From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

Sunday class was really interesting and Sensei was in a very good mood. We were only 40 students and we had a few breaks due to the heat outside.

This class was one of the best since a long time. Very technical, very high level and very deep in terms of philosophy. In this post I will only address the waza part, the philosophical aspects will be in a future post.

We did Taijutsu, Yari jutsu, and Ninja biken.

Sensei began with some taijutsu with a kind of Sanken delivered to the back of the ear the neck and the throat, after a fake grab by Tori to the chest. Soft, powerful and very painful.
We also trained a progressive control of the attacking hand. We had to absorb the Tsuki with the hand like; he said, “as if receiving a baseball.” It was about wrapping and redirecting the fist, the whole body was not moving much, but it was the body that was absorbing the hit through the wrapping hand.
While training it and having it done to me by Sensei, it felt like the Taihen Jutsu of 1998. Even though the Shinden Fudō ryū is a Daken Taijutsu fighting system, we used it to discover Taihen jutsu.

Then as it is now common, we moved to train with long weapons.

Personal message to the community: “please continue not to come to training as I need to better my long weapon techniques”.

Sunday was Yari day.

Against Tsuki, you deflect the Yari by stepping first, to the left, and second, by using a full rotative body movement to expel the weapon. Uke is totally off balanced by the power of the control (don’t hit the Yari, match the weapons). As I explained in my previous post on Senō sensei’s class, he insisted on tsunagari (connection) and awaseru (match). The speed of the attack is not relevant as long as you first move your legs. This shields you from the attack and position uke in a perfect angle to be countered by a sweeping with the hirumaki (1) or stabbing with the blade.

Sensei also spoke about the kama yari 鎌槍 (2) application. He explained that the sickle part of the Yari was able to hook the wrist or the neck. You could even “miss” the Tsuki to the head, and then catch the neck with the kama by pulling the pole back to you. Every movement was done with the legs, the Yari following the motions of the body. Everything was connected.

Then we did the same technique with the ninja biken. As it was the case last May, Sensei started with a low Seigan no kamae pointing to the knees of the opponent. (3) Then he was stepping forward and to the right and lifting his arms to intercept the cutting blow of uke at the forearm level.

This was not a cut but a simple hit. The reason to do that, he said is that the ninja biken is mijikai 短い, short. Therefore, the natural flow of the blade is modified, and it has to be used more like a metal rod. He insisted many times on the fact that ninja biken is mijikai.
When shielding himself with the blade supported by the body, the blade would be at a 45-degree angle forward, tip down. This first half of the technique is soft as it is uke’s momentum that does it for you. Then Sensei would pivot slightly towards the blade (his hips and the blade are parallel) and hit with excruciating power on uke’s kote (4).

What I got from this profound lesson is that:

1. legs always move first.
2. legs are cutting or hitting.
3. we have to move in a nonlogical manner.
4. we have to match (awaseru) the attack softly
5. we have to create a connection (tsunagari)

He also spoke about “divine power”, Kami sama, and Monju bosatsu. I will detail this in another post.

_________________
1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ishizuki_or_hirumaki.jpg
2. 鎌槍 / sickle + yari / spear with curved cross-blade(s)
3. read this post from May 2015: https://kumafr.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/roppo-kuji-no-biken-again/
4. kote / 小手. The forearm and not the wrist.

Yari downloads HERE

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

Nobel Prize writer Toni Morrison said: “Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder.” (1)
I felt this “hardship” during Senō Sensei’s class last Saturday.

The class regrouped only seven people, so it was nearly like a private lesson. Senō Sensei decided to do some basic Bō movement with the feeling of the Gyokko Ryū. At least this was my interpretation as he was always keeping his hand at the mid-section. (2)

Kamae: Senō Sensei was standing in Shizen with the Bō hold at the center and held by the arm under the armpit. The Bō was pointing in front the end nearly touching the ground at a 45-degree angle.

