From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

With Nagato sensei we covered the end of the Takagi Yōshin ryû Moguri Gata and then we began the first level of the Shinden Fudô ryû. But somehow it was like continuing with the same fighting system.

潜り込む,  Moguri komi, has the meaning of “to conceal oneself” (but in plain sight). In fact you are moving in a way that cannot let the opponent know exactly what is going to happen next. When we moved to the Shinden fudô ryû waza, the same Moguri feeling was there too. This was another example of kehai wo yomenai.

Reflecting on that, I thought I would give a try on how to understand the bujinkan system from a global point of view. The Japanese use an expression 武芸百般, Bugei Hyappan, which means “all the martial arts”. And to me the last kanji “般” is the key as it means “all” but also “to carry”.  The way I see it, is that each martial fighting system is contained (carried) in any other. Therefore we understand that the idea behind Bugei Hyappan is that all fighting systems are the same or, at least, are all linked (cf. the Moguri feeling in the Shinden fudô ryû techniques.

Our Bujinkan system regroups 9 fighting systems that we call “schools” but it would maybe be more accurate to name them “armies”. The samurai of one clan were learning only one system and they had no clue about the other systems they were fighting. This is the same in modern warfare. All armies fight more or less in the same way, but a soldier from one country doesn’t train in another army. A French soldier will not follow the training of the Russian, British, or American army. Soldiers today know only one fighting system, the one from their country. That was the same in Japan before unification. So when we train Bujinkan, we must keep in mind that during the Muromachi and Azuchi Momoyama periods, the soldiers were fighting with only one system in a given army (apart from the regrouping of the Koto/Gyokko, and the Takagi/kukishin that happened in the course of time).

In those days, unification wasn’t carried out yet (it will be done in 1603 with Tokugawa Ieyasu). And each Daimyô trying to expand his own territory had a “master of arms” training his troops. The techniques had to deal with the same situation (battlefield, horses), the same type of equipment (Yoroi, weapons), and all of them were fighting humans (2 arms, 2 legs). The only difference was the terrain on which, and for which they developed their skills. When Nobunaga Nobuo (son of the Shogun) went to the mountains of Iga to force the Iga community to join the unification carried out by his father, he was easily defeated. The mountain skills of the Nobunaga soldiers were no match compared to those of the men of Iga.

But if each ryû developed a specific type of warfare due to the geography of their surroundings they had to solve the same issues when facing a one to one combat. This is why many techniques are quite similar in the ryûha. Yesterday Nagato sensei explained that Fûbi from Shinden Fudô ryû was very similar to Hitō of the koto ryû. This is the reason.

Once you have accepted that despite geographical locations the samurai had to deal with humans, it is quite obvious that there is a common base to every fighting system. This common element is the human, Jin. Therefore when you adjust the Jin to the surroundings Ten (weather conditions), and the Chi (terrain) every system is contained in each ryû. This is the Bugei Hyappan.

This is why Hatsumi sensei, in my opinion, designed the tenchijin program in order to give us a common platform to learn the ryûha. This is what we call the basics. This is the bujinkan boot camp.

Nagato sensei taught us yesterday Nichi Geki, the first technique of Shinden fudô ryû. The kaname (key point) is Koshi Kudaki which is found in the Chi Ryaku no Maki/Aite to Kumu Kokoro Gamae (aka Hajutsu Kyû Hō). Once you know the tenchijin (basic platform), it is easy to learn the different ryûha and to understand the specific aspects of each fighting system.

Whether you like it or not, the bujinkan system is a military system by essence. Each ryû is an army. The techniques are designed to be taught to 10-year old kids (samurai were 15-year old when allowed to go in battle). And because we have the chance to learn 9 different fighting systems, we can see that they are all connected. The bujinkan truly is teaching Bugei Hyappan.  As sensei puts it: “when you train a specific ryûha, all the trainings you have done in all the other ryû are influencing your understanding of a technique”.

This is why it is important to train with all the Shihan and to understand that each one of them being different, the same technique will never be the same. And this is why the bujinkan is complete.

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

With Nagato sensei covering the Takagi Yoshin Ryû and Noguchi sensei the Koto Ryû, the Wednesday classes were intense.

But each time they teach a (supposedly known) waza from any ryûha, I feel lost like a beginner, as the form they are teaching is often quite different from the forms I learned (with them) over the years. As pointed out by Duncan today,  Noguchi and Nagato sensei are “Dai Shihan” and this is to be expected at their level.

