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Tsunagaru: Stay Connected!

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

img_20170507_122506.jpgA week ago, my last class with Sensei for this trip was another great one, with many insights to bring and to train at home.

Before we began, Hatsumi Sensei spoke about the new statue of Kannon that he acquired recently. More than a statue, it is a symbol. When Takamatsu Sensei stayed one year on the mountain, he trained under the guidance of a hermit. During this time he developed a strong connection with the goddess Kannon. He saw Kannon as the end of his mountain shugyō and a witness of the Musha Shugyō accomplished in the wilderness.

img_20170507_113629.jpgWhen Hatsumi Sensei saw this statue at his regular antique shop, he took it as a reminder of Takamatsu sensei’s story. For him, this statue placed at the centre of the Shinden symbolises the fact that we (he) have reached the level of Takamatsu sensei’s understanding.
The Goddess Kannon connects us (him) to the late Takamatsu Sensei.

received_10211601687830068Before we did the salute, Sensei facing the Shinden called me to give me a Ōmamori from the Amatsu Tatara. It reads “Amatsu Tatara no Hōken”. Hōken is the treasure sword that protects from sickness and evil. That was a kind attention.

Kannon, the Amatsu Tatara no Hōken, these are connecting us to our Life. And this is the same type of connection that we’re looking for in the encounter.

During class, Sensei spoke many times about the importance of Tsunagaru. (1) We have to connect to the moment, to the opponent, and to the fight. Mutō Dori deals with this quality of the connection.

At any given moment we have to be protected, in “security”. Sensei repeated that in the exchange we had to safe and secure: “Anzen”. (2) We can be Anzen because we do not fight, we play (Asobi – 3) with Uke, using our fingers, our understanding of distance, and our unwillingness to do anything to defeat him. “Master the Kokû” he added, “and never give the opponent anything he is expecting. We have to keep changing (moving) because life is about changing permanently. If you stop moving your body and your mind, you cannot change. If you don’t change, you become visible, when you are visible, you are “pre-visible”, and Uke can read your actions.

We have to learn hos to change. Then, I began to get very lost when Sensei added that “(he) cannot teach change.”
How then can we possibly learn to change when he cannot teach it?

He explained that it was impossible to teach because change is a natural human reaction that develops by itself. When we watch him doing things that we can hardly copy, there’s no learning process or structure to follow. The ability to change is what blooms from your training.

We see the permanent change when he does it, and maybe, one day, we will be able to do it. It cannot be learned; it comes from years of practice.

That understanding about change, connection, security being the result of years of practice, tied us (Tsunagaru) with his introductory speech about the new Kannon statue.
I have the feeling that Hatsumi Sensei has reached another plateau in the evolution of his understanding of Budō. At this level of Mutō Dori, we are only witnessing his level of expertise.

I wrote in a recent post that we shouldn’t copy his movements. I guess I was wrong because copying him is not possible anymore.

_____________________
1. Tsunagaru: 繋がる, to be tied together; to be connected to; to be linked
Tsunagu: 繋ぐ/tsunagu/to tie; to fasten; to connect
2. Anzen: 安全, safety|security
3. Asobi: 遊び, 1) play, 2) play (margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect)