Waza: When uke attacked, Senō sensei simply walked towards him and slightly to the side with baby steps, turning his body to the left. The movement was natural, no speed, no strength, only footwork. Because of the angle of the weapon, the top end of the Bō placed itself naturally to the inside of uke’s right leg. Once there, he turned his body to the right, trapping uke’s body in a sort of Tsuke iri (3). The Bō then moved into a horizontal position between uke’s legs. Then by simple footwork, Senō sensei bending the legs, grabbed the rear end with his left hand and threw uke to the ground. Uke is trapped in a sort of Jūjiron.
We did many movements based on this first technique: continuing to the left and hitting dō uchi, then reversing; using the back to unbalance uke and finishing with taijutsu, etc.).The movement was so natural that uke was trapped before he knew it.
Impressive, simple, and hard to do. But then things got even more complex.

We did the same feeling but this time by extending the distance using leg movements, then lifting the Bō to meet the attacker’s weapon. This one technique was even more impressive. There was no strength at all but required a perfect understanding of distance and timing to do it.

Because the way he met the weapon of the attacker was so soft that it looked like his weapon was landing softly on the attacker’s Bō. Once the two weapons in contact, they were forming a straight line. Then Senō sensei would deflect the attacker’s weapon by doing a micro rotating action and like by magic, uke’s weapon was going away, leaving uke without defense.

The movement follows four consecutive steps:
1) step back to the right distance;
2) lift the Bō to “land” on the attacker’s weapon (hands after legs);
3) deflect with a very small rotation of the weapon;
4) Then, the upper part of the Bō being nearly vertical he then passed behind and choked uke with it.

Then we applied the same with swords. From Tōsui no kamae with the sword, you let uke cut himself by simply lifting your arms. You don’t try yo cut him; you let uke do it for you. Then he entered with his right leg between uke’s, and turning his back to Uke, used the shoulder to throw him like with a Hanbō (Ganseki Garami). Beautiful, and only based upon precise and soft footwork.
With the sword too, we did many variations from this simple technique.

The reason I quoted Morrison is because I had never seen something so subtle and powerful, Whether we were using the Bō or the sword, this “landing” was the Kaname.

This Kaname is Awaseru, 併せる matching the weapons. (4) When done properly, it looks like the weapons are tied together as if by some magnetic field. Everything is “one”: rhythm, speed, distance, power. I didn’t know this concept before and this it was hard to find it after thirty years of permanent training. In fact since then, I see it in any technique done by Hatsumi Sensei.

I felt like I had a veil blinding me until now. Often people asked me why I continue to go to Japan. I go to Japan because there is always a gem hidden somewhere if you want to find it. It is when you stop training that your level is decreasing. Apparently many high ranks are not interested in this unending quest. Only seven students were training Saturday with him, but we were over forty at Sensei’s class. Where were they all on Saturday?

We train for our development, and the path has no end. Maybe it is about time to reckon it and to go to work!

______________________
1. Toni Morrison biography
http://www.biography.com/people/toni-morrison-9415590
2. We studied the Gyokko no Bō in 2005. The theme was Kasumi no hō. To do that we did all the techniques of the Kukishin Bō by changing the position of the hand in the middle of the weapon.
3. Tsuke iri is one of the basic movement of Hanbō jutsu.
4. Awaseru / 併せる
1: to match (rhythm, speed, etc.);
2: to join together; to unite; to combine; to add up;
3: to face; to be opposite (someone);
4: to compare; to check with;
5: to cause to meet (e.g. an unpleasant fate);
6: to place together; to connect; to overlap;
7: to mix; to combine;
8: to put blade to blade; to fight

Download all the bujinkan techniques,  schools,  weapons
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From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

I opened the session with two taijutsu techniques trying to put into life the Ishitobashi 石飛ばし concept I had trained since my last trip in May. (1)
After doing a few variations, sensei applied the same concept to sword techniques. As always I am in awe when he takes whatever is demonstrated and bring it to the next level.
These days, Hatsumi Sensei is insisting on Tsunagari (2), the connection between uke and Tori, and the weapons. This connection is the first step to the Enno Kirinai (3). Once Tsunagari is done, you must keep this connection.

