Japanton – Chronicles of Anton in Japan!

In training with Oguri Sensei and Seno Sensei, I had a chance to experience their kihon.  This should not be confused with the kihon happo, simply the karada no kihon.

This is the basic way to move your body.  This involves things like the required flexibility to perform proper techniques.  After working on a tuski method for half an hour, Seno sensei had me translate that ‘Once you can do this basic movement, you can start to relearn the techniques while eliminating your bad habits’.

It’s hard to translate that and not sound like a jerk.  Seno sensei let us know that our bodies were in no condition to be chasing after advanced techniques.  To move freely we need to have control over our bodies, a control that we as budo-ka should have.  In the bujinkan we always talk about the importance of self training, but we always seem at a loss as to how to do this.

If your ichimonji can not be held with your rear knee at 90 degrees (pi over 2 radians Jason) moving forward to extend a tsuki over the width of a tatami then you don’t have a body flexible enough for Seno Sensei’s kihon.  Oh and this is with your back erect up and down.

If you can’t start from shizen and squat all the way down without going onto your toes or bending your back from the erect position, you don’t have the calf flexibility to perform Oguri Sensei’s kihon.

This is fair, I don’t expect that everyone should be able to do this.  That said, if you can’t, perhaps it’s time that you do some personal body training to get ready for the waza of the Bujinkan.

I have finally got the domain http://edmonton-bujinkan.com up and running. The only other thing that I must do is have a spot for the West End Club. The reason for the change is site optimization and ease of remembering.

More club news, I am looking at getting the Grant MacEwan campus downtown as a new location for training. With a location in the college it would make future seminars simpler and will re-institute the monthly fees for those who have been asking about it.

Japan trip round 6 is quickly approaching. For those who are going, remember you will be finger printed. Also I still have Japanese study material for anyone who asks. Everyone who is going to Japan on this trip have already been there and understand the language gap difficulty.

Well that’s all for now.

I spent family day long weekend in Calgary, hanging out with the club there. It was a lot of fun, everyone is improving very quickly and are trying to give the training a feeling of reality. Working with them makes me realize the journey that we have taken together. It also make me realize that I will have to train even harder to keep up with their skill level.

This trip also reminded me of the importance of sanshin and the kihon happo. For the majority of techniques it is good enough to understand them on one side, because if you can do one side then you understand the concept for both sides. Also I have had various shihan tell me that it is better to learn one side so that you can practice it rather than half know both sides and have nothing worthwhile to practice at home. The exception to this I believe is sanshin and the kihon happo. It is important to have these fundamental movements integrated in your body. Since all the other techniques are based on these ones then you need to thoroughly understand the movement on both sides of your body. Once your body understands the kihon with control and without hesitation on both sides, the techniques become both attainable and unnecessary.

Oh, and before anyone gets mad at me make no mistake, I am not there yet.

So it is time for me to put on a seminar.  I should say it’s about time I put on a seminar regarding material that I saw in Japan.  It will be held at the club on December 8th and 9th.  Cost will be $50 Canadian.  Specific topics covered, well let me think about that for a while.  Fact of the matter is there is a lot of stuff (concepts) that I brought home with me this time.  Some of it I was told outright, some of it I experienced and sat scratching my head trying to understand what happened.
With some joint work between myself and some friends  we were able to come up with some exercises based on the techniques.  So if this sounds like something that would interest you then stop on by that weekend to do some training.

We will start at 10 AM both days and go until everyone looks tired or I run out of things to do.  Information will be on the site soon.

    I am back home safe and sound and managed to make it to work as well.  Now I have to figure out how to share what I have learned effectively.  Also how not to lose the feeling from Japan before my next trip in May.  All of those who are interested in that trip send me an email with possible dates.

I made some very good contacts in Japan and arranged for quite the seminar lineup if everything works according to plan.  The visitors will hopefully be (not in any particular order) Doug Wilson, Rob Renner, Lubos Pokorny and Shawn Gray.   With some luck that list will expand.  I will let everyone know when I have specific dates for these seminars.  I must warn you all for the distance the Lubos must travel his seminar will be more expensive than seminars in the past, Doug and Rob will be easy because to make the deal sweeter I can pay them in Canadian Dollars.

With that I am off to get some rest, my productivity has been sorely lacking today.

Recently I have become a regular at the Workout Room at my workplace.  I have missed the last week and a half due to a cold and the recent seminar.  Yesterday I had a co-worker stage an intervention that went something like this…

Hey Anton, we haven’t seen you in the Gym for a couple days.  We are starting to get worried, starting to think that you are slacking.  I am here to stage an intervention.

I explained the situation to him and it seemed passable but I am expected to be there on Monday during lunch.  For those who were wondering why I said I was “the victim of an intervention” on my various digital contact mediums  that is the reason.

Had a lot of fun at the seminar.  Working on getting DVDs for those who attended.  Finally a break from stress though.  Thank goodness, I can work on my own training and planning for Japan.  It will be a nice change of pace.  Also need to setup the upcoming Randy seminar series.

That’s right the Rob Renner seminar is this weekend. Hope everyone is ready. Or rather I hope that everyone shows up cause if you don’t, a world of hurt for everyone next class. I mean what other choice do I have?

    You know, from time to time you think “hey I know this technique”. Don’t let this happen to you, because you will be wrong. Some jerk will come along and point out your mistakes (which is good) and show you a better way of doing it. This is all fine so far, the problem comes when you have to re-integrate the correct technique into your body and correct it in all your students.

Apparently to make the technique less painful on students who’s shoulders were not flexible, I raised my own shoulders so that I could demonstrate all the steps of the technique. This relies on strength, which despite what some people say I don’t have much to spare. Worse yet students picked this bad habit up. Ah well just have a lot of reps to do to correct the problem.

Thanks a lot Shidoshi O.

In class today we went over koshi sanpo and ryu sui iki waza. Nothing too enlightening besides making sure that you are in Kamae. This is probably my biggest sore point with martial arts in general. You learn all these great postures or stances then ignore them because they are not practical in a “real” self defense situation. I see so that’s why they exist because they don’t work. People have used them for years in life or death situations because they don’t work, but you who have spent a couple years fooling around in a padded room know better.

Sorry I just get a bit carried away when people ignore the foundation of their art then complain that it doesn’t work. I am done … for now.