…

Piano And Budō

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

piano2
A few years ago, Sensei said that if you wanted to control the opponent, only one finger was enough, or Yubi Ippon Jūbun.
In fact, since then, he has been insisting a lot on the piano-like manner with which we have to play with Uke, using only the tips of our fingers as if writing on a keyboard.
Grabbing is not the solution. When you grab Uke, you grab more than his mind or body; you create a fixed point of contact from where he can determine your next actions. The grip becomes a new Teko/Shiten. (2)
But when you use a series of Shishin Ken (3), using your fingertips as if playing a piece of music on Uke’s point of contact, you do not give him a start from which he can be reacting.
For the last classes, Hatsumi sensei has been repeating it. In the world of Mutō Dori, the use of our fingertips, running on Uke, touching him, but not grabbing him, prevents the opponent of beginning a counter movement. You do not stay long enough in contact on the same spot. Because you do not stop, Uke’s body is always “listening” to the input created and cannot make a correct decision.
Playing with the attacker is a significant aspect of Mutō Dori, which is why is why Sensei used the word “Asobi” when detailing the moves. (4) The definition of “Asobi” gives us a hint on how to “play”. It says “margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect.” When you understand this definition, you see how similar it is to the “Ishitobashi”, the skipping stone, of two years ago. (5)
Sensei explained that the spaces between the contacts of your fingers on Uke are those “air pockets” he was mentioning. The rhythm of the contacts on Uke’s skin, give the tempo of his demise.
Not grabbing firmly, but creating a rhythmic touch with your fingertips, allows Tori to overcome any intent of Uke. Uke is lost in plain sight as he cannot take a winning decision. That maintains him at the logical level. His only course of action is to follow Tori’s movements, and hoping that the control of his body and mind with the fingertips, will eventually stop.
A few times, Shiraishi sensei attacking Sensei with a sword cut, was stuck in mid air. Sensei was holding him only with the tip of his forefinger.
I guess it is time to go back to your keyboard training in search of this magic and playful way to control the fight. Mutō Dori is purely about controlling the situation.
___________________
  1. Yubi Ippon Jūbun: 指一本十分, One finger is enough
  2. Teko/Shiten: 梃子/支点, lever/fulcrum. That is one of the major concepts of the Kukishin Ryū and the Takagi Yōshin Ryū.
  3. Shishin: 指針, needle (compass, gauge, etc.); hand (clock); indicator; pointer; index . Shishin is often used as a name for a stabbing action of the pinky. But when you understand it, you realise that in fact, you can use any of your fingers for it. Thus a series of Shishin Ken as if playing the piano. You move from one finger to another.
  4. Asobi: 遊び, 1) playing , 2) play (margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect)
  5. Ishitobashi: 石飛ばし, skipping stones on a body of water

…

Piano And Budō

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

piano2
A few years ago, Sensei said that if you wanted to control the opponent, only one finger was enough, or Yubi Ippon Jūbun.
In fact, since then, he has been insisting a lot on the piano-like manner with which we have to play with Uke, using only the tips of our fingers as if writing on a keyboard.
Grabbing is not the solution. When you grab Uke, you grab more than his mind or body; you create a fixed point of contact from where he can determine your next actions. The grip becomes a new Teko/Shiten. (2)
But when you use a series of Shishin Ken (3), using your fingertips as if playing a piece of music on Uke’s point of contact, you do not give him a start from which he can be reacting.
For the last classes, Hatsumi sensei has been repeating it. In the world of Mutō Dori, the use of our fingertips, running on Uke, touching him, but not grabbing him, prevents the opponent of beginning a counter movement. You do not stay long enough in contact on the same spot. Because you do not stop, Uke’s body is always “listening” to the input created and cannot make a correct decision.
Playing with the attacker is a significant aspect of Mutō Dori, which is why is why Sensei used the word “Asobi” when detailing the moves. (4) The definition of “Asobi” gives us a hint on how to “play”. It says “margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect.” When you understand this definition, you see how similar it is to the “Ishitobashi”, the skipping stone, of two years ago. (5)
Sensei explained that the spaces between the contacts of your fingers on Uke are those “air pockets” he was mentioning. The rhythm of the contacts on Uke’s skin, give the tempo of his demise.
Not grabbing firmly, but creating a rhythmic touch with your fingertips, allows Tori to overcome any intent of Uke. Uke is lost in plain sight as he cannot take a winning decision. That maintains him at the logical level. His only course of action is to follow Tori’s movements, and hoping that the control of his body and mind with the fingertips, will eventually stop.
A few times, Shiraishi sensei attacking Sensei with a sword cut, was stuck in mid air. Sensei was holding him only with the tip of his forefinger.
I guess it is time to go back to your keyboard training in search of this magic and playful way to control the fight. Mutō Dori is purely about controlling the situation.
___________________
  1. Yubi Ippon Jūbun: 指一本十分, One finger is enough
  2. Teko/Shiten: 梃子/支点, lever/fulcrum. That is one of the major concepts of the Kukishin Ryū and the Takagi Yōshin Ryū.
  3. Shishin: 指針, needle (compass, gauge, etc.); hand (clock); indicator; pointer; index . Shishin is often used as a name for a stabbing action of the pinky. But when you understand it, you realise that in fact, you can use any of your fingers for it. Thus a series of Shishin Ken as if playing the piano. You move from one finger to another.
  4. Asobi: 遊び, 1) playing , 2) play (margin between on and off, gap before pressing button or lever has an effect)
  5. Ishitobashi: 石飛ばし, skipping stones on a body of water

