Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu Q&A (shameless ripoff thread)
Original Poster: jlambvo
Forum: Japanese Martial Arts
Posted On: 19-05-2006, 18:05
Orginal Post: jlambvo: In response to Bamboo's excellent Aikido thread, I thought I'd try to follow suit (and would love to see other members open their styles up to questions as well).
I'm currently a shodan in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. I'm good friends with and live a block away from my teacher, who keeps an extensive network of contacts in regular correspondence that extends to hombu dojo, Japan. If anyone has questions regarding our system or any of the nine ryu that comprise it, please ask. I can give you at least one perspective from a notoriously ambigious organization :D
Post: bamboo:
Could you please list the arts practiced as well as the nine ryu previously mentioned? :)
-bamboo>
Post: Umy:
Ill stickie this thread just like the other Q&A'a :wink:
I have a question, what are the basic principles of your art, i mean its a pretty wide ended question but can you some up the basic principles of your art briefly for me
thanks bro>
Post: jlambvo:
Bamboo:
Hatsumi is soke to the following ryu:
Gyokko ryu kosshijutsu
Koto ryu Koppojutsu
Both founded mid-16th century by Sakagami Kunishige
Hon Tai Takagi Yoshin ryu jujutsu, kenjutsu, tantojutsu, bojutsu/hanbojutsu, toritsuke (rope binding).
Founded mid-17th century, Takagi Oriuemon
The Hon Tai Yoshin ryu is another branch of this school.
Hon Tai Kukishin ryu (Kukishinden ryu) Happo Hiken (yoroi kumiuchi and taijutsu, kenjutsu, bo/hanbo/jo-jutsu, sojutsu, naginata and bisento-jutsu, shurikenjutsu, gunryaku heiho battlefield strategy and meteorology, ninpo).
This appears to be a branch of the Kukishin ryu, which was supposedly founded in the 14th century by a figure named Karundo, given the name Kuki by the emporer Go-Daigo. Kukishinden ryu might have come into existence following a mutual restructering with the Takagi Yoshin ryu, where Kuki borrowed Takagi's superior taijutsu in exchange for Kuki's bojutsu. The two were together for one generation before being split again. The original Kukishin ryu happo hiken has fragmented into several seperate lineages, the main body still under the Kuki family.
Shinden Fudo ryu Taijutsu, iaijutsu, bisento, o-ono
Founded in the early 12th century by Izumo Yoshitero
Gikan ryu koppojutsu
Founded in the late 16th century by Uryu Gikanbo
Togakure ryu Ninjutsu, kenjutsu, taijutsu, shurikenjutsu
Founded in the 12th century by Daisuke Togakure
Kumogakure ryu Ninjutsu, kamayari jutsu
Founded mid-16th century, Iga Heinaizaemon
Gyokushin ryu Ninjutsu, nagenawa (lasso)
Founded ??? by Sasaki Goemon?
The Bujinkan dojo's "official" cirriculum is the Ten Chi Jin Ryuku no Maki (Heaven, Earth, Man Strategy Book). This is a collection of kata and exercises from several of these ryu, as well as kusari-fundo-jutsu from Masaaki ryu. It draws mostly on Gyokko ryu, Koto ryu, Takagi Yoshin ryu, and Kukishinden ryu.
The contents are organized in order of importance, begining in the Ten section which covers body conditioning, sanshin solo forms, kamae, fists, kyusho, and finally 8 techniques that comprise the kihon happo (3 striking, 5 standup-grappling) that are directly from Gyokko ryu, although they are often done in the style of other schools. It then progresses into jujutsu forms for grab escapes, throws, locks, chokes, and pins, and the last section contains many shoden (first-level) kata from the four main schools I listed earlier and Togakure ryu.
Beyond this book is the more in-depth study of individual ryu. Although no one is licensed in the specific schools, transcriptions of the complete densho are available for many of them and students often train a single school in depth. Ultimately the degree to which you can do so is at the discretion of Hatsumi, since he holds the oral kuden (spoken teachings) that are necessary for learning them. These do find their way out of Japan via the shihan. Needless to say there is more than enough to fill your plate at this point anyway.>
Post: jlambvo:
Umy:
Basic principles? That's sort of difficult for me yet. Taijutsu, perhaps? :lol: It's a very malleable thing, I think that's the intention.
