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Norikae: Change Your Mindset

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

hsmarch13

Do you think Hatsumi sensei is reading my blog? we can think so because in today’s class he gave us the next level to understand the Henka article.

I was asked to begin the class with some taijutsu technique. Uke attacks with a fist at short distance and by moving up and down, left and right you pull him down softly at your feet once uke’s balance is broken. Quoting Noguchi sensei in class today I would say it was a juppô sesshô technique. Hatsumi sensei did many henka around that, not using force at all, grabbing the fingers, crushing the nails having uke dance like a fool with pain. At one point he turned to me and said: “Norikae!”. Totally taken by surprised I said the only logical thing: “nani?” (what?). Sensei explained that the new taijutsu he is developing these days the key was to understand the possible changes that could be done and not to be lost in the way.
Softly he did many “henka” taking uke’s balance only by holding a finger and controlling him seamlessly. As my friend Sven would say the technique “is not about power it is about control”. Sensei added ”this is moving like a butterfly”, it was soft and light at the same time but very powerful. To keep the control with these soft movements was the spirit of woman self defense which we will study during the taikai.
乗り換え norikae or 乗り換える, norikaeru is a verb used when transferring trains or changing buses. If you take the wrong track you never reach your final destination. Norikae is the keypoint to develop proper control of the opponent. Once again there is no strength at all (he repeated many times again 力じゃない, chikara janai, don’t use strength). Having no preconceived plan of action you move like a butterfly from one control to the other, never stopping until uke is defeated. But if you make one mistake, i.e. miss a connection, you end up dead. To reach this ability one must have developed a powerful taijutsu and, he added, this is the most difficult expression of taijutsu, .
Let me illustrate this 乗り換え ”transfer, change” concept with an example. Mistakes are always possible and the results can be dramatic. If during your meal you use tabasco instead of ketchup you might get quite surprised after the first bite. On a side note and speaking of tabasco, sensei said that you could put some chili on your nose to peek into the eye of the opponent. This way of thinking is also ninjutsu.
Full awareness leads to instantaneous changes and adaptation to uke’s reactions. Then strength is not necessary. Whatever move you are doing it can be wrong but if you don’t dwell on your mistakes, learn from them, and regain advantage over uke, it is good. In any situation you have to decide fast and often there is no time to think. You have to become so good that you surf on the best possible wave of action.
Ninpô taijutsu is a tool and your choice of action will determine your fate. But as it is the case with any tool there are always several options. A tool does not have 識 shiki, consciousness; you do. A lighter for example is a simple tool: it can be used for the fireplace, cook your food, or burn your house. Because you have shiki you don’t destroy everything. This is norikaeru.
If we dig deeper, 乗り換える norikaeru has also the meaning of “changing one’s mind”. You must be capable of changing your course of action at any moment. The quality of your listening to uke’s reactions makes the correct norikae.
This is why Hatsumi sensei’s techniques are so difficult to get. But the difficulty does not lie in the movements per se. It is based upon the awareness to adjust, in a blink, to uke’s reactions without thinking or using any strength. What sensei has been teaching today is indeed for me a new paradigm. I understand now why he was saying last year that this “goshin jutsu” was the hardest way to learn how to fight.
This is linked with 縁の切身ない, en no kirinai (don’t sever the connection) that we studied a few years ago*. By keeping the control and the contact with uke we are able to move freely and to defeat him. By understanding what sensei was teaching today we become able to 乗り代える, nori kaeru, “ride on the change”; and to 忍びの理科得る, shinobi no rika eru: “obtain the science of ninjutsu”.
*search for it on this blog, several entries

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Japan Trip April 2012 – Diary

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

I came back yesterday from a fantastic trip and I hope you have been able to share with me the things I trained in Noda.

I have been asked in Japan why I was writing so much*. It is to share with the community some of the knowledge we get in Japan with Sôke and the shihan. I hope it will help you to wait for your next trip.

These texts* and these pictures are my attempt to give a fair image of what is happening in Japan. This is why I have added many pictures to these texts.

 

I took many pictures and not all are good but please see them as a training documentary. Pictures being forbidden during training, you will mainly have pictures taken before and after the class. As today someone asked me to put a link here to access the pictures uploaded on facebook during my trip you will find them below:

The first album contains the first 10 days (over 500 pict):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3395318174028.144619.1601937800&type=3

and the second one only the last day (around 100 pict):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3464131334314.145724.1601937800&type=3

Enjoy and comment them if you feel like it.

*All the texts in this blog were uploaded in April. If you want to read them again, click on “April 2012″ in the home page and they will appear.

