionally you can perform techniques that surprise even you. You feel like, with a little luck you could defeat anyone, no matter their skill level or rank. But this new found ability is uncontrollable. If you reach the point where you can hang onto this feeling, you get taken for a ride. It drags you here and there. But you will not let go.

A large hurdle for martial artists at this stage is being able to transcend aggression. Aggression may have served you in the past. It may have brought victory in certain arenas. For many who don't understand Budo, it is the heart of their study.

But you have caught a hold of something better. And to stay with it requires finesse, precision, and the ability to see. Aggression blinds you from seeing what it is you are holding onto.

Keep your form empty, and empty the self, and you will not lose the Ox.

It is awkward to let go of technique and form that you have trained many years to perfect. This feels like throwing away something valuable. You will still be fascinated by technique and encounter students or teachers that have wonderful technical details to share.

Just because you understand emptiness, doesn't mean you will lose all your habits you have built over years of training. You will still think "you" can discern good and bad technique, good and bad teachers or students, or, the true Bujinkan that you think you are studying. You will put yourself and your ideas forward any chance you get.

The surprising lesson is that all of this is a reflection of the self. If you get mired in form, you will never reach a true understanding of Godan, whether you pass the test or not.
Hatsumi Sensei describes this process:

 "The longer you train you need to be able to ignore things that you don't need.  Things that are unnecessary. And set them aside. 

As you do this, you start to see the bad parts of your own self. And you have to be able to toss those things aside as well. 

Because if you have one bad part of yourself still within you, everything will collapse later.

 So part of what Shugyo is, what training is... is discovering the bad parts of yourself and tossing them aside.

 That's what life is. Not just in the dojo."

A curious thing may happen to you here: you can be trapped in form, but also in no-form.
The opposite of being mired in form is getting lost in emptiness and inaction. As a warrior, if you dwell in the world of formlessness, you cannot fight for anyone including yourself. This is just a flip side of the trap of dualism. But still a trap.

A healthy sign of passing through this stage of "Catching the Bull," is growing humility. There are many Bujinkan teachers and students who have not found humility. Be humble. Release yourself from needing to be good or from feeling inadequate. Throw away form, but also no-form. Have this 生命反射 seimei hansha, or reflection of life as Soke describes it.

From here we will work on, Bujinkan Godan 五段: Taming the Bull


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From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

Perceiving the Ox, digital c-print photograph by Andrew Binkley

Hatsumi Sensei describes the journey of a Bujinkan student through the Dan ranks as being akin to the Ten Oxherding pictures in Zen Buddhism. These pictures describe the seekers journey to enlightenment.

In the first post of this series, Bujinkan Shodan 初段: Searching for the Bull, we felt the first inspiration to begin training even though we had no idea where this may lead. In the second post, Bujinkan Nidan 弐段: Discovering the Footprints, we enjoyed getting lost in form and in henka.

Now that we've made our way to Sandan, what are we to make of it?

见牛 Perceiving the Bull

Woodblock print by 德力富吉郎 Tokuriki Tomikichirō

I hear the song of the nightingale.


The sun is warm, the wind is mild,

willows are green along the shore -

Here no bull can hide!

What artist can draw that massive head,

those majestic horns?

Sandan brings us through a phase of hard work and study when suddenly, through no effort of our own, the bull appears! It is there then gone again. It has an ephemeral quality that makes us wonder if it even really exists.

This is discovering the self in taijutsu. All your efforts and senses come together and you open up into a new world where the bull is everywhere. And you find yourself reflected in all of your training.

We are purifying of the senses through 六根清浄 rokkon shoujou. The roku in rokkon are the six senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind.There are also six consciousnesses found in shiki. Any one of theses six contains the whole and is not separate. In this you may find the reward of 禄魂笑淨 rokkon shou jou as Hatsumi Sensei writes it, which suggests the purification of the senses through laughter.

All movement is an expression of the true self. The ox appears openly.

When you come to accept the non-duality of yourself and taijutsu, you relax and just begin to enjoy training. You come to class not for any purpose other than it is fun!
You may find yourself becoming a guide for other students. You don't try to teach, they naturally seek you out for guidance. And you love sharing the enjoyment of training, so the sharing is abundant.

A warning here, some dangers will appear in this stage of training. One is the tendency to boast to others of what you have seen. Another is neglecting your training and chasing the ox everywhere but in the dojo. And a third danger is ignoring or disregarding your teacher because you feel he is no longer necessary to you.

"Each thing in heaven and on earth is itself an expression of 無 Mu," while this is a nice thought it is not real training. What is the essence found in training? Unless you experience training directly you will over think it.

You have clearly seen your real self and you realize its projections are everywhere. It infuses every training experience and interaction. Once you see this, it is almost funny when you discover it in unexpected corners of your experience in the dojo.

The entire way you have been understanding taijutsu now changes completely. It is like a new beginning. You go from the empty self of 忍苦 ninku to also knowing the emptiness of the world in 法句 hokku.

Next we will move into Bujinkan Yondan 四段: Catching the Bull…

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

weight of this tessen is 540 gram, very powerful tool.




Also I make tool for engrave metal, so take a look and if you like to engrave you something else I could now



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