Balance too; the basic principles might be balance and flexibility, which of course extends beyond the realm of martial arts. It's said that the most important stuff is taught first, and the first of the 18 skills is spiritual refinement. You must know yourself in order to achieve balance and flexibility, which you find in a study of kamae and the solo forms.
A little more combatively speaking (which is what I assume you are asking for :twisted:)... the first kata in both the san shin, and kihon happo, chi no kata and ichimonji no kata, give the most fundamental concepts of the art:
Balance is everything, so develop and maintain good structure through conditioning and posture. Create power through relaxation and "natural" body movements powered by gravity. Against good attacks or a stronger/armed opponent you cannot expect to use direct blocks, so instead use body movement to avoid them and gain an advantageous position. Disbalance the opponent and strike into his weak points.
We have a concept called shomitsu, which means first secret. Bisect the line formed by the back of the heels, any force in this direction will disbalance the opponent. This is usually the body's centerline, which like some other arts we attack frequently. However, these attacks are often NOT square into the centerline, but through indirect means derived from an understanding of how the body works as a system... hence taijutsu. The arm for instance can be locked out and used as a lever on the centerline. Furthermore, the phenomon of shomitsu is re-occuring across the body; the hands and feet, the arms, and so on all have their own "shomitsu." But they are all connected.
Anyway, between shomitsu, the concepts I described above from those two kata, and a list of fists and targets, you have a pretty complete martial art to practice. I would personally like to get proficient in this to the point that I could hold up against a boxer.
The art has been described as being "holographic." You can cut up a hologram and each piece contains the whole image, albiet progressively more blurry. You could look at any kata from any of the schools, and it contains everything you need to know. But the more pieces you have, the clearer it becomes. This is the philosophy through which my teacher's teacher seems to instruct.
Does that answer your question enough?>
Post: bamboo:
jlambvo:
Thankyou.
This may sound like silly question but I bet many people have misconceptions about the bujinkan: What is the training uniform?
-bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
Whatever you want really, there's not technically an official uniform. Individual dojos might have their own requirements.
But the cool kids wear black judo gi :D The really cool kids wear tabi and kyahan, but I'm not one of them ;)
Mostly something that won't tear when you are grappling. Kyahan are nice for sticking daggers in, and keep your legs warm in the cold. We train on hard surfaces a lot, so tabi are nice for that.>
Post: bamboo:
It really does look like a complete system. What would the general curriculum be for the kyu ranks?
-bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
Each dojo tends to have their own cirriculum, Hatsumi keeps schools on a very loose lead. Generally speaking however, the Ten Chi Jin Ryaku no Maki is usually the cirriculum for grades up to shodan, which is the point (for us at least) where students look at the individual ryu in more detail.
There is no official ranking requirements. Some dojos have tests with specific techniques, here its less about demonstrating kata (although technical ability is of course part of it) and more to do with the instructors' perception of your overall development--physical, emotional, and mental.>
Post: bamboo:
Do you learn using paired partner partner practice? Also, do you have a randori of some sort?
cheers,
bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
Yes, all technique and kata are partnered. Typically, we don't wear protective gear at all. Instead of going at full pace and pulling strikes, we tend to train at partial speed but full force and penetration. As you become more relaxed and develop good alignment, you need to begin re-introducing tension into your movement while training bareknuckle. At times, more commonly amongst our dan-grades, we will put on helmets and chest protectors to practice the kata full speed and full force.
We have a couple randori exercises. In one exercise, everyone lines up and, one at a time, approaches a single student who must do something do defend against an attack. With low kyu grades, we typically only throw a high straight punch and not much resistance. Higher ranks recieve progessively more various and forceful attacks. A variation on this, everyone makes a circle around the "defender" and one at a time we randomly attack him or her from any direction.
Occasionally we will throw on some gear and do full-out sparring, empty handed or with shinai. We also will do free-response kuzushi exercises from a clinch.