To do so, he said that we must not finish the movements (Hanpa). (4) Hanpa is not new to us; we studied it a few years ago with Chūto Hanpa 中途半端, the half cooked techniques. (5)

Hanpa allows the Tsunagari and we keep the connection with Enno Kirinai. There is no intention; we are “zero” and simply surfing on uke’s movements. Keeping the connection, we can “cut with the leg movement”, Ashi Kiri 足切, and move like a skipping stone. As the sword is a shield and cutting not being the main point, we move the sword with footwork and not with the arms. Sensei said (again) to use no strength Chikara Janai 力じゃない, but only the body movements Karada 体 (body) not Chikara 力 (strength).
To reach this non-action state, he added that mastering Kihon Happō and Sanshin are the prerequisites. He insisted again on the importance of building a strong foundation to our taijutsu. The quality of your taijutsu foundations is the path to understanding what Sensei is doing these days. When you master the basics, they are ingrained, you don’t think about doing a movement. This the “ri” of “Shuhari”. (6)

At the “ri” level, you can now focus on the intention. As Sensei said during class, you have to be Honto 本当 real in your actions, to influence uke’s reactions. (7)
Paradoxically this forces you to alternate the “no intention” with “full intention”. He added that that this is part of human nature “ningensei” 人間性 to feel danger or to expect danger (whether it is real or not). By alternating those two states, you create openings in uke’s atavic reactions and overcome his intentions. This animal reaction is inyō 陰陽, better known as the yin yang.

Strangely, Ashi Kiri 足切 can be written Ashi Kiri 足霧, where “Kiri” means fog. So we can say that bu cutting with the legs, we are also creating a metsubushi like movement that capture uke’s mind and make him react wrong to our non-actions.

________________
1. Ishitobashi 石飛ばし
Skipping stone principle. See previous blog entry “Ishitobashi.”
2. Tsunagari / 繋がり
connection; link; relationship
3. Enno kirinai / 縁の切ない
Do not sever the connection
4. Hanpa / 半端
remnant; fragment; incomplete set; fraction; odd sum; incompleteness
5. Chūto Hanpa 中途半端
For more on this, see blog post https://kumafr.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/consciously-unconscious/
6. Shuhari / 守破離
Shuhari; three stages of learning mastery: the fundamentals, breaking with tradition, parting with traditional wisdom
7. Honto / 本当
Truth, reality

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

The first class with Sensei felt like the continuation of my last trip two months ago. As it is now common, when there are not so many participants, we do a lot of weapon techniques during the class (yari and sword).

The main point is to use Karada gaeshi 体返し. The body is deflecting the attack through the weapon. The yari or the sword become the natural extension of your body movements. There is no intention in your weapon, uke attacks, and you walk with your sword in front. The weapon is a shield, stabbing or cutting are not the objectives.

You don’t do a technique you simply protect yourself. You do not have to apply a technique because you control uke’s movements, and the distance by using your body. The trick here is to be close enough to prevent us from attacking again, and also to have enough space to use the yari or the sword. The correct distance is important.
In May, Sensei spoke of Kasumi no kaeru 霞の反る, or to put uke in a “fog like” situation. As you don’t try to escape and stay close to uke, he cannot grab the correct distance to maximize the use of his weapon.

On the sword techniques, Sensei also insisted on not cutting but using the air pockets of the ishitobashi* (see previous posts). When you use a sword, you have to understand its potential. You don’t need to cut because uke is using the Yoroi as a protection**.
When he is not wearing the Yoroi, then you have to know that the sword cuts by itself because it is its nature. I remember what my Musō Shinden teacher used to say. It was exactly the same. “The nature of the katana is to cut; the hardest part is to know how to stop it” (i.e. not to create a suki, an opening after the cutting motion). As Nagato sensei said, it is always necessary to keep our body protected. This need to be protected is why Sensei keeps repeating that we have to use the sword as a shield in the Bujinkan.

The sword of 2015 is the evolution of the sword of 1996. In 1996, we learned the forms, today we are learning strategy. If you are not good at doing the techniques (omote), then this pure feeling (ura) might escape you. The biken waza from Kukishin Ryû and Togakure Ryû are the foundation of what sensei is teaching these days.

