Bujinkan Madison Dojo

People from other martial arts have come to the dojo. They have skill, but they cannot leave their dialect of movement to truly move naturally. They are often stiff and rigid in their movement, unable to even take one step forward without losing balance. Because they cannot attain this feeling, they become frustrated and leave the dojo, often claiming the art is no good. What they fail to see is, it is not the art, but they who cannot grasp the natural feeling required to practice Budo Taijutsu.
I feel Sokes article explains it quite well.

“Kihon Happou”
by Soke Masaaki Hatsumi

I have trained myself and instructed others in Kihon Happo and felt that those who have had previous training in Karate, Judo, Aikido, Kung Fu, and other fighting techniques tend to stay with those forms and have trouble learning Budo Taijutsu from a “blank slate.” The fighting forms stay with the student even though he starts the training of Budo Taijutsu. When do the previous learned techniques disappear? I think it is up to a person’s individual talent.The phenomenon is just like a dialect disappearing after one lives in a different part of the country.

No matter how hard one tries, he will never be a professional announcer if he speaks in dialect. The same can be said for Budo. I also studied various martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Aikido, old-style Budo, and Chinese Budo. In other words, until I encountered Takamatsu Sensei, I was a Budoka (martial artist)with many dialects. One day I began to wonder why and when did I lose those”dialects?” I realized that it was after I lost all my muscle tone after five years of illness.

Discovery of your own dialect is one way of improving Budo. When one reaches a certain degree of skill, he comes up against the “wall,” something he has trouble overcoming. This is the so-called dialect of Taijutsu.

I want to write about how to train yourself when you reach a higher rank during Budo training. I would like to use a Cat Competition as an example. I have had lots of experience in the competition because my wife served as judge of the World Cat Club and I was also vice chairman of the club.

Suppose five top cats are chosen out of hundreds of cats. All of them are wonderful and beautiful, but that alone cannot be judged. With no other way to judge which cat is more beautiful then another, the judges start to look for faults. The one with the most faults drops to fifth, the next, fourth, then third,and so on. The one with the least faults becomes Grand Champion.

Bugei is the same way. If one reaches to a higher rank, he need only eliminate his faults. It may sound easy, but eliminating faults is very difficult to accomplish, because we tend to think we are faultless. Faults can be translated into something different in Budo. They can be suki (unguarded points), or carelessness, presumption, arrogance, etc. they all become our fault. No fault,zero condition is the best. I am zero. I joke that the Soke has no Dan. Zero, no fault that is the target of Bufu Ikkan (living through the martial winds).”

This summarizes several points I was talking about yesterday.

“A Sh*teno Passes On – Bujinkan Teaching from Oguri-Shihan 2007″ Buyu, It is sad to announce that Oguri-Shihan one of the “Sh*teno” at the Bujinden Hombu Dojo in Noda-Shi Japan passed away 21:35 Tokyo time on January 17, 2012. He will be greatly missed by the Bu…

On the importance of recognizing and using your own fear:
"Self defense really isn’t about fighting. Being able to do violence is a large part of self defense, but should be the last tool you reach for. Avoiding a situation is far better than fighting once you are in it. But it is amazing how many people let themselves get into situations that are dangerous because they won’t acknowledge that they are probably feeling unease for a damn good reason."

Ranting and Ravings Recently I ran across the following bit of idiocy (link at bottom). The author of the piece tells her readers, “Making eye contact with homeless people instead of ignoring them is safe, easy, and costs absolutely nothing.”

