Oct 20 2008
Nagato Sensei’s Kihon
I was asked a question about Nagato Sensei’s Kihon. I want to touch on this after I have a chance to go over his newly formed Kihon classes. Well they are not that new, but they started after I had left Japan in May of this year. As a result I can’t fairly give an opinion of his Kihon classes.
What I can tell you what I like about Nagato sensei’s movement. Something that I picked up on my second trip to Japan which sticks to me to this very day is his distance. We were doing ganseki nage, as demonstrated by Timmy, and then it was time for some Japanese shihan addition. What struck me is he emphasized being at a range where you could move the opponents fist to either side. Basically being just out of range so you could approach for the nage or maybe a musha dori.
So if you look at anything in a Nagato class, understand that distance.
Adding More to the Post after a Nagato class
So after attending a class where the order of the day was temakura I can comment a bit more. This was not a “basics class” by name but the technique was a basic one so let’s have at her.
The first thing I will note is once again the distance that Nagato took allowed free foot movement. Secondly there was an emphasis on covering the other weapons of the opponents as you moved through the technique.
Now to touch on the comment about battle effectiveness, the techniques were solid as with the other main Japanese shihan. I would not put it on a scale of more or less battle effective because from experience using techniques in a self defence situation, techniques are battle effective when used under the correct conditions. I will say that when we were using hanbo we were told to attack other groups as we did the techniques. This builds an awareness which is needed for combat. So in that sense the training was combat effective.
Anyhow that’s all for now, I will continue to go to the classes and see what basics I can pilfer from Nagato.
Interesting that you put your reply to my query about Nagato-sensei’s kihon here.
Have you noticed his movement, although generally light footwork-wise, is still very serious and brutally efficient…?
I have an idea for you…..have you guessed as to the reason(s) why he strikes the way he does or the reason for his multiple hand switches/changes (“te w(o) kaesu)?
It may/may not surprise you….
Love Nagato-sensei and his classes…….possibly the most seriously efficient and combat-practical Japanese shihan….
Yes I put it here because I felt it was important to give it a post at least so that people read about it. He is one of the four Shihan that Hatsumi sensei says you must see while in Japan. You have packed a lot into your comment so I will need to take time and answer each point. But as you can imagine there is much that I need to note and mention so be patient with me as I go through this, after all it is my blog.
No problem, I myself am just now seeing this new addition to this blog entry.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Nagato-sensei BTW is never NOT guarded throughout his techniques, which is a great habit to have. His uke are always screwed up as they try to deliver their subsequent follow-up attacks.
Just a tidbit 😉 for you. Nagato-sensei was told many years ago by Soke to move as though he was wearing shuko whenever he did his waza, to break him free of the habit of grabbing too much and using too much muscle in his technique.
Hopefully that’s another layer of the onion revealed….
Let me know just what you think.
-“BR”
PS– BTW, the following just goes to show you – if Soke says or suggests you (the collective Bujinkan) to do something, it’s not open for debate, you have to DO it! That’s what I meant by people overanalyzing and picking apart what Soke says! (i.e., “He’s a ninja, you can’t trust what he says”, “Who’d you hear that from?”, etc., etc., Blah, Blah, Blahbiddy-blah)