The weapon being a shield then Karada gaeshi is the only logical answer.
___________________________
*石飛ばし
**Reminder: the Yoroi was designed to protect the Samurai from the Yari.

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumablog

This was an excellent trip full of new insights, discoveries, and friendship.

I trained for the first time in the new honbu dōjō. I like it.
I met old friends and exchanged a lot.
Sensei’s classes are brilliant as usual and full of subtle points and concepts: Karada gaeshi, ishitobashi, sanbon, Nuki gaeshi.
I enjoyed training with the Dai Shihan:  Senō, Nagato, and Noguchi and revisit the denshō with their eyes.

But above all I enjoyed the privilege of spending some time with our Sōke in  Saitama, and in Noda.

Thank you for the bears.
I’ll be back at the end of July after the Paris Taikai. (1)

Sayonara
_________________
1. Paris Taikai 2015: 3 days of training with Pedro, Peter, Sven, and Arnaud. Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th , and Monday 13th of July.
Registration: http://www.budomart.eu

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Yesterday I had dinner with Yuji Kogure, Quest Videos CEO, and we spoke about the importance of History to understand what is the Bujinkan.

The Tsurugi was a major step in our training as it linked the ancient past to the modern world. Since Sensei explained that the Tsurugi was the origin of the Sanshin no kata, we were able to link the evolution of sword warfare: Tsurugi, Tachi, Katana.

The Tachi created during the Heian period (end of 10th century) was “en vogue” during the warring states period. The use of the Tachi lasted, more or less until unification was completed by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600).

Then the katana took over when wearing a Yoroi was not so common (peace time = no need for Yoroi). Before that, during the warring states periods: Kamakura jidai, Muromachi jidai, and Azuchi Momoyama jidai, (roughly 1185-1600), the Yoroi was needed. The Bujinkan techniques were developed during these four centuries of nearly permanent warfare. (2)

In those times, a young Samurai was considered an adult at fifteen (元服), so his training had to begin at an early age. (3)
Symbolically we have 15 Dan ranks in the Bujinkan for the same reason. (4)
So the Japanese Samurai of that time had to solve the following problem:
“how to teach battlefield techniques to young kids?”
And they came up with a simple answer: they invented taijutsu!

On the battlefield, a soldier always has weapons, unarmed combat (even in today’s armies) is therefore very rare. What they did was stripping the battlefield techniques of the Yoroi and weapons, and teach them as Taijutsu to the future samurai.

This is understandable for many reasons:
1. Yoroi is expensive and heavy
2. Weapons are expensive and heavy
3. And if kids had a Yoroi fitting their body, they would not be able to learn the forms because of the weight.

So what we call taijutsu today was in fact battlefield techniques mimicking the movements you have when wearing the Yoroi and the weapons. I’m sure that many of you wondered once why some of the waza do not seem “logical”? They don’t seem logical because they are missing the Yoroi and the weapons.

Since last year, I have revisited many waza with Yoroi and weapons (sword in the right hand and Yari in the left), and I understood a lot. The apparent lack of logic in them vanishes when you are wearing the full equipment. In my dōjō, we always have one or two students training with Yoroi, and the benefits are amazing, even to the observers. If you have a Yoroi, please use it, don’t let it rust in a corner. Use it and you will be surprised to see how the Yoroi can teach you correct taijutsu and proper footwork.

This bears three conclusions:
1. Densho are made of sets of simple techniques because they are designed for kids.
2. Waza are fighting techniques simplified to prepare the young samurai to enter the battlefield.
3. Taijutsu was invented for that purpose.

During the Edo Jidai (1603-1868), there were no more battles (nearly), peace was established and the waza evolved into techniques to be used in duels and unarmed Taijutsu. This is also when they began to cut with the sword. Before peacetime, it was impossible because of the yoroi. (5)

What we do in the dōjō reflects this evolution. But if you want to improve your skills, you have to study what I consider to be the foundation of our art: those four centuries of warfare that created our techniques. This reason is why I consider History to be so important. Teachers, please teach Japanese history during your classes. It will help your student improve their skills and also understand why the Bujinkan is not a sport.

