Bujinkan Ishizuka Dojo Sydney Dojo

通夜 Tsuya

Tsuya is usually translated as wake and is the ceremony the evening before the funeral but it also can mean ‘an all-night vigil over a body.’ Seeing a loved one off on his journey.

The wake, the ceremony, saw around 200 guests come to pay their respects. The line of people stretched outside the hall. People I hadn’t seen in years came up to say hello and share condolences.

After that evening’s ceremony we learned that the funeral home also offered the use of its facility for an all-night vigil. The other definition of 通夜

While we were in no way prepared for such a thing after some discussion amongst the handful of us younger students of Sensei who had come, and the family, it was decided that we would take them up on this offering.

Six of us quickly headed out to pick up extra clothes and essentials then stopped to grab the food and drink.

And this was how I, and five other friends and fellow students, spent the last time with Sensei. Eating good food with good people. Toasting Sensei as we shared memories. Comforting each other in our grief. There were many laughs between tears.

Then, as the sun was coming up, we packed away everything we had brought and prepared ourselves for the funeral.

I will forever be grateful for the time Ishizuka Sensei graciously gave to me and glad I could repay it, in only the smallest way, through 通夜.

Yesterday, I was contacted by one of Ishizuka Sensei’s fellow students and informed that he had passed away hours earlier. While getting my head around that, shortly after I started receiving messages with condolences from many people who would become friends after training together at his dojo. Sensei and I had talked about his illness so I suspected this day was coming but it still came too soon.

I was in Japan in January and had called him up seeing if he was up for getting together for some food, drink, and a good talk like we have done so often together in the past. He told me his illness had taken so much out of him and he couldn’t do those things. Instead I thought I would drop by to see him when I came to the Dojo for training with his students but that week I was ill and decided staying away was the best option. I didn’t want to bring anything close to him and his weakened immune system.

The last time I did get to spend time with him was when I was there for four weeks two years ago. I stayed at his wife’s little apartments and was able to see him frequently whether having meals and drinks together, sitting together in his dojo talking about the book he was writing, training in the dojo, and going out for food after those training sessions. It was a wonderful time and was just like when I lived there for over a decade and we would see each other two or three times a week. At the end of that time together he told me again to keep teaching people budo and to use his name for my own training group/dojo.

He taught me so much about budo, people, and life. He was like a father to 30 year-old me who was navigating life in a different country and language. I was in awe of him.

He affectionately called me Shiddo-chan and would tease me calling me his drinking buddy (which was fair enough given the number of times we were together in his Paradise Bar at the Dojo or staying late after the end of the year Dojo cleaning party).

On the few training days where I also had to take care of my young daughter I would bring her to the Dojo and he would gladly pick her up and carry her around, introducing her to the visitors there that day.

I cherish the memories of the training. Each time he’d laugh after hitting me, tossing me halfway across the Dojo then telling my training partner at the time to go for it because I could take it (thanks, Sensei), freezing like a deer in headlights when he came at me with a tsuki the first time (and the second, and the third…), telling me I’d finally gotten it after telling me each and every time I didn’t get it.

So many memories of such an important person to me and so many others. He would ask me to come to his music performances and I would come and bring my video camera. He gave a speech at my wedding and played a song for me and my new wife. My oldest son is named after him.

My condolences go out to his family, his lovely wife and their children, and his grandchildren, to the people who were all, and each, important to Sensei just as much as he was important to them. To sempai Ogawa san and Aida san. To Kacem who, as I was able to observe having a close relationship with Sensei, had an even closer one. May we all appreciate and celebrate Sensei’s life as we grieve and come to terms with his death.

I’m getting quite a few messages with questions regarding a recent announcement regarding Soke and Gyokko Ryu. Sensei mentioned this to me during a phone call I had with him a couple weekends ago. It is true. What this means for the future of the Bujinkan I don’t know. Our responsibility is to keep training while these processes unfold.

Interestingly, our training group just finished going through Gyokko Ryu from start to finish. I feel privileged to have been taught the school by Sensei.

With my family away in Japan, and safe after the typhoon that just went through, I have much more free time. If anyone is up for extra training on weeknights or weekends give me a shout. We’ve just finished going through Gyokko Ryu in order and are up for more good stuff.

Today I attended Sensei’s class in hombu. It was an odd feeling being taught by him in a place other than his dojo but it was good to see new faces and to see new people experience what he has to share.

I’ve been away for a year but it feels like nothing has changed. Familiar dojo with familiar faces.

It’s good to be back.

Off to Japan as a Budo tourist for the first time in 15 years. Do I have everything I need?

*gifts for everyone - check

*list of foot sizes for everyone requesting I bring back tabi - check

*travel insurance - check... the ‘adventure pack’ lists martial arts as included but has caveat “not including training”. Err..?