 


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Ultimate Teaching

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Today was my last class with sensei during this japan trip and it was a very nice class where we could train also with long weapons. As sensei was coming a little late I was asked to begin the class and when sensei arrived, we started by a three tsuki attack demonstrated by an American friend. 

From there I got lost as sensei used no strength at all and was playing with uke as if uke was unable to see that he was going to die. Shawn Gray, after being sensei’s uke, commented that each one of the uke nagashi was piling up on top of the previous one, and that he became aware of his loss of balance only when it was too late. 

Sensei’s movements reminded me of some form of “kotonoma”, 空と海は (verb, sound) and “kokyû”, 呼吸 (breathing) demonstrated by Ueshiba sensei in his Aikido videos. Friday night he insisted to pay attention to the breathing of the opponent and to our own breathing too. If you hit uke while he is breathing in you increase the power of your hits. This is why you must take your time and wait for uke to breath in. If you rush to do the technique you will be less efficient. Timing is essential (kaname?).

When Hatsumi sensei is moving his body turns into the “chûshin”, 中心 (pivot, center) of everything. Even though he didn’t speak about “shinrabanshô”, 森羅万象 (all things in Nature) today, he was expressing it in each one of his movements. He was the “shinrabanshô no kaname”, 森羅万象 の要, the center of the whole creation.

Whatever his uke was doing he was speeding up the destruction process. Like in the theme of 2007 ”kuki taisho”, 九鬼大笑 (the laughter of the ninth demon), tori has no fear. If uke attacks, he dies; if he doesn’t, he lives. That is his call. What was really amazing was to see how easily sensei, with very little movements of the whole body can deal with the opponent. It took me quite a long time (gracias Hector) to figure it out, and even when I got close to get it, I was miles away from sensei’s movements. Sometimes I find it frustrating to attend his classes. You see the technique, you understand it, and you are incapable. This can be quite depressing.

His movements are so subtle that if you don’t pay atttention to everything at the same time, you don’t see them. As Shawn said later, the motion of sensei’s hands is catching his attention and the body movements were getting his balance totally unnoticed. When facing sôke, you are drawn into a sort of “uzumaki”, 渦巻 (whirlpool) feeling, from which there is no escape. It is interesting to watch but it is scary to feel it. There is no strength at all and uke falls because he cannot be standing up anymore. From the observer’s perspective it is as if nothing is applied to him. It is magic!

Each point of contact between tori and uke (today mainly the elbows) turns into a kaname as sensei keeps pivoting softly using his legs to do that. He spoke again about kaname, explaining it to be the highest expression of taijutsu. Once you can find the kaname everywhere there is nothing impossible. But what is impossible is to understand it solely at the intellectual level. 

He said that this cannot be understood or acquired by “researchers”, it is coming from real experience, this is not mental. Over the years how many times did we hear him saying out loud: “don’t think!”. He also said: “there are too many researchers in the bujinkan and the kaname concept is out of their grasp as long as they keep their knowledge at the intellectual level. It was like what he told us about kuden on Friday night: “kuden cannot be written, this is why it is an oral transmission”.

Sensei repeated again that understanding his words or the movements were not important: “if you get out of the class with the feeling you remember nothing it is ok because I teach the jûgodan”. I hope I was not the only one totally lost. 

Feeling this kaname action through the body is teaching the mind. I went to ask him to demonstrate it on me and when he did, it was like fighting a “puff of smoke”. There was no information sent to me, nothing. I felt like falling into the kûkan.

As not so many people attended the class today, we applied these techniques with sword, bô and naginata and it was nice to learn how to use the space available. With a weapon or not, when facing sensei you are not afraid, you are simply frozen. You stop moving because it is comfortable and safe. We don’t use the weapons, we use our taijutsu with the help (hojo?) of the weapons. 

The sakki test ended the class and I went to his house where I joined Sayaka Oguri, Lubos and some of his students. Sensei showed us many new swords he got recently including one that belonged to a Togakure general (yoshitaka?) with the togakure crest on the scabbard. Another tachi was wearing the shingon crest, and the blade was engraved with the Fudô myô sword on one side and three bija letters representing Fudô myô, Marishi ten, and Dainichi nyorai. He also showed us a very nice tantô in an orange scabbard that looked like a big caterpilar. He also showed us a beautiful kyoketsu shôge, 距跋渉毛 with the sword and dragon of fudô myô on one side, and the double edged sword with a vajra tsuka on the other side (you can see the pictures of those weapons on facebook). 

We were departing when sensei asked us to the new storage room next to his house. It was like entering an antique shop! Various types of weapons and pieces of art are there, waiting for an hypothetic museum. What caught my eyes were the few long yari that he showed. Each blade was around 80 cm! No wonder why the yari was considered to be the most dangerous weapon of all. I read somewhere from an archeological study that between Muromachi (1333) and Meiji (1868), death by swords only accounted for about 20% of the casualties, and the majority happened after the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603). The yari was the weapon of choice of the samurai, and the Japanese yoroi was initially designed to fight it.