To copy the form and do it quickly does not equate to understanding a kata. It’s simply executing a set of memorised movements from predetermined attacks known by both uke and tori. Understanding kata is beyond the ex*****on of strict formalised movements from the prescribed attacks. A kata is merely a guide to the reality of potential moments in a fight. Don’t think that by executing a kata perfectly as written, hard and fast, and with a good uke, that you have mastered the technique in all its glory. It is merely the beginning of martial practice. The true test is if you can apply what is learned when it happens outside of the set choreographed kata steps and adapted its lessons naturally as required. As Soke has stated, “the kata are merely warm ups to the real training.” So, if all you become is a “kata collector” and become trapped by the practice of form for your entire martial career, when will you ever get to the real training?” Balance is the key.
Those that cannot break their form are bound by the very techniques they attempt to master. If one practices correctly, overtime they will transcend the form as the structure and lessons learned becomes them, deep into their spine. It is then they will see that taijutsu is the base of all possible applications and variants as they occur from moment to moment.
How hard is it to apply a technique in reality! If one moves in a predetermined way,than one is not truly sensitive to what is occurring.
There is no predetermined technique.
There is only Mu Taijutsu. From there, ones technique will arise as needed,in the moment, and in context.
This is also connected to Shu Ha Ri.
南虎

"Move,Stop,Think" - Nagato Sensei.
Training is a study of logic.
Move slowly and correctly. The aim is to remove your openings or weak points. Do not fight with your training partner. Learn to learn.
Both uke and tori are learning about their weak points, balance, and ukemi etc.
If you train correctly, you are training %100.
% 50 as Uke and %50 as tori. This in itself is an expression of having “no openings” as both are focused and moving in the moment.
南虎

The Bujinkan is still in its infancy in the west. The arts are old but skill and understanding is young. It takes years for an art to settle and mature in each place it travels. This will depend on the people who practice it. It often takes generations to find a skilled practitioner, or for the art to pass through its adolescence. There are many facets to be considered.
Soke once said that it is fine to develop the art as required to enable it to assimilate in one’s country effectively. I believe people need to think well about this. This allows a respectful amount of freedom to adapt as needed. Each to their own.
There is no one way or simple universal approach. This truth is also a source of conflict and misunderstanding by many who strive for and/or require the need for one universal training regime. People need to just train the best they know how, understanding that they are a part of the ongoing developmental process of the Bujinkan.
No one has everything or has mastered and understood It all. No one. Not even the Japanese. Nagato Sensei said he thought the Bujinkan was too big and that he’d never understand it in his lifetime, even after 40 years of practice under Soke.
So, just keep practicing and try to leave ones animosity,judgements and ego out of the training. Let this natural process evolve. It will go on and on long after we have left this world, just as the nine lineages have survived for hundreds of years before us.

I also believe people, even if they have received the 5th dan Shidoshi status, are too much in a hurry to open a dojo and create grand advertisements. It’s firstly better for them and the art to concentrate on developing solid skill and mature, just as Soke did for all those years with dedicated students in the back room of his house.
The Bujinkan has received and continues to attract bad press and skepticism from a large part of the martial community, be it Gendai or Koryu budo organisations. There are many reasons for this, however, one aspect is how we practice. A Japanese Shihan once said that the average 5th Dan would be cleaned up by a 1st dan in judo or karate. Yes. I agree.
This can be remedied by not just randori practice, but effective dojo conditioning and fundamental technique practice with spirited focus and kime 決め ( commonly used term in Japanese martial arts meaning “ decided”, "power" and/or "focus. It describes the instantaneous tensing at the correct moment during a technique in mind, body and spirit. ) Balance is the key. Soke said it’s important not to have too much kime and become restricted in flow and change by it. He said it’s also no good to just have nagare 流れ ( flow ) and no kime ( decisive movement ). Taijutsu has both as it is a combination of Dakentaijutsu and Jutaijutsu.
For all practitioners, I’d like to ask people to strongly think about their approach to studying and transmitting Soke’s budo within their community, culture and country. Think well on where you stand on the training timeline and do your best to be honest with yourself and with those around you.
Sincerity is the key.
The future is with us and we cannot be wishy washy in our responsibilities.
I have many weaknesses and things I cannot do or understand in budo. I may not be able to address them all in this lifetime but, while I continue to do my best, I will practice wholeheartedly and passionately.
Strong roots. No flowers.
南虎