…

Read Between The Lines

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

img_20170428_211145.jpg強弱柔剛あるベからず
“Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu”
One must not depend on strength or weakness, or softness or hardness.
It is a sentence from Toda Shinryūken Masamitsu, Takamatsu sensei’s uncle. (1)
And Hatsumi Sensei repeated it once again in his last class when he was explaining the importance of moving slowly without stopping. Some Bujinkan members misunderstand the “moving slowly” for softness. That is not the case. By moving slowly, you control the movements of the attacker.
When you fight, you are one, the Ten, the Chi, and the Jin are united. Your actions become holistic in the sense that you now move as a whole. (2)
You can achieve this unity when your expression of the Tenchijin is not “3” anymore, but “1”. Once you are “1”, you can achieve “0.”
This is how I understand the “Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu.” At this level of no-waza, there is nothing; you emit nothing, you have no plan, you are surfing the waves of Uke’s intentions without thinking. If you depend on those dualistic concepts of strong/weak; soft/hard; fast/slow, you cannot be zero. The control of the space is not even conscious; it is there because you manifest it by nor trying to do anything. Later during the same class, Sensei referred to Fudōshin: the state of nothingness is part of the control you impose to Uke. (3)
The zero state of Fudōshin is only possible when you disappear to yourself. Having no intention yourself, Uke is alone, fighting his self.
He is the question and the answer. The more he tries, the more chances you have to control his movements and his brain and to defeat him. You are in control, only mirroring and completing his actions.
Henka means “change”, but as Sensei explained, the word “Henka” is, in fact, two Kanji put together: “Hen” and “Ka”. (4)
They both translate as “change,” but Hen means the beginning of change, and Ka, the end of change. They complete themselves, like in-yō. There is no duality, only completion.
In other words, when you apply “Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu”, you understand that Uke’s change (Hen) calls for your change (Ka). Uke begins, you finish. That is the nature of the control of space that we learn with Hatsumi Sensei these days in class. Here at the Honbu, there is a lot to learn, if you listen carefully and research the hidden meanings of the words and expressions used by Sōke.
As Sensei says: “Ninjutsu teaches you how to read between the lines”. Maybe it is time for you to begin to read the invisible.
______________________
1- Reminder for the newcomers on this blog. No, Toda wasn’t Takamatsu sensei’s grandfather but his uncle. The misunderstanding goes back to the beginning of the Bujinkan when a translator mistranslated Oji (uncle, 伯父) for Ōji (Grandfather祖父). Once again it shows the importance of the correct pronunciation.
4- Henka: 変化, change; variation; alteration; mutation; transition; transformation; transfiguration; metamorphosis​. 変 = beginning of change; 化, action of making something, end of change

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Read Between The Lines

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

img_20170428_211145.jpg強弱柔剛あるベからず
“Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu”
One must not depend on strength or weakness, or softness or hardness.
It is a sentence from Toda Shinryūken Masamitsu, Takamatsu sensei’s uncle. (1)
And Hatsumi Sensei repeated it once again in his last class when he was explaining the importance of moving slowly without stopping. Some Bujinkan members misunderstand the “moving slowly” for softness. That is not the case. By moving slowly, you control the movements of the attacker.
When you fight, you are one, the Ten, the Chi, and the Jin are united. Your actions become holistic in the sense that you now move as a whole. (2)
You can achieve this unity when your expression of the Tenchijin is not “3” anymore, but “1”. Once you are “1”, you can achieve “0.”
This is how I understand the “Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu.” At this level of no-waza, there is nothing; you emit nothing, you have no plan, you are surfing the waves of Uke’s intentions without thinking. If you depend on those dualistic concepts of strong/weak; soft/hard; fast/slow, you cannot be zero. The control of the space is not even conscious; it is there because you manifest it by nor trying to do anything. Later during the same class, Sensei referred to Fudōshin: the state of nothingness is part of the control you impose to Uke. (3)
The zero state of Fudōshin is only possible when you disappear to yourself. Having no intention yourself, Uke is alone, fighting his self.
He is the question and the answer. The more he tries, the more chances you have to control his movements and his brain and to defeat him. You are in control, only mirroring and completing his actions.
Henka means “change”, but as Sensei explained, the word “Henka” is, in fact, two Kanji put together: “Hen” and “Ka”. (4)
They both translate as “change,” but Hen means the beginning of change, and Ka, the end of change. They complete themselves, like in-yō. There is no duality, only completion.
In other words, when you apply “Kyojaku Jūgo Arubekarazu”, you understand that Uke’s change (Hen) calls for your change (Ka). Uke begins, you finish. That is the nature of the control of space that we learn with Hatsumi Sensei these days in class. Here at the Honbu, there is a lot to learn, if you listen carefully and research the hidden meanings of the words and expressions used by Sōke.
As Sensei says: “Ninjutsu teaches you how to read between the lines”. Maybe it is time for you to begin to read the invisible.
______________________
1- Reminder for the newcomers on this blog. No, Toda wasn’t Takamatsu sensei’s grandfather but his uncle. The misunderstanding goes back to the beginning of the Bujinkan when a translator mistranslated Oji (uncle, 伯父) for Ōji (Grandfather祖父). Once again it shows the importance of the correct pronunciation.
4- Henka: 変化, change; variation; alteration; mutation; transition; transformation; transfiguration; metamorphosis​. 変 = beginning of change; 化, action of making something, end of change

…

Don’t Xerox The Master!

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

img_20170502_211510.jpgEach class, Hatsumi sensei speaks about moving “Yukkuri”, slow. This is different from training slowly. (1)

Training slowly: Study level/acquisition/Dōjō
Moving slowly: high-level/reaction/fight

Training slowly is part of the learning process, reacting slowly deals with actual fighting. When you train slow, you create new mental/body patterns that will be useful in a real fight. When you move slowly in the encounter, you stop emitting intention. Therefore it is easier for you to read the opponent and to adjust your reactions naturally to Uke’s attacks. Many practitioners, high ranks included, misunderstand this difference. We end up mimicking Sensei’s slow movements. And as we don’t have his many years of practice, if we only copy his slow moves, it will get us killed.

For years now he has been saying that he is teaching for the Jūgodan not for beginners. What he shows is Ura, if you copy his movements, you stay at the Omote level. Buying a black belt in a Budo shop doesn’t make you a black belt. What Hatsumi sensei shows in class is a result, not a process. Do not mistake the end result for the path. Stop copying, you don’t have the level for that! Moving slowly comes after many years of moving fast. The “no-waza” state he has reached is beyond our grasp. We are heading towards it, but we are not there yet. It comes after years of repeating the forms of the waza. There’s no shortcut. As I said many times here, in order to forget the techniques, you have to learn them in the first place.

Yesterday, Hatsumi sensei insisted on moving slowly. This is the secret of high-level taijutsu, he was insisting on the “yukkuri”, but he added that to be successful, one has to keep moving. We did several sword attacks from behind similar to train the Sakki feeling. Each time, the sword could not touch him because he never stopped. Turning his back to Uke, Sensei didn’t wait, he kept walking, and the blade was avoiding him like by magic. Hatsumi sensei insisted that if you stop, then you give a fixed point in space that the attacker can use against you. What we do is effective taijutsu, even if we are moving slowly. Senō sensei often asks us to move out too late and to be hit. Then to move a little earlier, then again and again until we can move slowly enough, and at the right distance, and with the perfect timing to avoid the attack. If you never get hit during training how can you possibly know how to fight for real? The truth is that you cannot.

Instead of repeating Sensei’s movements, you should listen to what he says, and build a training progression that will teach you how to do it. If you are a Bujinkan high rank, hopefully, you have studied all the Waza. You come to Japan, not to learn Waza but to bring back home new insights and new feelings, that you will train in your Dōjō until your next trip to Tōkyō. You come to Japan to bring back homework.

If you want to improve your knowledge of Taijutsu, stop copying and begin to listen.
Don’t copy the Omote, the visible, it’s a dead-end.
Listen to him, it will teach you the Ura of things, and help you improve your movements.

__________________________________

  1. ゆっくり, Yukkuri: slow, at ease, restful

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Please Pronounce Correctly

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

koshiI don’t speak Japanese, but I do my best to pronounce it correctly. Too often, I can see t-shirt written “Gyokko Ryū Koshi Jutsu” instead of “Gyokko Ryū KoSShi Jutsu.” (1)

Twelve years ago in a Nagato sensei’s class, he asked what we wanted to study as he always does. An American teacher jumped in and said: “Koshi jutsu.”

So, we trained hip-throws for two hours. I remind you that back in 2005, Nagato sensei’s classes were more “dynamic” to say the least.

At the end of the training, everyone was happy that training was over. Then my American friend came and complained to me (why me?).

– Him: Why did Nagato do Nage Waza? I asked him to do Koshi Jutsu!
– Me (soft and enjoying it): Because Koshi means hip in Japanese.
– Him (getting excited): But I wanted to study the Gyokko Ryū!
– Me (playful): So you should have asked,
– Him (getting aggressive): That’s what I did!!!!
– Me (enjoying it): No. You asked for Koshi instead of Kosshi
– Him (troubled): …Yes, it is the same, no?
– Me (in heaven): No. Koshi is the hip, where Kosshi is the main kaname for this year’s study of Gyokko Ryū.
– Him (not getting it): ugh?
– Me: You have to pronounce each one of the “Ss” if you don’t, it means something else, like hip in that case.
– Him: ???

He left me with the bright, and sharp look of an oyster. (2)
To this day, I’m not sure that he did understand, but luckily he is a high rank… (3)

As I said in the introduction, I do not speak Japanese, but I know that some sounds with nearly the same spelling can have different meanings in Japanese. When you learn the vocabulary, we use in training, pay attention to those double consonants.
That is also important with the long vowels like “o” / “ō” and “u” / “ū.” (4)

So, learn Bakka correct Japanese sounds if you don’t want to look like a Baka. (5)
_______________________
1. 腰, Koshi: back; lower back; waist; hips; lumbar region
骨子, Kosshi: main point; gist; essentials; bones (e.g. of an idea); pith. And in 2005, Sensei used it with the meaning of “central pivot”, “vertical axis”, “coccyx.”
2. Metaphor intended
3. pun intended
4. The correct transcription uses an extra “u” after the o for the long “ō” and long “ū”. For example, Happou is Happō; Doujou is Dōjō; Chuu is Chū, Juudan is Jūdan. Because in the French language the sound “ou” is “u” (like in “Bujin”), I use the transcription with the flat accent on top. More on this here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese
5. 許, bakka: only; merely; nothing but; no more than
馬鹿, baka: fool; idiot