Before leaving sensei, and after thanking him for the time he spent with us, he gave Lubos and me two omamori from the Kashima Katori shrine from the Miyagi prefecture that he signed with his martial name.

It was indeed a very nice day today, thank you sensei. I am sure we will speak about it with Lubos tomorrow as we are sharing the same flight back to Europe.

Sayonara

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Shinrabanshô

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

In each class with sensei I wait for “the word” that will give a new turn to my taijutsu. Last friday night at the honbu the word was “shinrabanshô”, 森羅万象 (all thing in nature, the whole creation).
I had the privilege to open the class. On a fist attack, you slide to uke’s left and take his hand, rotate the body leftward while pushing up on his elbow, therefore extending his arm. The left hand controls uke’s left shoulder. This turns naturally into a kind of Ô gyaku and uke falls at your feet still in control.
After a few tries by everyone, sensei did it “his way” on me and I got the feeling that he vanished in front of me. In fact when I was asked to explain what I felt, the only word that came to mind was “nuku” (see http://kumafr.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/1012/).
Sensei is moving slightly before you have the time to get him. His moves are not fast they are just in tune with everything, this is when he began to speak about “shinrabanshô”. The “whole creation” is one with him and his actions are so natural that the time you see them it is already too late. I insist here on the fact that a movement being natural is not “human”, it is a manifested yûgen (幽玄) action of “elegant simplicity”.  As everyone was lost, he reminded us that “I’m teaching at fifteenth dan level”.
Then he went on explaining this idea of “”shinrabanshô”. I must say that most of it went passed my level of understanding and I began to feel bad. But then he said that understanding was not important (good for us, gaijin and Japanese altogether), the kaname is to “hear it”.
He added that the vibration of  the words (like in a sutra or a prayer) is the thing that only matters, the meaning is secondary. Prior to the class I was speaking with Maria Somera (Mexico) and Craig Olson (Canadian resident) about the translation of his book “Chihayaburu kami no oshie wa tokoshie ni tadashiki kokoro mio mamoruran”* to Spanish. At one point Craig said that the last sound of the last word “mamoruran”, the “an” was similar to the buddhist “a un”, the end and the beginning of things. And this is exactly what sensei was told us that night: “sound is life and this is why the sound is more important  than the meaning”.
Sensei added that we should not try to remember the things he says or do during his classes as long as we attend the class. “if you put it in writing, it loses its power of creation”. I understand what he said but I wanted to share it with you in writing anyway.
To me this was the first time I truly understood what a kuden is. As you know the meaning of kuden (口伝) is oral transmission. For years I have been wondering why a kuden would be written. It must be, so that the sôke would be able not to forget it. Yesterday I understood that the kuden is a natural expression of life and that, if you have the level, your connection to the divine will find a way to express it through your words.
In the kûkan created by nuki waza, the sakki is revealed, this is the kaname of Hatsumi sensei’s teachings these days.**

* The “Chihayaburu” is said by the bujinkan teacher prior to the “shikin haramitsu daikomyô” at the beginning and at the end of the class. Here is the text in Japanese:

千早振る神の教えはとこしえに正しき心身を守るらん - chihayaburu kami no oshie wa tokoshie nitadashiki kokoro mio mamoruran. There are a few websites giving some explanations on the meaning of it but I advise you to get the book by Craig which covers this prayer/Mantra in more than 100 pages as he spoke a lot with sensei when writing the first edition of the book. A short and maybe inappropriate translation would be: “With a pure heart the kami will guide you through a happy life”, but there is much more in the book.
**note: we did also many techniques during this class, but I will explain that in a future post.



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Happô Biken

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

Today I gave a class on biken jutsu at the honbu and we studied the kukishin sword. The two hours passed so fast that we didn’t have time for a break as we use to have here in mid class.
It was nice to dwell  gain into the waza of the school as we mainly apply the kankaku of the various schools into our classes with sensei and the shihan. This is what sensei explained to me over lunch last Sunday.
Since we  entered the world of Juppô sesshô in 2003, everything we do now is based upon the taijutsu with weapons using the “flavor” of each style and mixing them together. what we study now during class with Sôke is not anymore the waza but something we can call 風味の技 (fûmi no waza), a flavored technique. Last year for example we did a lot of sword techniques with the fûmi of Shinden Fudô ryû. But beginners need to have a from to start from and the kukishin biken jutsu (and the togakure biken jutsu) are there to give them that. So it was nice to review the techniques again.
The kukishin happô biken is quite complete with 9 techniques divided into 3 sets of 3:
  • tsuki komi, tsuki gake, kiri age
  • kiri sage, kinshi, kochô gaeshi
  • shi hô giri, happô giri, tsuki no wa

Each one of these basic techniques is then completed by a set of 9 sayû* gyaku; and a set of 9 henka. Which makes a theoretical total of 27.


What I understood last year in April when training with sensei is that we can see the sayû gyaku (左右逆 - left right reversing forms) as how to apply the basic form to the left or to the right of the opponent. Each sayû gyaku contains in fact more than one or two forms. Then the henka (変化 - beginning of change/end of change) is how to apply the basic form while moving forward or backward. Here again you have more than two ways of doing each one of them.


So from the 9 basic forms listed above with the added sets of sayû gyaku and of henka, we get an infinity of possibilities to adjust the technique to the fighting conditions. Maybe this is the reason why Toda sensei told Takamatsu going to challenge Ishitani, sôke of the kukishin: “don’t use sword techniques against Ishitani sensei as his kukishin biken jutsu is much more powerful than our togakure happô biken”.


The reason why I separated the basic forms into three sets is that if you study these techniques carefully you will notice that they do not apply on the same timeline. The first set is used when you react after the attack begins (nijigen no sekai); the second set while the attack begins (sanjigen no sekai); and the third one before the attack begins (yûgen no sekai).


Also in each group you will see that the first technique of each group is a ten (going up); the second one a chi (going down); and the third one, a jin (going to the opponent). These groups (tenchijin and up/down/forward) actually define a matrix of actions that can be adapted through the sayû gyaku set and/or the henka set.


Maybe this is what sensei meant also by naming it “kukishin ryû happô biken”.


*note: sayû is the Chinese pronunciation of hidari migi.
DVD:  I recorded the basic techniques and also their tachi version on video. Those interested can find them on www.budomart.com
  • Biken jutsu (2 dvds basic and kukishin)
  • Tachi waza (3 dvds)




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Sanshin Is Kihon Happô

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

The Japanese people are very found about numerology and sensei being Japanese I was not surprised yesterday night when he said “the sanshin no kata is the kihon happô”.


In this blog I already wrote a few articles referring to this and referring mainly to the kihon happô. But the same can be done with the sanshin no kata. You can find it here: http://kumafr.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/does-3-5/ but there other articles speaking about this in the blog.

But how can the gogyô of the sanshin 五行 be equal to the kihon happô 基本八方*. Everyone knows that 3 doesn’t equal 8, at least for a Western mindset, but maybe it is time to begin to think like a Japanese.
 
Before trying to understand this puzzle, let’s review what we start with:
 
the “sanshin no kata” is a set of 5 movements based on the five elements,
the “gogyô” (which true name is “shoshin gokei gogyô no kata”**, in the tenchijin of 1987) is made of the Japanese five elements (the “dai gogyô” refers to the Chinese ones),
The “kihon happô” is a set of 3+5 which contains all the prinicples of movements and opens up in all directions,
The “kosshi kihon sanpô no kata” is used against attacks (aka “sanpô no kata”),
The “hoshu kihon kata gohô” is used against grabs (aka “gohô no kata”).

Even though “sanshin” means 3, there are 5 elements. And if you add 3 (san-shin) + 5 (go-gyô) the result is 8 (hachi). This hachi plus “hô” becomes “happô”. Etymologically “happô” (hachi + hô) can have the meaning  of “8 principles” 八法 **or  ”8 directions” 八方; but in Japanese it is mainly understood as 八方 “all directions” or can also be understood as a “large hanging lantern”, maybe a big lantern showing us the correct path of budô? Therefore, the kihon happô is a fundamental set of movements to move our body in all directions. This “happô”, lights the path to our progression in the martial world.
 
But as you know, “sanshin” refers to many things. You can see “sanshin” as: 
1) a sum up of the tenchijin philosophy; 
2) a set of three actions (kamae, uke nagashi, kaeshi); 
3) a time line (before, during, after); 
4) a space locator (forward, center, backward); or 
5) having the mind and attitude of a three year old child. 
(This is a another group of 3+5 making another 8!)
 
All these interpretations are correct and were taught by Sôke over the years. They are all true and please remember that there is no hierarchy between them. Any one is as good as the other ones.
 
Now why does 3 = 8? We have to dig a little deeper here.
 
In the nineties while in transit from Japan, I had the chance to meet a russian specialist of both Chinese and Japanese. As we had a few hours to wait before getting into the plane he tried to explain the different visions of the two cultures. What he told me is that by tradition and culture, the Chinese are Ura, they conceive a non-manifested world; conversely the Japanese are Omote, they have a materialistic vision of the manifested world. 
 
The Japanese see the world from the earth (chi) were the Chinese see it from heaven (ten). This explains partly the differences between the Chinese and Japanese gogyô. 

The Chinese dai gogyô are wood, fire, earth, metal, water. The Japanese and the Tibetans have the series we know in the bujinkan. But to make it a little more complex, the Japanese gogyô can be seen with either a Chinese approach (more spiritual) or a Japanese one (more grounded).  My Russian specialist used the gogyô as an example. 
 
Chi and Kû are the same in both philosophies and they are similar to the “alpha and omega” of the Greeks, a circular flow; or the henka cycle (beginning-end) of  the Japanese were change is permanent.
 
But things get even more intricate with the other three elements (sanshin?) because they are different both in name and nature.

  • Sui (Chinese) is Mizu (Japanese). The Chinese humidity of the air is opposed to the Japanese water in the river.
  • Hi (Chinese) is Ka (Japanese). The Chinese sun is opposed to the Japanese bonfire.
  • Fû (Chinese) is Kaze (Japanese). The Chinese atmosphere is opposed to the Japanese wind.
The bujinkan martial arts do not stop at the door of the dôjô. You have to train your brain and learn to think outside of the box***. I wish that after reading all of the above you begin to consider that actually 3 can be equal to 8. 
 
But there is more…
 
Because of its success, Hatsumi sensei’s book “unarmed fighting techniques of  the samurai” has been republished twice. Now, depending if you have the first edition or the second one (I have both) you would have two different “sanshin no kata” mix of the Sino-Japanese logics! I guess that not so many bujinkan practitioners noticed it***. 
 
In the first edition, the sanshin is described as chi-mizu-hi-kaze-kû (or 11011) and in the second edition it is the regular chi-sui-ka-fû-kû (or 10101). The techniques are the same but the feelings you develop when doing the first set or the second one are totally different. Try them. 
 
Funnily I noticed that when you put the two sets, one on top of the other you get a sort of DNA helix. If you train with the omote and the ura feelings, you will discover new things in your taijutsu. In July 2011, I told him about my DNA discovery during lunch and about those differences I found between the two editions. His answer was: “yes this is the same”.
 
But can you really trust a ninja master?…. or was his answer much deeper than I thought?…
 
* note: the bujinkan “kihon happô” is 基本八法, ”8 principles”
** note: “shoshin gokei gogyô no kata” is 初心互恵 五行の型  “original five elements mutual benefit form” (?) 
***sidenote: Everything keeps changing even a book, so please remember that sensei often invites us to “read between the lines”, maybe it is time for you to begin? ;-)

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Be Aware!

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

For the second day of dkms, it was raining so we had to retreat to a nearby building. Space was limited and sensei began his teaching by telling us to be aware of our environment. In a crowded area accidents might occur and like in a battlefield he asked us to add this element to the techniques we were doing today.

Warrior awareness was the theme and the introduction of today’s classes by sensei and he displayed many small weapons (kusari, nekote, and other shuriken) and asked us to be aware of these kinds of weapons, and to learn how to use them in order to know how to defend ourselves against them. Hidden weapons are very common in today’s street fights so we should develop our awareness in that respect.

To summarize this day of hard training (the floor was concrete), I would quote one sentence he repeated a few times during the training: “this is not about power, this is about control”.

Too often in martial arts, emphasis is put on physical power instead of the control (space, mind and body). Controlling the opponent means controlling his body and his brain (jin) and his environment: chi (floor), ten (weather or light conditions). Without controlling the outside, the above, or the behind of the attacker a winning action can bring defeat. This is why the bujinkan arts are more interested in controlling Uke than showing strength or force that are often mistaken for power.

On a ryôte dori type of technique sensei once again used the wave like movements of his shoulders and his body to control his attacker. This type of movement is done nearly without moving. By solely moving the shoulders up and down and turning around Uke at a very close distance uke is defeated. This shoulder movement would be effective in a very confined environment like a hole or on the battlefield.

Like he did yesterday he played again with the concept of kûkan no kyûsho. But Kû which is not only emptiness is encompassing all things within, and kû is the leading path to “zero”.

Sensei often speaks about becoming “zero”. This state can only be achieved once kû is understood and integrated in our body. He asked us to find the kûkan no naka no nagare (空間の中の流れ) because within this kûkan exists a flow that is kû and which is allowing us to transcend the form and to move naturally.