__________________
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura_period
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muromachi_period
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuchi%E2%80%93Momoyama_period
3. 元服 げんぷく ceremony of attaining manhood
4. “In the Shinto faith, boys were taken to the shrine of their patron deity at approximately 14 years old. They were then given adult clothes and a new haircut. This was called Genpuku.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_age#Shinto
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period

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In a recent class sensei defined his movements as being zentai. (1)
Zentai (全体) is a full body movement where everything moves naturally. Zentai is a holistic approach of taijutsu. As Nagato put it in his last training, “taijutsu is not limited only to body movement, it also includes the weapons.”
Holistic taijutsu encompasses everything: body, weapons, troops, surroundings. There might be a pun here between taijutsu (体術) “body technique” (2) and taijutsu (隊術) “technique done by a group of warriors” (3). This second taijutsu refers evidently to the battlefield. Another Zentai (全隊) explains it. (4)
So, as a consequence, limiting our training to the sole Waza without incorporating the rest (troops, terrain, surroundings) would be a significant misunderstanding of sensei’s vision of Budō. And Zentai would never be achieved.

Zentai is the only correct way to move because it deals with every aspect of reality at the same time. To achieve this state of oneness, we have to be relaxed. A full relaxation of the body and the mind will reveal our ability to survive effortlessly and to adapt. We get why we have to be physically relaxed as the yoroi is protecting us, but it’s hard to be mentally relaxed. The more we try not to think (i.e. to not bother about the outcome), and the more we are trapped by our thoughts.

In the Tenchijin, there is a concept that is fundamental, it is called “Shizen gyō un ryû sui”. At the Shizen level (自然) our movements become spontaneous and always suit the situation. (5) Our movements flow naturally in a relaxed manner.

In a previous post I explained about being creative and spontaneous: this is Zentai. I see today, that Zentai can be the next step on the Warrior’s path to evolution. It’s holistic nature might be the hardest thing to achieve, but once we have it, the world will be an easy place to live. And you’d better work to get Zentai now because once you have it on the mats, it will positively impact your life outside of the dōjō.

Omote and Ura are one!
________________
1. 全体/zentai/whole; entirety; whatever (is the matter)
2. 体術/taijutsu/classical form of martial art
3. 隊/tai/party; group; crew; team; body|company (of troops); corps; unit; squad
4. 全隊 zentai the entire force (of soldiers)
5. 自然 /shizen/nature; spontaneity|naturally; spontaneously

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Today at Nagato sensei’s class, we did some variations around Teiken (蹄拳) from a rear body hug and Musan (霧散) from Shinden Fudō Ryū. After reviewing the basic forms from the Densho, Nagato sensei did many applications around the initial form. He was de-structuring the original movement to adapt it to different types of situations. In fact, it was obvious to me that each waza is destined to become a world of possibilities. I saw here today the exact same “Ri” demonstrated yesterday night by Noguchi sensei (see previous post).

We did a lot of variations with the sword in the belt, and we added it to the movement. Sometimes the sword was unsheathed; sometimes it was not.

Speaking of drawing the sword, he said that we had to “apply the techniques with the sword but in a natural manner. This is not Iaidō! Iaidō has nothing to do with the Bujinkan”.

He said that we must develop our sword movements through taijutsu. This is the quality of our Taijutsu that gives life to the blade, not the opposite. This is why it is not iaidō. He also explained that if we do not have a good taijutsu it is impossible to get the freedom necessary to use the sword in a real fight.

I would add to that Iai kata are useful to develop the handling of the weapon, but they don’t teach you how to survive a fight. In a real fight, there is no “Uke” as both opponents are “Tori” by nature.

What I liked is that, still speaking about the sword, he said that we have to “keep it secret”, referring to our personal style of moving the sword. It does make sense after all the warriors had to have a “competitive advantage” over their enemies if they wanted to survive. Making it logical then keep it secret. Secrecy is the foundation of warfare.