*list of kata I want to go over at the dojo - check

I’ll remember what I forgot once I land and it’s too late to matter.

See everyone in two weeks!

Some of the people who train with me are instructors themselves. During a discussion with one the topic of grading and evaluation came up. Here is what I had to say.

What I look for, and what catches my attention, is something I call clarity of shape. It’s hard to explain but taijutsu, especially at the beginning (and much longer after that), has form and being form it will have a shape and that shape will have outlines, edges, a silhouette.

As a student your job is to replicate the form you see in your teacher. Having had these forms/shapes emphasised and drilled into me for years they are easily recognisable to me so I am watching for them and encouraged when I see a certain shape in the people whom I’ve been trying to share what I have been taught.

It takes a lot of practice and time to straighten out the rough edges but that’s why we train. To have better movement and form. To get closer to the shape of the person whom you consider your teacher and model.

And with that said, one of the people learning from me has a new belt. His edges are still really rough but the outline is there in things such as his uke and his tsuki.

Reset your reference points

Training is an accumulation of experiences and realizations. After you train for some time you will notice how a movement corresponds with another and you will start to develop a set of references to use when seeing and learning new things.

Given the state of the Bujinkan, with numerous teachers and seemingly even more numerous ways to do things, most practitioners acquire references from different sources, piecing things together that become a basis for movement. It’s how we progress. However acquiring references that seem contradictory can lead to confusion.

But what if you found a teacher who could provide you with a complete set of references that would form a solid core for your movement?

This is what happened when I started training in Japan. What I was able to receive meant I didn’t need to look elsewhere. I hit the reset button and started learning from a place of no experience and don’t regret it. Perhaps this is another aspect of what Soke means when he talks about becoming zero.

People who come to check out my training come with their own references based on their experiences. Sometimes they will ask me questions, for example, “this movement shown here does it correspond to (another movement seen at some point in the past by the one asking the question)?” Often the answer is ‘No’. By trying to equate what they are seeing with what they may have seen before from a different, or several different, source(s) it could likely lead to a misunderstanding of what is being shown. I tell them to ‘reset’ their reference points.

The Kihon Happo provides a solid set of reference points. If the reference points contained therein all correspond to each other you are off to a solid start. If your acquired Kihon references don’t match up you may be starting at a disadvantage.

Keep training. Keep experiencing. Keep learning. Don’t be afraid to hit the reset button if it will get you were you ultimately want to go.

Had a great time this past weekend teaching some hanbo. Having spent a lot of time practicing Kuki weapons in Japan it felt great to use them again.

We were able to cover a lot of material from the first two levels though it was a hot day and we were wearing down near the end. It was a lot to absorb for the attendees. Fortunately we took video (which is where these stills are from) so I can look at my own movement for flaws and the group can have a resource to continue their practice.

I look forward to the next one. And to eating at that burger joint again.

義理 (Giri)

duty, sense of duty, honor, honour, decency, courtesy, debt of gratitude, social obligation

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What do Valentine’s and Giri have in common? In Japan February 14th, Valentine’s Day, sees the women give chocolate or gifts to the men in their lives. To their partners they would give Ai Choco (愛チョコ) -Love Chocolates-, but to men they aren’t in love with they may give chocolates out of a sense of obligation (義理チョコ).

Giri can also mean debt of gratitude or sense of duty and this word will also be used in the martial arts describing how students feel regarding their teachers. They have a sense of duty to diligently practice what they have been lucky to have been taught. I feel an obligation to pass on correctly what I’ve been shown from Sensei and my sempai. In this way I can repay the kindness shown to me.

I’m no longer in Japan so this year I won’t be receiving any Giri Choco (and because I’m sticking with my training schedule tonight may not even receive Ai Choco) but I’ll be thinking about Giri as I teach my class.

Language 言語

Though my advice may be worth little, if asked I would say it’s in a practitioner’s best interest to try and pick up the language of the art he/she is practicing especially if your teacher speaks that language.

As I slowly picked up the language what I was able to receive became much more. Understanding a teacher’s native language not only allows you to understand the dojo talk but also gives you opportunities to connect outside of that in more casual environments.

It also frees you from having to rely on others’ interpretations. You may notice that what Soke said and what was translated were different. None of the people in the room being professional translators, it’s likely that they may use their own experience or perceptions to translate or they may add their own ideas. These can be helpful but I think the language is similar to the physical process of being instructed:

You experience at your level what you see/feel/hear a teacher show/inflict/say and you try to replicate that at your own capacity. As your physical and language skills improve you’ll gain more from what is being shown or said.

All that said, learning a language can be difficult and trying and unenjoyable. Trust me I know. (I’m terrible at it.) But the benefits outweigh all of that.