This is achieved by finding the kûkan no teko (空間の梃), the leverage or the various leverages (teko) to use to open Uke and to defeat him. By using these teko (familiar concept studied in the kukishin ryû), or their opposite known as “teko gyaku” (梃逆) we unveil all possibilities naturally and submit the opponent without using any strength. Our body if relaxed allows the natural movement to appear and to be used without any thinking process or any preconceived motion. I admit that I find it hard to put that into practice in my taijutsu but this is the goal to achieve.

He illustrated that by biting into the flesh of his opponent (hand, forearm, tit) and Tim’s reactions were quite self expressing.

From there we moved to some shime waza (締め技). A short reminder here, shimeru (shime) applies not only to the chokes but to any kind of constrictive action on the body. The basic hon jime and gyaku jime were demonstrated with the whole body (karada) and were sometimes completed by hits to the face or crushing actions to the throat and the body.

Sensei insisted also that we should use the whole body when applying those chokes, “karada no shime” he explained, while choking his opponent by moving around him. Footwork is the key element in the success of these movements. By moving the elgs you off balance Uke and cerate opeinings for the chokes or the hits.

What I understood today was that chokes are:
a) dynamic;
b) done with the whole body (and not only the arms);
c) can be completed by fists attacks.

Pain by sôke is a good teacher!

He was also changing his grip from one choking waza to another using pushing (oshi -押し) movements of the choking hand. Depending on the opening he was pushing or pressuring Uke’s upper body (not only the throat) with his pinky used as a blade to cut the flesh; with the heel of the palm to crush Uke’s Jûjiro or with the tip of the fingers to dig into the face or the neck. This ability to change the way to hold the opponent became obvious when he added a hidden knife and pulled it of his sleeve so that it was appearing like by magic in his hand. This metsubushi action (目潰し) was done while already applying the choke.

He warned us to learn these “bad guys” techniques in order to survive a real fight. The bujinkan, he said, is not teaching “bad guys” techniques but is teaching these things to be able to react correctly in a life threatening situation.

To avoid defeat, learn the ways of your enemy.

The way he was revealing the tantô hidden in his sleeve was very interesting. He was not pulling it out of the sleeve instead he was levelling his shoulder so that the weapon would pop out by itself. The karada was pulling the weapon not the hand. This is also how we should learn to draw the sword as in the nuki gata (drawing the sword) the blade is expelled from the scabbard by the body action not with the hand. This is quite different from regular and traditional sword practice.

Leaving the weapons we went back to unarmed combat and from the original ryôte dori technique we learnt how to use the pressure of the thumb and the pinky to dig into Uke’s skull, face, eyes, ears, etc. We did also a few nasty pinching techniques combined with striking hits to the chest.

In a limited space the “gan shi nankotsu” system finds here a logical application. Space being limited, the movements do not have the same momentum and pain is not coming from a distance but at very short range. Once again he insisted on finding the “kûkan no kyûsho” of the situation.

We did many techniques today around these principles and sensei said that this was a very important training for the jûgodan. No strength is used in these techniques, there is no power at all as Sôke is controlling Uke only with micro movements and mega pains. Pain without injury is the best way to calm down a dangerous situation.

On a side note, Sôke insisted that we should pay attention to avoid injuries and of the importance of being aware of our environment (reminder).

This apparently effortless full control he has at all time of his opponent(s) is always amazing to watch and to think that tomorrow he will be turning eighty is even more surprising. Sensei is not using any strength but he keeps full control of anyone attacking him.

This is why the bujinkan martial art is “not about power, (but) about control”.

Be aware and live happy!


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Senpen Banka

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

dkms 2011 - during the first break

dkms 2011 - during the first break

Today was a fantastic Autumn day. The sun was shining, the 300 attendees full of joy to be together again for this very special bujinkan moment, and sensei was joyful and playful like a kid.

The whole was dedicated to the depth of the Kihon Happô and he asked many 15th dan to demonstrate their understanding of it. As an introduction he said that this day (and maybe the following ones) would be a “Jûgodan test”…

After speaking about some writings by Takeda Shingen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeda_Shingen) who said that men until 20 were working to be strong and then to understand weakness, he moved on to some very interesting concepts.

From this whole day of training I did my best to remember three things that he said and showed the depth of his budô.

“Gyokko Ryû is up and down, inside and outside”

Pedro trying to explain what he felt after being used as Uke by sensei, said that he had the feeling that sensei was up and down him, inside and outside his distance, to finally realized that he (Pedro) was alone as sensei was not even there (zero state). Sensei reminded us that this particular feeling of attacking the Ten and the Chi and the ura and the Omote was the main concepts of fighting of the Gyokko Ryû.
Distance being short the only way to use the body efficiently is to play with all these directions and deceive Uke on your real intentions. He added (as for everything this day) that no chikara (strength) was to be used and, as he said in our previous classes, that holding Uke without actually holding him was the key of true taijutsu.

As a joke he added that being 80 years old, he had no more physical strength and that his minimalist movements done with the whole karada (body) were creating the same effect as the use of the force. Age advancing physical strength is replaced by mental strength. Once again to way to control Uke it is not about using force but on the contrary to give him the feeling that you have disappeared.

“find the Kûkan no Kyûsho”

At some point he spoke extensively about finding the kûkan no kyûsho (空間の急所) or the weak point of the empty space in which the fight is happening.
In a movement, you should be able to understand where the Kyûsho is located, to avoid it and to throw Uke into it. He said that this was the real mastery of budô and that not so many martial artists couls even understand that.

In whatever situation you encounter in life lies a kyûsho somewhere. Being able to discover this kyûsho and to use it to our own benefit is the key to happiness and safety.

“senpen banka”

But the most amazing thing that sensei told us today concerned the concept of “senpen banka”.
Senpen banka is another “Hatsumism” composed of three different concepts reshuffled together to create something new.

“sen” is 千 thousand
“man” (here “ban”) is 万 10000
“ben + ka” is in fact 変化 henka cut in two halves (hen and ka are separated)..

Senpen then is “1000 changes” and “banka” is 10000 changes. note that both hen and ka mean “change”.

The concept of senpen banka is quite similar to the concept of “banpen fûgyô” (10000 changes no surprise) from the Gyokko Ryû but stronger. Sensei said that we should move in a relax manner with no preconceived ideas on what to expect or what to do, in order to be able to find the kûkan no kyûsho hidden in the situation.

Also if we think a little further it can also mean that whether there are 1000 changes or 10000 changes our attitude should not be modified. Losing or winning is not the point (he reminded it to us in a recent class saying that this win/lose vision of the world was childish). By keeping the proper attitude in life one could overcome any difficulties (here the changes) that he might find on his way and lead a happy life.

Once again it was for me the proof, if need to be, that the bujinkan is much more than a simple bio mechanical martial art but a real school of wisdom from which one can grow the true warrior spirit and become a true bujin.

Thank you sensei for this fantastic Autumn day on the inner secrets of the kihon happô.


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Use a Telescope to see through Space and Time

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

On Sunday I did a technique at the opening of the class that sensei used to teach us the shizen karada – the natural body movement.

Karada – body ( 自然 体) is a often used by sensei during his classes as everything we do is based on a body or “non body” movement.
On a ryôte dori ( 両手取 り) slide your arms inside Uke’s arms and take his balance. When sensei did it to me I felt nothing he just vanished (melted?) in my grab in such a natural way that I had the feeling that my grip was returned against me.
There was so much softness in his counter action that there was no way for me to counter it or to think on how to react to it.
This feeling is quite strange and happens every time you have the chance to be his Uke. There is power within softness.

To achieve that Hatsumi sensei was simply joining his shoulders between my arms as if he had no bone structure, no rib cage in the middle! By moving the shoulders in a wave action back and forth he slide himself in between my grip and took my balance. The naturalness of his body movement was amazing as nothing could be done to avoid it. Using the karada (体) without chikara – force, strength (力), he then used the gan shi nankotsu (眼指軟骨) to inflict excruciating pain to my eyes and mouth, forcing me to bend backward and therefore to lose my balance.
I can understand it what he did to me but I wasn’t able to reproduce it. As always it is one thing to understand and another one to be able to do it.

When sensei was in between my arms I felt I was facing a wall advancing towards me and I couldn’t avoid it as I was stupidly still grabbing his lapels. Funnily I know I could have let it go but I didn’t. He was controlling my body and my brain together. The only thing I could do was watching my demise. Using the whole body is not moving the body it is being one with your body and Uke’s body at the same time so no free space is available for you to escape.

If I try to describe the feeling a little more it is like there is no strength at all opposing yours and then nothing to fight against. The simple shoulder wave movement together with a body that has been polished for tens of years is what is doing it. Once again, your rank doesn’t prevent you from training and you have to train for a very long time in order to get this ease in action that comes from pure consciousness.

Later during the class sensei used the image of the circle and of pi. Actually when continuing the movement your footwork should be in accordance together with uke’s movement of attack so that you pivot in a circle inside Uke’s attack at a 180° angle to go with him where his body is leading him. By doing so, Uke is not aware of where you are and loses his balance because nothing is opposing him. This pi application has been developed in many other martial arts like Aikidô for example but here in our case there is no grabbing of Uke. Sensei merely used the space created by this dynamic and natural body positioning to stick to Uke so close that he is invisible to Uke’s awareness. Sensei’s body moves like in cloud. It is at the same time a mienai waza, a kûkan and a nagare with nothing to stop Uke’s body but diabling him to perceive you. As they say in the Takagi Yôshin Ryû and the Kukishin Ryû: “ahead lies paradise”. As nothing prevents Uke’s movements Uke falls by only fighting his own strength.

