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News update, August 16′th

From Sweden Taikai 2011 by Sweden Taikai 2011

Stockholm Tai Kai 2011

It is only one month until this great TAI KAI in Stockholm city, if you haven’t signed up on our web site please do that now! Right now we have 73 people from 12 countries signed up. 

It is not too late to sign up if you don’t know if you can come. If you decide late, you can just show up and pay the training fee at the door (no extra cost!).

There is no change of plans really, the instructors got their tickets, we got the venue, and we are excited! But here is a few news…

T-shirt’s, yes we will make a seminar T-shirt. We can’t show you how it will look right now, but it will be black shirts, the front chest will have the viking with the text “Sweden Tai Kai 2011″ under it. The back will have a big painting done by Hatsumi Soke. More info about this next week.

Seminar DVD will be filmed. Pre-orders will only be available during the seminar, the cost will be 350 SEK and it will probably be four discs. DVD will be region free and NTSC system. Payment is done at the booking, and the DVD-set will be sent by mail when it is done (usually within 3-4 weeks).

Saturday dinner and Party. We will have a closed party for participants and friends at Kaigozan Dojo close by. If you want to participate you have to sign up on Friday or latest at Saturday lunch time. You can participate without dinner, but you still have to sign up and we ask you to come little later when people have finished eating. If you want the dinner it will cost around 200-250 SEK paid in advance.

Things to bring with you, we have given the instructors freedom to teach what they want. They will probably build the training’s on what has been done in Japan this year. As usual it is mostly Taijutsu, but do bring small training weapons such as knife, rope etc, also swords (no sharp weapons will be allowed in training!). We have quite a big dojo booked, but we might split the group in two and train outside in the park (bring tabi, extra sweatshirt).

Accomodation will be offered by Stockholm Dojo’s. We will use Kaigozan Dojo for the party, so it will not be very comfortable for sleeping in unless you are prepared to go to sleep late, plus that we will remove all tatami. More information later on this…

Sponsored by Svenska BujinkanförbundetIf I forgot something please contact me.

/Mats Hjelm – Seminar organizer
kabuto bujinkan se (that’s with an @ and a . in between)

Sweden Tai Kai 2011 is sponsored by Svenska Bujinkanförbundet

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Hira-sankaku Su-yari

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

Hello my Budo friends,


here is few new pictures of my new Hira-sankaku Su-yari

I improve this type of Yari adding more details like is Kabura maki or Chidome, also new Ishizuki or Hirumaki, on blade in new octagonal Kerakubi, Tachiuchi is wrap better etc.
Enjoy in pictures 




if you think that is all, well my friends there is more :-))



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万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo: Emptiness in the Midst of Constant Change

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

Infinite Dots - elevator ceiling, Fujisawa. photo by randomidea
You may have heard about 万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo and how it has emerged to be part of this year's theme along with Kihon Happo. This arose partially because of the earthquake and other events in Japan, but this is also how Hatsumi Sensei seems to explore every year. Soke says,
"To be able to survive and live in the midst of this constant change, it is important to comprehend that which is the essence. To this end, I believe it is important to vary this theme of change every year."
Maybe you have a teacher who reminds you of 万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo all the time. You get the idea of "Ten thousand changes, No surprises", but how to put it into practice?

There is a poem from the 22nd Buddhist Master 摩拏羅:Manorhita,

心隨萬境轉 the mind follows the ten thousand circumstances and shifts accordingly;
轉處實能幽 It is the shifting that is truly undefined.
隨流認得性 Follow the current and recognize your nature;
無喜復無憂 No rejoicing, no sorrow.

How do you recognize your nature and what is it exactly? Manorhita asked one of his teachers this:
“What is the original nature of mind?” Vasubandhu answered, “It is the emptiness of the six sense bases, the six objects and the six kinds of consciousness.” And hearing this, Manorhita was awakened.
The six sense bases are seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and so on. The six objects are forms, sense, sounds, and so on. The six consciousnesses are the acts of hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and so on.

What does it mean for these to be empty? This word emptiness in sanskrit is Śūnyatā. It can also be translated as void, or relative or contingent. Roshi Gerry Wick describes it this way:
"Śūnyatā is really a wonderful, tender, limitless embrace. It’s always complete. It is without having to strive, without having to not strive. Another implication of emptiness is empty of any fixed position or state of being."
While this is an important lesson for life, the ten thousand changes in combat are the actions and strategies of your opponent. If you pay attention to every punch, kick or technique, your mind gets taken and trapped in following each thing. The same trapped mind occurs when you focus on performing your own technique or style. You will be surprised when something unexpected happens. This will lead to your defeat.

If instead you allow the mind to dwell in emptiness, for example - looking at the opponent's eyes but not focusing on them (some suggest looking at the spot where the lapels of the gi cross) - you will react naturally as the situation dictates. Anything your opponent manifests will just appear to be part of the natural flow and not surprising.

