From blogurl:henka.wordpress.com inpostauthor:ariesbudo - Google Blog Search by ariesbudo
The 2008 training year has come to a close and I was fortunate enough to be a part of the last training of the year at Hombu and spend some time with Soke afterwards where several of the up and coming 2009 topics were discussed. ...… Read MoreTag: Japan training
Koppo « Shugyo 修行
From blogurl:tazziedevil.wordpress.com - Google Blog Search by Duncan Stewart
togakushi_embu_016. How to approach training nowadays is plagued with doubt by many throughout the world. Everyone has there own thoughts on budo and personal reasons for becoming involved in the training. However, there are things that ...… Read MoreDKMS 2008-Back to Basics | Henka
From blogurl:henka.wordpress.com inpostauthor:ariesbudo - Google Blog Search by ariesbudo
DKMS 2008-Back to Basics. Posted on December 4, 2008 by ariesbudo. The DKMS this year was a real success on many levels. The highlight of the training being that fact that we training entirely outside for first time in many years. ...… Read MorePlay! The Octave | Henka
From blogurl:henka.wordpress.com inpostauthor:ariesbudo - Google Blog Search by ariesbudo
Last Tuesday Soke was making reference the musical concept of the octave and how this relates to relationships and Budo. If you are like me and not Adept in music theory, then you might want to read the definition of the octave here ...… Read More空間感覚 Sense of space
From Kabutoshimen by admin
As you know this years theme is the Togakure school. And what we is studying is the 面 OMOTE, outside or the visible and the 空間 KUUKAN. Next year we will be studying the 裏 URA, the inside, what is not visible or the secret. Soke said that next year we will go beyond kuukan.
First I’d like to remind you of my previous posts about not going ahead too soon, and instead follow the natural way and do things with good timing. So what he meant by going beyond kuukan we can leave for next year… no need to worry about that now.
空間 KUUKAN means space, room or air space. The first kanji KARA means emptyness, vacuum or blank, also SORA means sky or the heavens. The second kanji MA means space, room, time or pause. It can also mean many other things, for example KEN which is a measurement used between pillars, the same length as a tatami mat, 1,818 meters. In Koto-ryu for example you should be able to jump 2 ken sideways.
Other Japanese budo arts use and emphasize the same kanji for 間合い MAAI (interval), but in Bujinkan we instead speak of kuukan which has a deeper meaning. It is not just the distance, it is more how you use the distance that is important. For example if you have a pistol on your right side of the hip, you should keep this side away from the opponent so that he cannot take your weapon, and also so that you have room to draw your weapon off need be.
So this year we are developing our 空間感覚 Kuukankankaku, our sense of using the space between ourselves and the opponent as well as everything else around us, including possible weapons, doors, trees, stones, cars, other people etc.
In art they also speak of kuukan. For example using a big white paper and not too much black ink. Instead of looking at the black ink you look at the big white spaces. Or a zen garden one stone in the middle of a big field, it is the same thing, kept very simple. Maybe the same thing can be said about budo, keeping the techniques simple and leave plenty of room that can be used if needed, instead of complicated techniques that leaves out the freedom to henka, change. The key is to keep it simple, I think.…
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