Yesterday after Noguchi sensei’s class, I went to speak with him about these differentials in his interpretations of the same technique. He said that once you know the waza, it is easy to change its form while keeping the same Kankaku (feeling). But he added that many teachers in the Bujinkan only do variations even though they don’t know the original waza. “This is strange”, he added, “how can they make a variation on something they never studied or understood?”.

And this is the main problem we see in today’s Bujinkan. Many visitors in Japan copy what they see Hatsumi sensei or the shihan doing. But having never studied personally at home the fundamental forms, they are only mimicking these movements. It is empty.

I had an uncle that was not a painter but he was copying masterpieces by Dali, reproducing every square centimeter and the result was amazing. But he wasn’t thinking that he knew how to paint like him! (I hope). By copying the omote you are not able to grasp the essence of a waza. Waza were designed to be simple so that kids would be able to copy them. But “if you use them as they are in a real fight you die” (cf. Hatsumi sensei). This is why there is always a kuden explaining the deeper meaning of the technique.

Each waza is in fact a result not a step by step process. Your training then consist in recreating the conditions that will make these waza possible. As long as you reproduce the steps you don’t have it.
Jissen has nothing to do with Embu (martial art demonstration).

So next time you are teaching or training, please spend some time trying to understand the basic form of the waza and you will see that your taijutsu will improve greatly. Excellence is not about collecting techniques, excellence comes from “being” the technique. And once you are the technique, simply forget it.

This year we train Shingin Budō but not so many can reach this level because they lack the basic knowledge. Learn the basics in order to be able to create variations, not before.

Did you ever wonder why the Shihan when they teach, read the techniques they have been training and teaching for nearly 50 years?

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The Sakki test is the apex of a practitioner’s life. For many years sensei has been the only one to administrate the test and as one of the dinosaurs of the bujinkan (30 years in the Bujinkan last month), I had the privilege to witness him giving the test in numerous occasions. With about 30 Taikai and more than 50 trips to Japan I must have seen around 2000 Sakki tests. So I thought I knew what it was. Wrong again!

When in the Madrid Taikai of 2001 sensei asked a few of us to perform the test I was amazed to discover how draining it was to give the Sakki test. Honestly, I must admit that I didn’t believe it was that demanding. We had to do it twice and right after I left the training hall I had to take a nap before dinner as I was totally exhausted! I didn’t believe it was that difficult because I had seen sensei do up to 60 Sakki tests in a row at many Taikai.

When you are at the receiving end of the Sakki test it changes your life forever. But when you are giving the test it is like taking it again and again. This is one thing that no so many people in the Bujinkan know. Giving the test is similar to taking it! Except that you take the test only once.

Tuesday night I gave the test to three shidôshi (no, I don’t get tired anymore). And I think it is good to reveal some truths about the test for those of you who will take it soon (on either end of the sword).

1. There is no way to prepare yourself.
I know that some teachers are training their students for the test, this is useless. You have it. The perception of danger is ingrained in our brains. Only sincere training will allow your being too dodge the cut. It takes about 5 to 6 years to unearth the Sakki feeling bien in our reptilian brain.

2. It is not about crashing the skull of the applicant.
Many jûgodan try to hit the applicant, this is wrong. The Sakki test is a connection between the emitter and the receiver. It will always work if both the emitter and the receiver are connected. Without connection there is only pain (for the receiver). In fact the Sakki test is the expression of Shingin Budō.

3. Your regular senses cannot help.
When you take the test do not rely on your regular senses. If you hear the cut it is already too late. Simply relax and let your body react. Don’t think. This is why it is always better to close your eyes. But this is not a rule as many succeed with their eyes open.

4. Feel the urge to move. And move, don’t analyse.
Both the emitter and the receiver are connected and both must feel the urge to move. The receiver moves without knowing why. The emitter goes down because at some point when the connection is established, he had to go down. You don’t take the decision to move, you move because it is the only to do. Over the years I’ve seen many applicants fail even though they got the connection. In fact they are so amazed at the feeling that they last their concentration and got hit while thinking “wow I am feeling it!” and then wham!

5. Shin Gi Tai Ken Ichi Yotsu.
It is not a meditation and no god will do it for you. There’s no magic, it’s natural. The Sakki test is what makes the bujinkan what it is. It is about feeling the unity in all things, the connection with nature.