It was overall, a very interesting class in may aspects. The central point Nagato sensei insisted on was that whatever the situation, we have to “be protected at all time”. By saying that his body was preventing any counter attack from Uke. Nagato sensei was controlling the arms of the attacker permanently by either grabbing or supporting them with his back.

The first objective of training is self-protection. But added, that when you reach a high level, ” you sometimes have to let a side of the body unprotected so that you can channel uke’s movements”. When Uke is in the fight and sees an opening, he will more likely try to use it. You have to be so good that you let him believe that he can win. This is Kyojutsu (3).

It is like in the attack of the village in the “7 Samurai” by Kurosawa (4). If you remember it, the farmers keep the door of the village open to let the enemy enter. But they close the gate after three or four are in. They kill them and open the door again to get a new batch of thieves.
You have to do exactly that (if you have the level). And this is why Nagato sensei said “the sword can be used efficiently if and only if, you have a good Taijutsu”.

Nagato sensei’s ended the class explaining that the techniques in a Ryūha are very simple. So please don’t make them complex. If you find them complicated, it is maybe that you don’t have the technical level (yet) to understand their simplicity.

_________________________________
1. 蹄 hizume (tei) hoof; and 拳 ken hand game (e.g. rock, paper, scissors)
2. 霧散 musan dispersing fog; vanishing fog
3. 虚 kyo unpreparedness; falsehood; 術 jutsu art; means; technique
4. Watch the clip on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZTqxfjnziA

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We were only 8 participants for Wednesday’s class with Noguchi sensei. What a luxury!

As always with him we went fast, so fast that I got confused me than usual. My confusion was not based on the techniques we did (it was the first and second level of Gyokko ryû), but by the way he unfolded these techniques. Everything was different thus remaining the same. His interpretation based on the essence of each waza he came up with waza that felt so different that it was like studying the Ura Gata of Gyokko ryû.

My American partner and I were feeling like beginners, unable to find in these supposed well-known forms the usual waza. For example we did Dashin from a front attack or a side attack;   Dan Shu and Dan Shi were studied with so much freedom that it was as if they were different techniques.

Noguchi sensei was teaching us how to get Shu Ha Ri (守破離). (1)

Shu Ha Ri is the objective of life:

Shuhari roughly translates to “first learn, then detach, and finally transcend.”
shu (守?) “protect”, “obey” — traditional wisdom — learning fundamentals, techniques, heuristics, proverbs
ha (破?) “detach”, “digress” — breaking with tradition — detachment from the illusions of self
ri (離?) “leave”, “separate” — transcendence — there are no techniques or proverbs, all moves are natural, becoming one with spirit alone without clinging to forms; transcending the physical (2)

Shuhari is the true Tenchijin.

Often people ask me why I keep going to train in Japan. My answer is always the same: I go to dig deeper in the supposed knowledge I have. Ranks are one thing, but there is an enormous gap between our abilities to do the basic waza (chi) compared to adapting the essence of the waza to a new reality (ten).

“The sky is the limit,” says the proverb but we often remain at the ground level. We keep repeating dead forms and do not allow our bodies to drift away from them.

This is Ten vs. Chi. But there is even more than reaching the Ten level, there is the Jin level. And the Jin, is only possible to learn when you train here with a Japanese Dai Shihan and with Sensei. If sometimes we succeed to reach the Ten, we are still missing the Jin.

What we did yesterday was a set of techniques inspired by the gods: a Jin approach of the Gyokko ryû. And this is why you have to come to Japan every year (at least). Your Dan rank is not a proof of your expertise. The Japanese Dai Shihan are experts. They have been training nearly fifty years, and they have refined their understanding so much that the technique doesn’t exist anymore, they have reached the Ri where only the flow remains.

When Sensei says that we have to be relaxed and not to do techniques because they would kill us, it makes sense. We have to follow the path of the Tenchijin / Shuhari and continue to learn. There is no end.

Keep going!

________________
1. 守破離/shuhari/Shuhari; three stages of learning mastery: the fundamentals, breaking with tradition, parting with traditional wisdom
2 . http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari