From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Hatsumi Sensei told me last April that the bujinkan was now 200000 practitioners worldwide. Many dôjô claim to be “bujinkan” even though they ignore the true foundations of the bujinkan.

During my last seminar I had the opportunity to speak with a group of beginners students about the importance of the ten chi jin ryaku no maki and they really had no clue about it. One even told me that ” this is the first time he heard about it”. And he was already 6th kyû!

As teachers, this is our responsability to give the beginners the necessary basics so that their bujinkan path is successful. Many teachers never received the basics either but they were given high ranks. And when they began teaching their own students they duplicated the teachings they had received from their original instructor. Everyone is sincere but the results for the beginners are not good.

During the DKMS 2008 Hatsumi sensei insisted to the people attending the seminar that they focus on teaching the basics of the ten chi jin for the year 2009 as “many bujinkan students have never been exposed to the basics”. We are now in July 2010 and the students I meet in my seminars still do not know the fundamental techniques of the bujinkan.

Teachers: please teach the basics to your students, not the ones you think are the basics but the ones that were exposed by Hatsumi sensei back in 1983 in his first technical book: “togakure ryû ninpô taijutsu“. This book in Japanese was then translated into English (and greatly modified) in 1987. This should be the core of your teaching to the kyû belts.

The bujinkan is a fantastic system not because of its name but because it is the answer to actual fighting. It is not about strength or violence it is about footwork and simple body mechanics. Learn them and improve your skills dramatically!

In my next summer camp I will have written exams again every day so that the participants will know the names and content of the various sets of techniques included into the ten chin jin ryaku no maki. If there is no study there is no knowledge.

If you are a students remember that your teacher is the one guiding you on the bujinkan path but at the end of the day YOU are the one walking the path. Remember that you train for yourself for your own good and that no one is higher than you as we are all human beings. Get the knowledge you need where you an find it. respect your teacher for what he is giving you but please be pro-active and do not wait to receive the knowledge, as sensei used to say: “steal the knowledge where it is!”

Summer is a good moment to think back about our yearly achievements and to make new plans for the new season of training beginning in September. Please add “basics” in your plans.

Have a happy summer in the spirit of rokkon shôjô.

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From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Booking online at www.budomart.com is on.

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From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Dear friends,

You can now register to the Jupi Summer Camp 2010 and be one of the 25 participants accepted.

The theme this year is nagare, the flow. And we will use the fundamentals of the tenchijin ryaku no maki and the feeling of rokkon shôjô to express it.

The Jupi Seminar has now become a legend in the bujinkan. Until last year this seminar was open to black belts only and mainly shidôshi.

This year in order to celebrate the 20th edition of this seminar, I have decided to open it to anyone with at least 1 year of training in the bujinkan. Now, if you are more experienced the better.

The seminar begins in 1 month so if you are interested check the website now and register to be one of the “happy fews”.

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From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

Hidden within Shizen no kamae is the key to understanding all kamae. This simple looking stance, two feet on the ground, hands and arms relaxed, spine upright... It is how we've readied ourselves all our lives for all variety of activity.


But outward forms can be misleading. Hatsumi Sensei has reminded us many times that the form of the kamae is not the kamae. Rather it is the spirit and feeling held there. The lifetime of experience with our bodies held naturally. But there is something within Shizen no kamae that goes beyond our experience. It starts with another idea Soke has given us about kamae. He simply calls it, "the moment before change."

In the moment of change we can connect to more than ourselves through 先達 sendatsu (guidance) or 閃達 sendatsu (flash of inspiration). This guidance or inspiration comes from a connection to nature; our own nature and the opponent's, as well as the nature that surrounds us. Soke tells us that Shizen no kamae is the embodiment of nature.

It is the like deer that bounds away without having seen you. Or the leaf that turns toward sunlight. Hatsumi Sensei says that "Nature's creations continue to live bound by the ties of nature." And the intuition (kandankei 寒断計) they receive from nature should be treated with more significance. This intuition or guidance speaks to us without words or thought. Can you feel this in Shizen?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Dear friends,

Koimartialart has been evolving and offers now a totally new interface with a few trailers introducing buki waza, ten ryaku no maki and chi ryaku no maki. Also the search module has been fully redeveloped and the various sections are more complete.

Koimartialart is dedicated to every bujinkan pratitioner and is intended to help the young student or the advanced one to review one expression of the techniques of the bujinkan. These videos can be streamed online on your pc, your mac, your iTouch, your iPhone or your iPad. We are currently developing other interfaces for other phones: android, blackberry, nokia…

These videos DO NOT replace a qualified instructor and training should be done in a real dôjô but the techniques can help you understand better what the bujinkan really is. The bujinkan is the most complete system of fighting and it is based on the understanding of a limited set of fundamental techniques known as the ten chi jin ryaku no maki. The ten chi jin ryaku no maki mixing the 9 schools of the bujinkan together with the buki waza basics are the prerequisite to become a black belt.

Please check these trailers if you are not a member yet or check the new titles if you are and tell us what you think.

Many new movies are being uploaded regularly.

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