If you are to take the test soon, or if you are to administrate it, please remember that this is something that comes naturally when you are ready.

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

For years sensei has been repeating that our movements are done with 躯, Karada, the body. To help the students understand this, we keep telling them to develop footwork. The pedagogical reason to it is that if we tell them “move your body” they will not know what to do. But by speaking of the legs we force them to move the body.

In the tenchijin there is this concept of “Ken Tai Ichi Jô” or “moving the body and the weapon (armed or unarmed) as one”. Yesterday sensei repeated this “Ken Tai Ichi Jô” concept during his class.

To me it was echoing a more complete concept he introduced last Sunday. This new concept was: 心技体剣一四, “Shin Gi Tai Ken Ichi Yotsu”. To understand this, you have to know that  sensei is teaching the ninja ken these days. Sunday the whole class was about 一閃剣, Issen Ken,  and yesterday about 一刀 投げ, Ittō Nage.

“Shingitai” and “Yotsu” are concepts borrowed from Sumo wrestling*, where full body movements are required. By adding the “Ken” Sensei somehow connected the 3 aspects of Shingitai to the Ken, turning the “3” into “4”.
Hence the “Ichi Yotsu”, is the unity of (the four): shin gi tai ken.

Once the four are connected you are one. And because you are one, you can become zero. I know that this binary approach to 実戦, Jissen (actual fighting,  true fight) may look strange to many practitioners but I can assure you that this is exactly the feeling you have when sensei is using you as uke.

Sensei asked me to be his uke a few times on Sunday and Tuesday and each time he was blocking my attacks (Jodan Kiri, tsuki) with his sword, there was no sword movement that I could perceive, each time head doing it with the body. To make myself clear sensei was physically deflecting or blocking my sword with his sword, but the only thing I could feel was his body movement. There was no clash, no strength just a simple Stephen would make, rendering my attacks useless.

Sensei being zero, his sword was a natural extension of his body. His movements were so natural that no intention, no show of power could be felt from my side. Each time it was like fighting a ghost. In fact, he spoke a few times about becoming a ghost to your opponent. “It is Kage no Shinobu” he explained layer saying that we had to move like a shadow.

On the technical side, the Issen Ken (the sword moves in a flash) and ittō Nage (throwing the sword) were done so softly that there was no time for me to counter his actions. There was nothing. One moment I was attacking, the next I was dead.

This “Ken Tai Ichi Jô” or should I say “Shin Gi Tai Ken Ichi Yotsu” is the essence of sword fighting and the purest expression of Shingin Budō and this is where we are now in the Bujinkan.

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* Sumo:
心技体,  shingitai : three qualities of a sumo wrestler: heart, technique, physique
四つ相撲, Yotsu zumo: sumo wrestling in which both wrestlers grasp the other’s belt with both hands

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無心, mushin (no intention, no thinking) is one of the many concepts we encounter when walking on the martial path.

I was reading recently a quote from Sensei where he explained that “During the times of the warring states in Japan, everyone was like a wild animal. Everyone would react to whatever you intended to do. So the only way to win was to have no intention”.*

Having no intention is quite a paradox when you imagine yourself being caught in a fight but becomes logical when you are actually fighting. The time to think is not available, chaos unfolds very rapidly and your reactions are only what remains from training your basics for many years.

You can know many techniques intellectually, the history of a given Ryûha, but nothing prepares you better than studying your basics thoroughly. Learn the taijutsu techniques, learn the weapons but trust yourself when it comes to survive. A book will never fight for you, you will.

This is why the bujinkan is so different from other martial art, it prepares you to survive not to collect waza. Sensei often says negatively that many teachers are “collectors”or “scholars”,  and this is not what he is teaching. In fact we learn them to forget them. Staying at the collecting level is for “kindergartners” he said once in class.

If knowing the techniques is an important step in your progression, it is your 器, Ursula (ability) that makes the difference. And this ability can only come from the deep integration of basics within your mind and body.

Your sole intention should be to have no intention and to rely on Shingin Budō. Let the natural flow guide your actions.

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* Hatsumi Masaaki in “Understand? Good. Play!” book by Benjamin Cole ISBN 0-9710849-5-5

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I cannot believe that the Taikai will begin in only  9 days.
This will be another chance to meet with friends from all over Europe and to exchange with the shi tenno.