We haven't done nearly as many free-response drills or randori lately as I would like, but this is largely due to the high number of new students in the dojo.>
Post: bamboo:
Jlambvo:
Thanks for all your replies :) , I have more questions so this may be a long thread!
My next one is in respect to the "koga" styles. What is your opinion of this branch and are they associated with the bukinkan?
-bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
Fujita Seiko was supposedly the last soke of Koga ryu ninjutsu, and he died in 1966 leaving no heir. Any other sources that have surfaced which I have seen are laughable at best. We don't even practice much "ninjutsu" in the Bujinkan, so I have no idea what Koga ryu is supposed to be composed of, technique wise.
There is an interesting article on the history of Koga ninjutsu here: http://www.bujinkanwakodojo.com/bwd_kogaryu_history.html
Sorry I can't give much of an answer on this one :)>
Post: bamboo:
No answer is sometimes the best answer :wink:
I was never very sure about modern koga practitioners and the link helped verify that. Thank you.
bamboo>
Post: setsu nin to:
Well I have one question. How many people in your Dojo past sakki test?>
Post: jlambvo:
One person so far, within the last month actually. Another will be going to Japan this fall and was told he'd be sitting for the test then. We'll see :)>
Post: bamboo:
The sakki test? I had no idea anyone still did that at all. At what level would this test be administered? I would imagine 5th or 6th dan and not before.
One more question, do they use boken or shinai?
bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
It is the test for godan, the only standard test in the Bujinkan which is conducted by Hatsumi alone. At this point you technically become his student. The test is now performed with a special shinai of some sort. In any case, it is non-lethal; I think Doron Navon was the last person to do the test with a live blade, as was the tradition.>
Post: setsu nin to:
jlambvo
And what are you waiting for? Go to Japan and get it once... :)>
Post: Umy:
thanks bro, you answered my question nicely :wink:
keep up the good work man>
Post: bamboo:
Do you train in projecting sakki? Also, do you do sensitivity drills of any sort?
-bamboo>
Post: jlambvo:
We don't overtly discuss sakki. There is kiaijutsu in our arts, which I've only been given a small introduction to. I'd be curious if anyone else would agree that kiai is something that kind of happens on its own under proper guidance. The few times it comes up in training is quite profound.
On sakki... during our winter training that I posted pictures of, the last activity we did was a sentry removal technique with knife, basically using a stalk to get behind the partner, how to grab and where to insert the blade. The "sentry" was supposed to turn if he heard the person coming, which was interesting on snow in the woods. On my last turn as sentry, I'm not sure how to explain it but I felt an unusual sensitivity to my partner's presence as he approached, and (without being able to hear him) I spontaneously moved in perfect synchronization with his attack. It was quite a sensation, as if I already knew when I would need to move (or rather, I knew that I WOULD move). I dunno, we talked about it a lot then and I haven't really recaptured it since. For the record, I have no idea if this has ANYTHING to do with sakkijutsu, but its the closest thing *I* have to personal experience.
Sensitivity drills I've done:
1) We do normal training with the lights off from time to time.
2) Partnered exercise: A has his eyes closed, B makes one point of contact (a grab or touch) and slowly launches an attack (punch or standup grappling). A must counter, using only a single point of contact to sense where his attacker's body is. Done softly and slowly. It's quite astounding how quickly you can pick up on the tension in someone's foot by touching his wrist.
3) Two people hold out several light objects (string, a shinai, stuff like that) and different heights and angles. The subject, whos eyes are closed during setup and throughout the exercise, must feel his way through the obstacles without causing any of them to move. You can do something like this on your own, walking through your home or a wooded area with the lights off/eyes closed.
4) One person stands with has back to the others, eyes and ears covered, while the other people silently assume a random position across the room. We did this with only three people total. The subject must then turn and, with eyes and ears still covered, seek out the other people. This sounds kind of froofy I know, but it can be suprising if you follow your instinct.
5) And a little more standard: soft lock-flow/disbalancement from a clinch, strike flow like sticky hands but with some koppojutsu thrown in for a twist.