By paying attention to the non existent, you will be able to see the existent quite well.


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Kaigousuru-6 2002 Taikai

From New Products from Budo Shop Store by New Products from Budo Shop Store

Title: Kaigousuru 6 - the 6'th International Bujinkan Training Party!

Instructors: Ed Martin, Mariette v.d Vliet, Martin Spring, Rikard Sundelius, Thomas Franzen, Hans Nilsson, Mats Brickman, Eric Gyllenberg, Mikael Clysen, Gunnar Björnsson, Christer Westberg, James McNab, Michael Schjerling, Mats Hjelm.

Theme: Kihon Happou, Takagiyoushin-ryu, Sword cutting, Hanboujutsu, and more.

Recorded: Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden May 10-11'th 2002

Format: VCD (VideoCD) which plays on all computers using and ordinary CDRom. It also plays on any DVD Player that can play VideoCD formats. 72 Minutes playing time.

At this tape you can learn Ed Martin's sneaky effective way of doing Toride Kihon Goho from Kihon Happou. Martin Spring shows the Takagiyoushin-ryuu way of doing Kihon Happou while wearing samurai armor. Rikard and Michael teaches Takagiyoushin-ryuu techniques and feeling. Tomas demonstrates beautiful Taijutsu and Bojutsu flow and feeling. Mats Brickman teach basic cutting with a sword. Mats Hjelm teaches Hanboujutsu Ganseki variations. Gunnar goes in depth and explains the Jodan-uke. Eric teaches some basic movements from his recent Japan trip. Christer teaches how to handle the situation more natural (shizen rippou). Hans, Mariette, Micke and James all teaches astounding Taijutsu flow.

Skr169.00

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Sasumata, wooden

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

Dear friends, one of my new project's is Mitsu-dogu or arresting tools, from Edo period used by Samurai police,
first I make sasumata because technically it was most complicate to make, according to some book's sasumata is on of three tools of arresting or torimono sandogu



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Nyoibo

From Paart Budo Buki by buki stolar

here is picture of Nyoibo heavy pole, this one from picture is now in Sveneric sensei doyo, so you could see it there, if you need more info about this just mail me



I was try to copy  this Nyoubo which have Soke Hatsumi


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Kokū 心空: Striking the Empty Mind

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

Empty Mind photo by DerrickT
How do you know where to strike? This is a question I often hear from students. It seems like it should be obvious. And sometimes it is. Strike where you find an opening… or where it will do the most damage. But as simple as that sounds, it is not easy to find those spots.

Many of us have had the experience of watching Hatsumi Sensei strike someone at a particular spot or kyūsho and the strike causes a dramatic effect in his uke's body. It sends the guy flying, or he is writhing in pain. Then we try to hit the same spot on our uke, and nothing happens. Even if Sensei told us what kyūsho he was striking.

This is frustrating indeed. Some people blame their Uke for resisting. Or they think, if I "really" hit him with damaging force he would react. Sometimes people just shrug and say that of course Hatsumi Sensei does it better because he has way more experience. And while that is true, shrugging it off doesn't help us understand what is actually happening.

One way to understand how to strike effectively is to learn that when you strike your opponent's body, to have maximum impact, you should be striking his mind as well. That sounds strange so let me explain a little.

We can find a clue to this in the Bōjutsu Gokui:
"Thrusting into the space with the tip of the bō staff, if you feel a response with your hands, this is the gokui."
There are many subtle lessons in this verse. But let's consider the Japanese word for space or void used here. It can have a double meaning which can help us understand where to strike.

This word is kokū 虚空. We usually think of this as meaning empty space or empty sky. But this word is sometimes used to refer to the mind (which has no form or color) of your opponent. Kokū 虚空 can be read as emptiness or even "false" emptiness. Another way to write kokū is 真空, which is a true emptiness. Or even kokū 心空 emptiness of mind.

So what does this mean for striking? When the mind does not move, it is Emptiness. When Emptiness moves, it becomes mind. For example, When your opponent's fists grasp his sword but do not move, and you quickly strike his fists - this is called striking at emptiness空をうて.

So you strike him where his mind is not moving, or in other words: frozen, stuck, or even trapped. If you hit in this place, the strike pierces into the void and expands outward to have an effect much more profound than the actual physical strike should have on its own.

Sensei seems to have a genius for finding these spots on his uke. And we all witness the profound effects as we watch his uke's go flying or yelp in pain.

How does he do it? Maybe with bōshin 棒心, or I've also heard Sensei refer to Shinbō 辛棒. I don't know because I'm still working on these two ideas myself. But maybe Sensei just has way more experience…

At any rate, I do know that if you strike into the emptiness of your opponent's mind, you will be surprised at the results. This I have experienced and can attest to.


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