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Mumei And Yokenai

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

IMG_20161127_130637
Mumei, no name, no fear

Hatsumi sensei is getting deeper, every class, into the world of Mutō Dori.
The majority of you is now familiar with the vast complexity os this concept that we have been training on and on for nearly a year and a half now.
As he explained here, Mutō Dori is not only the “unarmed defence against a weapon. It is much more. In “Japanese sword fighting”, sensei writes that “(…) Even if you have a sword, Mutō Dori starts with the development of the courage to face an opponent with the preparedness of not having a sword.” (2)
My dragon name being Yūryū, it resonates with me. (3)
Courage is to face the enemy even if you risk to lose your life.

The Mutō Dori of 2017, the way I understand it now, goes beyond this bravery. And he explained it during class when he said “Yokenai”, don’t protect yourself! (4)

Not concerned by the outcome you go straight to the opponent with no intention and ride the wave of his intention. Fear is not at play, you do your best and watch the result. As you have no plan of action, it is Uke that defines your reactions. Not frozen in the “I want to”, your body adapts to the situation.

But this detachment finds its origin in another concept that Sensei mentioned the other night. This concept is Mumei. (5)

At dome point during the class, Sensei did a particular grip on the sword, and I went to ask for its name. “There is no name for it” he answered. Maybe I looked puzzled, so he added “at Mutō Dori level many techniques have no names. You do them naturally.”

Kacem late told me that these techniques have no name (even if they have) because a name would limit them. I thought of Plato saying that “knowing the words led to the understanding of the world.”
It means that when you name something, you define it. You set limits to what it is, and what it is not.

Therefore, you are trapped by its definition. And this is where the Oriental philosophy have invented Mumei, the “no-name” concept, so familiar to Zen practitioners. Mumei doesn’t limit things to a single reality. Things are not “de-fined”, they have no boundaries, no finitude.

In Mutō Dori, as you don’t name the technique you stay away from the limits of the definition.

This is why Sensei moves naturally. On a few occasions, he dodged easily the sword and knife attacks of Shiraishi sensei, he kept walking towards him as if nothing would touch him. Strangely, nothing cut or stabbed him, his distance was always perfect. Because in the “un-limited ” world of Mumei and Mutō Dori, there is nothing to fear.

“Courage knows what not to fear,” said Plato. When you face your opponent with no fear, you cannot be defeated. So, you don’t need to protect yourself, Yokenai!
_________________________
1. 無刀捕, Mutō Dori
2. “Japanese sword fighting”, by Hatsumi sensei, pages 64 and 65 (published 2005 by Kodansha). Read here. More on Mutō Dori here
3. Yūryū: 勇竜, Dragon of bravery; courage; heroism. At the beginning of the 90s, Hatsumi Sensei gave us, Yūro Shi Tennō, “dragon names.” Today people don’t bother receiving them; they only add a dragon name to look cool. (sic)
4. Yokenai: 除け無い, yoke/protection + non-existent, not being there
5. Mumei: 無名, nameless, anonymous

Paris Taikai 14th to 16th of July. 3-day seminar with Sven Bogsater, Peter King and Arnaud Cousergue. Registration opened here


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Don’t Be A Selfish Ninja!

From Shiro Kuma by kumablog

shareDon’t be selfish!
If you have the chance to train in Japan, let the Bujinkan community know about what you learned.

Every year, about 5000 Bujinkan members come to Japan to study the Bujinkan techniques under Hatsumi sensei and his best students. The majority of these Bujinkan members are Shidōshi.

So why don’t we have more information on what is going on in Japan? When you train in Japan, it is our responsibility to share what we live not only with our students but with the whole Bujinkan community.

When you take out from the 5000 visitors, the non-Shidōshi, those who don’t write in English, those coming only for a new promotion, and those coming only for tourism; there is still a significant number of people that could write and share their feelings and discoveries with the Bujinkan community. Don’t you think?

The Bujinkan is about 500 000 students in total, so the 5000 lucky travellers represent only 1% of the community. It’s time to help the other 99%.

The Bujinkan is like a “family”, but no one communicates. I invite you all, travellers to the Honbu, to write about your experience in Japan. Share with the rest of us, and help more Bujinkan practitioners who don’t have the chance to travel to learn.

Today I just created a new Facebook page called “Bujinkan Trips” where you can now share your training experience from Japan. The address: https://www.facebook.com/bujinden/
Would you be willing to put your Japan trips notes and insights on it? Your contribution can be recent or not, and will serve the community. Thank you

Written on the train to Honbu, before class with Sōke, on a beautiful and sunny spring day.


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Fun’Iki, Control The Environment

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

IMG_20170428_211146This year Mutō dori is about controlling Funiki, your environment.
During the class, Hatsumi sensei demonstrated it with Taijutsu, Tantō, Katana, and Naginata. Each time the Uke seemed lost and unable to get him. His main point today was that the weapon, or the lack of it, is not what truly matter. In fact, with or without a weapon, Sensei was moving very slowly, keeping a perfect distance with the opponent, who always ended up cutting, stabbing himself, or getting controlled. There was no fight, no opposition, Sensei’s movements were natural. From the outside, it looked like Uke was fighting alone.

Sensei demonstrated it with the Tantō, using a unique grip that let his Taijutsu play by itself.
You hold the knife reverse, hiding it under your forearm and use either the blade or the Kashira to get Uke naturally. (2)
The key, he said, is not to use the Tantō, and to let Uke cut himself in the process. Correcting a student he told her that thinking about cutting with the blade, created a Teko (3), a point of leverage and focus that the opponent can use against you. Sensei added that in the case of a small weapon, it had to be always hidden.
But when Uke finally sees it, the trick is to let Uke “think” the knife while Tori still ignores it and his mind is not trapped by it. Sensei added that when you want to cut or stab with your knife, you are creating a fixed point in your mind limiting your freedom of action.

With the Naginata; it was even more devastating. Sensei said that when using this weapon, your grip of the weapon should be loose and all the movements executed using Naname. (4)
My understanding is that the physical encounter is enough to cut the enemy, your body supporting the Naginata loosely on top of the forearm. Also, keeping the edge oriented at 45 degrees guarantees a cut when in close-combat. The cuts are done by walking the body around Uke. When he was demonstrating this, I had the feeling the Naginata was alive and moving by itself.

In a sword against sword encounter, he explained to move towards the attack, using the body to support the blade as a shield. With the weapons in contact use the joints to apply leverage. Grab the opponent’s sword and then slide your katana under his helmet.

Finally, in Taijutsu, Sensei reminded us to use our fingers as if playing the piano on Uke. Then one finger extended was often enough to overcome the adversary even when he was armed with a sword.

All these techniques that we did were practical applications of high-level Mutō Dori. Mutō Dori is entirely misunderstood. It is not what we learned at beginner’s level. Mutō Dori is done in every situation, with or without weapons. Because it is about controlling Fun’iki (1), the environment, the atmosphere.

When your mental presence is aware of everything and controls the space between and around you and the opponent, then defeat is never yours. (5) (6)

The essence of Mutō Dori is Fun’Iki, to control the environment naturally.

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1. 雰囲気, Fun’iki or Fuinki, air, atmosphere, environment
2. Kashira 頭, the head/top of the weapon/hilt
3. 梃子, lever(age). Teko – lever, and Shiten – fulcrum are one the secrets of the Kukishin Ryū
4. Naname 斜め, diagonal, oblique
5. Sensei used the word Fudōshin (不動心) to express it. And many of his attackers today explained that they cannot get him because of his commanding presence.
6. 不動心, Fudōshin: a) imperturbability; steadfastness
b) cool head in an emergency; keeping one’s calm (e.g. during a fight)


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