6) All of the partnered kata are, at their core, sensitivity exercises.>
Post: bamboo:
Thank you very much, it is appreciated. :)
bamboo>
Post: Wilhelm von Wänkensteïn:
On another topic entirely, I was re-reading the info on Shinden Fudo-ryu jlambvo sent me and I was struck by a bit that said it was 'suited to individuals of smaller stature'. However, from my admittedly limited experience with Shinden Fudo, I have observed that many of the techniques actually seem custom-made to take advantage of the natural advantages of a large, strong person. Picking an opponent up to bodyslam him hard into the ground, huge, arcing overarm smashes and various striking and infighting techniques that take advantage of bodyweight and 'natural' strength don't exactly spring to mind when one thinks of methods suited to a small man :lol: That, and my sensei is a big bloke built like a judoka and he likes Shinden Fudo a lot too.
Not to say that Shinden Fudo isn't technically sophisticated - if anything, it is probably the most aiki of the Bujinkan styles I have encountered so far, but it definitely seems to be a big strong man's aiki, for certain. Many of the stomps and low kicks to an opponent's legs are executed in a way that, at least to me, would be devastating with some bodyweight behind them but would not work too well if executed by a physically light man.
Case in point - my friend who introduced me to taijutsu has used such techniques upon me before and simply stepping into my leg didn't do him much good because he is a tall, lanky sort about half my weight. He had to switch to percussive methods like those used in Koto, Gyokko and Takagi Yoshin ryuha which worked much better against me, and, to my mind, at least, those would be more properly called 'small man' ryuha in that their methods work much better for people of small stature.
My thoughts on my encounters with Shinden Fudo-ryu thus far - any thoughts, anyone?>
Post: jlambvo:
That's an interesting perspective. I don't have much experience with Shinden Fudo ryu either (it is a challenging school for many reasons) but I think part of the reasoning behind that statement is that the dakentaijutsu uses every ounce of your body as leverage behind the techniques, which certainly isn't exclusively useful to smaller people but are valid mechanics nonetheless. A huge overarm smash might be what a small person might need to do to match the jab of a large fighter....?
Example waza (listed as ura version of Gekken): taking an outside wrist-lock within a standing onikudaki shoulder lock, throwing the opponent by leveraging these locks while performing osoto gari, and falling with the opponent on top of his locked wrist with your center of mass. Essentially uses multiple points of leverage to bring down the opponent from a single, central movement, and literally hits with the whole body on a single weak point. In fact, many of the kata call for putting on locks by rolling, which really leverages everything you have into the technique.
I'm not familiar with any technique in this ryu that calls for picking up the opponent and body-slaming him. Could you find and example of this? The closest thing I can think of is the "dragon drop" concept, where in mid-throw you stall the opponent on your body and than pull out from under him, allowing him to free-fall from several feet up (and in an awkard alignment). Even in this case you are usually "catching" him in mid-fall on your hips long enough to stop rotational movement and then moving out again, not directly lifting (though you might "drop" him by standing straight-up, giving a slight lift).>
Post: Wilhelm von Wänkensteïn:
jlambvo: Sorry about the long delay in replying. Your posts always force me to think long and hard before replying, which means my goldfish-like mind clean forgets the issue at hand within 24 hours :mrgreen:
Anyway, regarding the small-man-versus-big-man question of Shinden Fudo and my suspicion that it was designed for big strong boys, I would figure that a small man would be better favoured by fighting methods designed around a lot of percussive power and strikes to sensitive areas that don't require a whole lot of bodyweight to work correctly? Rather than trying to match a larger, stronger opponent power for power, why not try to slip inside his space and poke him in intimate places? For instance, something like Koto-ryu or Gyokko-ryu (at least, as I've seen them), would be quite usable by someone relatively small and light. Koto's long, extended stances and footwork would also allow a relatively small person to move large distances with each step to attack and then duck out of range again without the expenditure of energy that would tire out a larger man quickly. Shinden Fudo is excellent for conserving energy, of course, but in the pure form that I've seen, it's not a ryuha for getting places in a hurry, if you know what I mean :D