To summarize the whole training that day sensei used a nice image. He said: “don’t be strong, don’t be weak, be zero and through this zero you can see the solution”. Saying that he put his hands in a circle and looked through them as if using a telescope.

Once again everything is linked. telescopes are used to see through sideral space and the stronger they are, the further back in time they can see. You should become a powerful telescope and see through time and space in order to be aware of what is coming next even before Uke knows about it.

Then gan shi nankotsu of this year (眼指軟骨) turns into gan shi nankotsu (眼 其 軟 骨) where shi (其) is oneself; nan (軟) is soft; kotsu (骨) is knack, skill, secret. The “eye, finger, cartilage” is now through our telescope a means to see through yourself, the secret of softness that will defeat the opponent.


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A Needle will not Blow a Balloon

From Shiro Kuma's Weblog by kumablog

In any Japan trip the first classes with sensei give some insight on what is going to be taught next. My first classes last days were fantastic, full of insights … and full of pain!

About 80 students are attending the classes (and more are arriving every day) and I have the feeling that the dkms 2011 will be a hispanic one as many friends from Spain and South America are there: Alex, Christian, Nestor, Rafael, Marcello, Jose and many others.

I must say that sensei is in a very good mood and shape and that his minimalist taijutsu is getting more and more impressive.

I had the honor to open the classes and once again he went into the “gan shi nankotsu” concept that he has been unveiling since last summer. I already wrote about this “add-on” t to the kihon happô theme and concept on my Facebook notes, check it if you didn’t read it it is called “ken tai ichi jo”.

As I said the class was full of insights, I will try to explain three things that Hatsumi sensei explained during the class:

A needle will not blow a balloon  i.e. Kosshi and Koppô are complementary:
This was really mind blowing! Westerners have a tendency to split everything in closed boxes were in fact reality is based on a more higher understanding of these concepts. Even though Kosshi and Koppô are different they mix nicely together to create a flow that is like a third reality. From now we should see these two concepts as the “plus” and “minus” of some magnetic field.

Hatsumi sensei explained that our fingers controlling Uke softly were actually the Kosshi jutsu and that our bone structure, our squeleton moving freely around this point of control would allow us to deal “softly” with the opponent’s intentions. He said,that,when this Kosshi/Koppô mix is mastered, you are able to deal with any opponent whatever his body shape. This is when he used this image: “when you master this you can push a needle so softly into a balloon that eventually itwill not blow up”. This controlling action of the whole body is so soft that no force at all is used in the process.
Intellectually easy to get, but I still don’t know howto do it.

Time is now  i.e. create time when you are in a hurry:

In each class sensei insists a lot on being able to create time within time. If you have been training long enough you already have experienced this feeling. Uke attacks full speed and you have the impression that he is moving in slow motion.
What sensei explained was about the same except that the use of the little pains generated by the “gan shi nankotsu” movements prevent Uke of carrying out his attacks at the normal speed. This hindering of his intentions delays his actions and therefore creates time that you can use to control, hit, or destroy him.
Since Einstein we know that time is relative and when our actions are forcing uke to think and to adjust his intentions in order to survive then we force him to “slow down” his efficiency. In a way this is E=MC² where E = extermination; M = mind, C = control. Then we can write that the Extermination of Uke equals Mind Control to the square!

Tenmon (天 門), Chimon (地 門 ),Gakumon (学 門):

But the main point made by sensei was when he spoke about the trilogy of Tenmon, Chimon and Gakumon. As far as I understood, We can see the martial art as a mix of biomechanical techniques – Chimon (waza) and of higher understanding – Tenmon (kûden – nearly spiritual). These two aspects are completed by another one Gakumon or knowledge. Hatsumi sensei said that many martial arts are stuck at the Chimon level and that others are focusing more on the spiritual level. The Bujinkan is including the Gakumon from the real beginning and the three become one.
How is it possible? It is simple if you think that two levels of Gakumon are there. The first Gakumon is basic knowledge allowing you to link the first two aspects of Chimon and Tenmon.
The second one, taught in the bujinkan by sensei is beyond forms and words and can nly be reached when your taijutsu has been polished for more many many years.
When the three are mastered a new dimension you reach is that of pure consciousness – shiki ( 識).
Thereforeand if my interpretation is correct we understand sensei’s last comment at the end of the class: “I teach you the three together because they are one, and this is the bujinkan and the higher form of martial art”.

Be Happy!


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