From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

踩上一脚 photo by 大杨

Last night in class the kata I was teaching required you to stomp down on the kyūsho 強経 kyokei. This is supposed to move your opponent and open him up for the rest of the kata. The way most people teach this is to stomp the ground like a Maori tribesman.

Stomping like a polynesian warrior or bratty child is the omote way of doing this technique. This means it is obvious and easily seen or countered. And if this is all you put behind this strike, many opponents will not be moved.

What I have learned from Hatsumi Sensei is to accomplish more with less. Exist inside of nothingness, he says. Be able to move from there.

The Japanese text of the kata we were studying says 強経を強く踏み付けると. This suggests breaking through the strength of the opponent by stomping this 急所 kyuusho, kyokei. First, let's see where this kyūsho is located.

強経 kyokei is above the five toes of the foot. A strike here attacks the strong tendons on top of the foot. This creates an ataxia which will "open up" or cut through your opponent's defenses.

Here is some 要 kaname

This same point is considered 要衝 youshou for acupuncture. 要衝 youshou can also be read as piercing through kaname. It is interesting that the kanji in 経穴 keiketsu, or acupuncture point, may also be read as passing through an opening.

and now some 口伝 kuden

The way I have learned to open up and cut through is not by stomping and relying on ataxia. That is part of it, sure. But a better way is to use the connection through what Hatsumi Sensei calls 玉の緒 Tamanoo.

Soke tells us that this is the lifeline or thread of life and also the same connection that is used when giving the Godan test. This is what moves the person out of the way of the sword. So that is the way I would attack kyokei.

Do you think that would be enough to move your opponent?


PS. this is the type of information I share in my exclusive Keiko Kiroku training notes. To get in on this, sign up here: Keiko Kiroku
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From New Products from Budo Shop Store by New Products from Budo Shop Store

Title: Kaigousuru 3 - the third International Bujinkan Training Party! Instructors: Pedro Fleitas Theme: Bujinkan Taijutsu & Hanbo Jutsu DVD/R, Length 160 minutes Recorded: Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden October 1999 DISCLAIMER!!! The picture and sound quality is not \"DVD Quality\". It was converted from video VHS. Pedro speaks mostly Spanish and it is translated into Swedish, sometimes he speaks English. The theme of this year was Kukishin-ryu Taijutsu. Mr. Brooks \"Bing\" Ford who was a well known and respected 10\'th Dan in Bujinkan passed away 88 years old sept. 24\'th 1999. Mr. Ford\'s favourite weapon was the Hanbo (short/walking staff). Pedro dedicated this seminar to Mr. Ford and taught a lot of Hanbo techniques. Mr. Fleitas is one of the best teachers in Bujinkan with an astounding flow and timing, here he is in top form. Don\'t miss the special bonus included! Skr239.00

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From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

砲台~十八羅漢~猴子( 全身是傷 ) photo by houliuken

If you are athletic, or train hard like I do, you will face the problem of being injured at some point. At first this feels like, why me? Why now?

But then if you are like me, you get to work finding a way to move forward, overcome this obstacle and to heal. You can solve this problem. And maybe, if you approach this problem properly, you will encounter the same wonderful mystery I have. Let me explain.

I train when I'm injured. I do this because the nature of life means there will always be encumbrances to peak performance. I want to be able to adapt when I encounter those obstacles.

But there is another, better reason I have discovered. The kind of discovery that may only occur while training injured. While I was in pain and feeling gimpy one night, I had a flash of inspiration:

Constraints on free movement can open up infinity.

This is an authentic 妙法 myouhou, or mysterious law in life, art, and training. The greatest lives are lived through obstacles. The best art burns through boundaries on expression. And the freest training can be discovered and enjoyed through constraint, injury, disability, or impediments.

If you have experienced this directly, you may know what I mean even though it is difficult to describe. It's like that by adapting, overcoming, or training through the injury will open up new horizons and possibilities you did not know were there before. Without the injury, you would not be forced to find this new path, so it wouldn't even exist for you.

And your world would be smaller. And your training would be stuck on the same path as it usually is.

On this night my struggle was a knee injury. And it forced me to hop about and pivot on one leg. I had to capture my opponent's balance and throw him without great strength or control over my own balance.

Then I remembered something mysterious I had seen from Hatsumi Sensei. He seemed to be throwing his partners around not with physical effort on his part, but by disturbing their psyche or spirit. I held this image in my mind of watching Hatsumi Sensei throw someone using only the smallest gesture of his hand.

Then I began to discover a whole new world of control by playing with how my uke reacted to my strange movement. It began as simple playful distractions. But over time this exploration has led to defeating my opponents through 繋がり tsunagari. And even by a broader connection to the kukan itself.

You see, there was an infinity in training that I discovered hidden behind and through my injury. My knee has healed. A couple of years have gone by, and I still am unwinding discoveries that arose from that night and that constraint that changed the way I train.

In my blog post, Kihon: The Heart of an Infinite Circle, I wrote about this concept. Hatsumi Sensei says that kihon is like thrusting your sword into a point about which there is an Enso or limitless circle (happo) and existing in the space is the kukan.

Do not forget this mystery. Embrace it. Find teachers who embrace it rather than putting training in a box.

Here's a hint: Teachers with VERY  strong opinions about the right and wrong way to train are trapped in a box.

The best Bujinkan training adapts to you. You should not have to adapt to the training. The world doesn't need another Bujinkan teacher. We already have great ones! What the world needs is training that shows people how to truly bring their own authentic self and demonstrate that value in our art.

This is achieved through a depth of self awareness that you may only discover under adverse conditions.

This is the transcendent mystery of overcoming your own limitations.…

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Michael

滚滚江水 Torrential photo by livepine

There is a bit of magic in the Gokui we find in the history of our art. This magic can help us with training or in our own lives. One that Hatsumi Sensei has shared with us says,

からまれて何にーっの勝手なし、身を捨ててこそ浮かぶ瀬もあれ

Like many ideas in Japanese, there is more than one way to translate this into English. Two that I've heard are:

When you become entangled, there can be no victory. By sacrificing yourself, you have the chance to be saved;
or, with no thought of one's self, float in the torrent by throwing oneself in.

In English we have similar sayings like: nothing ventured, nothing gained; make your own luck; put your life on the line… commit totally; Risk it all to win it all.

These ideas show the power of being fully committed, but where does the magic enter in? Well some other translations hint around this: When you are ready to sacrifice yourself, you may succeed; by rejecting the body comes opportunity; It is those who sacrifice themselves that will be rewarded with rising currents.

A clue for us can be found in the word 浮かぶ瀬 ukabuse found in the second part of this gokui. This word suggests good fortune or a lucky break when one floats or rises to the surface of the flood. The luck that arises from sutemi! What is this magic source of luck?

I would posit that it is found in the flow of whatever current that you leap into. Whether an actual river, the flow of combat, or the current of events. Consider this famous piece of advice often attributed to Goethe but more than likely by William Hutchinson Murray,

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

So I'll give you two final bits of 諺 kotowaza wisdom. One for the Bold,

小さな流れも大河となる Small streams too grow into large rivers.

And one for the cautious,

浅き川も深く渡れ Cross even shallow rivers as though they were deep.
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