The bodyslam concept in Shinden Fudo-ryu is mainly one waza I'm thinking of, which is a counter to a seioinage counter. It basically involves reaching behind with one's free hand to grab one's opponent's trouser leg and pull diagonally upward to break his root and accomplish the hip-loading, then follow through with the throw. Even though there's plenty of science in this manoeuvre, I still feel it takes an iron grip and a powerful set of legs, back and shoulders to accomplish the initial uprooting with enough speed and force to make it effective. My tall, lanky senpai who introduced me to taijutsu in the first place would certainly have had to use other techniques to uproot in a real fight. Likewise, the Shinden Fudo seioinage counter relies basically on rooting and changing the angle of one's elbows and hips in such a way that one basically slides off an opponent's shoulder. Again, very scientific but reliant on a tremendously powerful root to do right, otherwise an opponent can just 'muscle' the throw in a pinch. No doubt, it makes little difference at master level, but, all things being equal, a larger, stronger man would definitely have the advantage. In contrast, the Koto-ryu counter, which uses a lot of percussive strikes and takes advantage of an opponent's own leverage, could be used by a smaller man to more or less the same advantage as a larger man, IMHO, or perhaps even more, since it is harder to hoist a shorter man up onto one's hips, which gives the defender more time and space to apply the initial palm strike to the thrower's waist/lower back, which is the leverage point for the throw. By comparison, the Shinden Fudo counter seems eminently suited to the problems of taller people, who are easier to hip-load since the waza practically starts from that position.
I know it's a lot to infer from just three case studies, but this is basically the general feel I got from both ryuha. Feel free to shoot me down in flames, as always :mrgreen:>
Post: setsu nin to:
Mr. Jlambvo I have one question.
How many time do you spend practicing hand to hand combat and how many time do you spend practicing weapons.
Thanks!>
Post: jlambvo:
Setsu: Our weapons work is built so strongly on the unarmed taisabaki that a majority of our training (through the kyu grades especially) is spent practicing empty handed. Dan grades tend to start using more weapons in training, but often simply inject them into unarmed technique.
One reason for this approach is that Kukishinden ryu is one of the only schools with comprehensive written kata for weapons, but all of the schools are weapon-based despite the fact that many of them have none of it (to my knowledge) written down. You can essentially put weapons in your hands and practice the unarmed kata, specifics being left to kuden.>
Post: setsu nin to:
I agree that kyu ranks shouldnt practice weapons, well maybe just to give them to see how practicing with weapons looks like and whats the feeling. Dan ranks in my opinion, should have 50% of unurmed traning and 50% of urmed traning.>
Post: jlambvo:
Wilhelm, sorry it's taking so long to get responses to you :)
It's interesting to hear descriptions of the schools that sometimes contradict what I've been taught. Specifically, Koto ryu as *I've* been shown uses much more shortened stances and footwork than most of the other ryu, tending toward standup in-fighting heavy on strikes and percussive joint-locking, trapping, etc., much like a chinese boxing style.
Shinden Fudo ryu is certainly not particularily concerned with moving fast :) but it often does not feel that way to the opponent. The almost casual manner from which strikes are executed from and returned to shizen can seem to come out of nowhere. From what I've seen, they are actuated by forming a "fist" with your whole body and either sort of walking into the target or with a timing where the he runs himself into it, and often both... this last point possibly being an important factor when facing a larger opponent.
With throw counters (usually written for osoto or seoi nage) it has always been very strongly emphasized to me that the rooting occurs during the opponent's entrance, not after hiploading has occured! You drop and angle away a little as he tries to get under your center--if you are significantly smaller he will have to be reaching more for this in the first place giving you more time to displace (like you mentioned for Koto ryu). The timing of this is everything. You shift your elbows to free your hands so that you can strike as you perform the jujutsu. It is also very important to affect HIS hips somehow.
One counter to seoi nage for instance involves rooting like described as he enters WHILE giving a slap to his hips that both interrupts his entrance and gives the momentary sensation he has your body against him (so he misjudges his distance) followed by a thumbdrive into the hip bowl to keep some control of his hips. You take grip with the other hand and use a body drop and roll to take him down and end up in a top mount. There are several counters that begin almost identically to this.