As I’m not a football fan,  I didn’t know that this world event could damage the Taikai. This year, I don’t think we will reach the 
100 practitioners.

This is not a good news for me, the organizer, but this is good news for you as it means that the groups will be smaller in size giving you a chance to get the best advice from each one of the shi tenno.

Also,  this year with four training halls (the dojo has been renewed) the classes will be easier to attend to.

Each day we will have private classes with each of the shi tenno and a joint class together.

Training will begin at  1000 and end up at 1730 and will consist of 4 private classes by level and one joint training. The four groups will be decided on day one as usual. 

Group 1 will regroup the high ranks, 
group 2 the black belts / Shidôshi, 
group 3 the advanced Kyû and shodan,  and
group 4, the beginners.

The Paris Taikai is the only seminar that I know where this splitting by technical level is done,  and this allows the teacher to adjust his level of teaching to every level. I’m sure that you will appreciate.

Sunday afternoon after training we will have a “party” in the dojo.

I’m eager to welcome you all in Paris for this  11th edition.
______________________
If you didn’t register yet please do it now at http://www.budomart.eu  AND don’t forget to fill in the form HERE we need it for making this event a success.

HERE

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Today I want to speak about training 訓練 (kunren).

I was reading my notes from the past years and I stumbled upon a discussion I had with Sensei back in 2010. We were having a coffee at his place and he said: “Arnaud you have to teach what you have to teach, and to train what you have to train.”

There is often a vast misunderstanding between 教えます Oshiemasu,  teaching, and 訓練します Kunreshimasu, training.

The kanji 教, means teach, but also faith, and faith is something you have or not. There is no training to get it,  you can develop it if you have it.

Conversely 訓練 is composed of two kanji 1) explanation, instruction; 2) connect, take along. This is therefore something that requires time and effort if you want to get it.

訓練,  forces you to test everything for yourself. A book, a video, even a Densho (if you can read it) are not enough. You have to internalize the form in order to make it yours and this requires a real training. Often I’m surprised to see that very few high ranks put themselves out of their comfort zone. If you want to excel you have to take risks and the first one is to destroy the techniques and test alternative interpretations. This is a permanent “trial and error” process. Obviously you will often fail, but at the end you will build your own taijutsu, the one that is made for your body.

I remember one day asking Senō sensei how he gained his precise movements. His answer was amazingly simple. “I trained all the basics in slow motion changing the angles degree after degree until I knew the best way to do it” he said. I commented that it must have been a very long study. “about 5 years” he said.

Today many teachers don’t really train, they teach. And this is sad because Shingin Budō don’t need techniques but demands that you keep a “student ‘s mind” in order to have a chance to be “guided” by the divine martial winds. Train the movements for yourself and find your own answers,  then, when in Japan, ask for correction. As you know there is no good or bad way of doing those techniques, but there is a truth hidden within and this truth unfolds when you stop teaching and seriously train.

I found out that by saving the last twenty minutes of the class for me, I could train much more while officially teaching, maybe you should try it.

Bûfû Ikkan (keep going)

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気配を読めない

As an add-on to this year’s theme,  Sensei show recently about acting in such a way that the opponent is not able to perceive you,  or 気配を読めない, “kehai wo yomenai”.
When you look at the kanji you get:
Kehai けはい indication, sign, hint, presence,
Yomenai 読め ない to read.

Don’t let yourself be felt

Budō Taijutsu is not sport and even if facing a fighting situation, it is important that Uke dismay feel your intentions. This is why or reactions are created as a reaction to Uke’s moves. There should be no preconceived movement. Only a natural adaptation to a given situation.

Be zero

For thirty years I’ve head sensei say that we have “to be zero”.  This “zero state” can be achieved only if you do not plan your movements. If you don’t know what you are going to do next, how do you want Uke to read it? To be zero is the most difficult thing to do and comes naturally after many years of training. Being zero can only come from mastering your basics as they get ingrained in your movements to become natural. Don’t think, train your basics deeply, and maybe one day you will be zero.

Art of killing without uke feeling your presence

Kehai wo yomenai is the extension of Shingin Budō where our moves are guided by the divine. We can get rid of the threats by letting or actions be guided by something (someone?) way above our limited perception of reality. Becoming only a tool we have their no presence and Uke is controlled by kûkan.