I have been shown some interesting ways of offsetting your center while being picked up make you near impossible to hold, which might be what your teacher was getting at? I dunno, it's a different timing from what I've seen for Shinden Fudo ryu.>
Post: Wilhelm von Wänkensteïn:
Thanks for all the info, Jon. As always you've given me an awful lot to think about :D As always, anything I say about Taijutsu should be taken with a bucket of salt, since I often have my own way of (mis)doing things that may not be quite in line with party canon :mrgreen:
By the way, the seoi counter with the palm strike to the hip was the Koto-ryu one I mentioned, though we went with sokuyaku to the knee and a kick in the head rather than the ukemi takedown.>
Post: jlambvo:
:) Just to reiterate, this is just the interpretation going on in my neck of the woods. Someone else would say something completely different.
I believe you are referring to o-gyaku from Koto ryu, a drop of the hips to root against a throw followed by a strike to his hips and then a punch to the sternum or ribs when he's off-balance. Shinden Fudo ryu also uses a strike to his hips following the root (literally written as a slap in the translations of densho I have).
Let me know if you find out any more about these!>
Post: raze737:
Hello,
I'm currently training in Goshin Jujitsu and plan on cross training in another art. My friend suggested Taijitsu. I was wondering is it really that effective?>
Post: jlambvo:
That's a rather useless question, my friend. If that's the most comprehensive inquiry you have, I can only assume that you have a considerable amount of work ahead of you that could be accomplished in any system.
That said, yes I would say that it has excellent approaches to standup grappling and very developed understanding of striking, and completely unfies the two. The unarmed training transfers very smoothly into weapons applications. You will learn to move and manipulate the human body in a multitude of ways, which gives a good foundation for studying any number of physical activities. There are many law enforcement, military, intelligence agency, and private security professionals who bet their lives on taijutsu training.
But like any other discipline there are good and bad teachers (and students) that will make or break your personal effectiveness.>
Post: Squinternotto:
In your opinion, what would be the biggest weakness in this style? From the point of view of traditional art to self-defence.>
Post: setsu nin to:
Squinternotto
Bujinkan is not style its organization where you can learn more diferent styles.>
Post: Robert_RedBeard:
Any comments on whether Hayes is a fraud?
I am currently in a discussion on another topic where I am being told that Hatsumi's student Stephen Hayes is false.
I think Hayes is legit. If I am wrong please tell me.>
Post: bamboo:
http://shinkentaijutsu.com/bb/viewt...=256&highlight=
Interesting post here.
>
Quote: Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:06 pm Post subject: From the SKH site
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Sunday, April 23, 2006 - Rumiko and I rode the trains to Noda City for training at Masaaki Hatsumi?s Bujinkan Hombu dojo on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was a nostalgic feeling to walk the streets of Noda once again, and I was amazed at how much the small industrial city has not changed in the 30 years I have been coming here. Elsewhere in Japan, everything seems to be modernizing at a faster than rapid pace, the old and worn being replaced with new and modern in a way that outclasses even America.
On the other hand, the training hall experience was something totally different from what I had known in the 1970s and 1980s when I was training as an apprentice with Hatsumi Sensei. When I left Japan to return to American residency in the early 1980s, a typical training class was about 12 people, with 18 at most. Once my books and magazine articles about Hatsumi Sensei?s art had captivated the martial arts world?s imagination by the mid-1980s, foreign students began pouring into Japan seeking the experience I had found. On this rainy Sunday in April, the small Hombu Dojo building of Masaaki Hatsumi was more than packed with easily 60 to 70 people from all over the globe. Of course this kind of crowd makes real training impossible for the students who work to imitate Hatsumi Sensei in the shoulder-to-shoulder and butt-to-butt crowd, but amazingly enough, no one seems to complain. Indeed, the real focus and seemingly the whole point of the 2 hours in the Hombu seems to be watching Hatsumi Sensei perform.
Instruction consisted of Masaaki Hatsumi creating technique after technique on the fly, with the crowd of students looking on from tightly packed rings around the center of the dojo. Sometimes Hatsumi Sensei would explain what he was doing, as though the students would be able to discern the details after only one quick demonstration. Other times, Hatsumi Sensei would clearly avoid the real key to what he had done, and explain at great detail some minor point that may or may not have had any real effect on the technique?s outcome. I watched carefully to see if the students could tell which was the key advice and which was the decoy tossed out to confuse or distract them. After several minutes of creative demonstration, Hatsumi Sensei would call out the command, ?Play?, and the students would dutifully try to imitate what the headmaster had done.
I used to think that this form of tricky teaching was something unique to Hatsumi Sensei, something only he did as a way of seeing which students were the sharp ones and which were the dull. Actually, it turns out to be very much a Japanese cultural norm in closely-held traditional technique systems handed down from master to student. Isshisoden - transmission from one master to one true student - is an undeniable Japanese cultural artifact, wherein one student sharp enough to perceive and steal away the master?s secrets gets the goods, and all of the rest are relegated to getting whatever small benefit they might while serving as training dummies and bill-payers to facilitate the exclusive transmission process. It is obviously up to Masaaki Hatsumi as the headmaster of his nine ryu-ha to pick the most appropriate way of handing on his legacy. It is important to note, however, why I needed to change the teaching method I experienced in Japan if our To-Shin Do were to become a useful endeavor in the lives of our Western students.
A few Japanese students were in attendance, but the vast majority of people training in the Bujinkan Hombu these days are foreigners in Japan. I asked my friend Toshiro Nagato, with whom I used to co-teach ninja taijutsu at the Minato-ku Sports Center in Tokyo in the late 1970s, where all the Japanese were. He smiled and said that the plan was to have more Japanese from now on, now that the huge number of foreigners had made the training look more attractive or valuable to the Japanese. I smiled back in response to this same line that I have heard for so many years, and commented that with Hatsumi Sensei?s emphasis on free creative movement and seeming disdain for rigid formal technique with clearly defined forms, many (most?) Japanese would be uncomfortable in such a training environment. Nagato-san agreed unhesitatingly, acknowledging the key reason why so few Japanese can identify with Hatsumi Sensei?s approach.
Masaaki Hatsumi?s techniques for the day were based on working with skillful timing and body placement in a confusing relationship with what an attacker might expect. Effortless, even seemingly moving in slow motion, Hatsumi Sensei more allowed his attackers to find themselves in ineffectual positions than made them fail. As always, he constantly smiled and laughed all through his instruction demonstrations, and seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. He would call out a person to be his uke, throw them around and tie them up, and then command the audience to give it a try for a minute or two before taking center stage again. He did not interact or work with students at all during the momentary ?play? sessions. It was up to the students to get it themselves. Standing at the edge of the crowd as the students struggled to duplicate his unique movements, Hatsumi Sensei reminded Rumiko and me of how he has never claimed to enjoy teaching, and much prefers performing. Like a rock star on stage before a crowd of adoring fans, he seems very much in his element now.
At the end of the class, several participants were given the sword test for 5th Degree Bujinkan rank. The Bujinkan is so big now that of course Sensei himself does not know the students who now come to Japan for their 5th Degree, so the test is no longer a matter of verifying connection with Hatsumi Sensei as it once was explained to me in the 1970s. Nonetheless, I was a bit surprised (OK, I?d heard the rumors?) to see that Hatsumi Sensei no longer administers the test himself, and instead has senior students ? Japanese and foreigners alike - swing the sword down at the waiting heads where he once was the sole administrator. To me, this was a majorly significant change in program and procedure, but after all the years and all the changes, I have become more and more used to the admonition, Ban-pen Fu-kyo ? ?After ten thousand changes, no surprise.?
After training, Hatsumi Sensei invited Rumiko and me to lunch with him and Toshiro Nagato and Isamu Shiraishi. Hatsumi Sensei spoke of his vision of where he is now in his life of 75 years so far. Sensei gave Rumiko and me some suggestions for our own training and teaching work in the West, suggestions that he made us promise not to tell anyone else outright, but to put into motion and slowly allow them to become evident over time. I would be foolish or disrespectful to betray my teacher?s instructions, so let me just say for now stay tuned to our programs, DVDs, and new books to see Hatsumi Sensei?s advice in action.
Post: Robert_RedBeard:
As far as I know they still work closely together when time and distance permit.
Thanks bamboo.>
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