Japanton – Chronicles of Anton in Japan!

As those who train with me know, I have over the course of my short time in the martial arts tried many different styles.  Karate, Judo, Aikido, Jujitsu and Chen style tai chi to name a few.  There are even more that I have seen and not had a chance to try.  Unfortunately I have abandoned the other arts.

The Bujinkan consist of 9 schools and hundreds of of kata with ten’s of thousands of variations.  There is enough information to spend 9 lifetimes studying.  There is a depth of feeling and skill which I have yet to see reproduced in any other martial art, by any other martial artist besides Hatsumi Sensei.  There is a breadth of knowledge which has literally saved the life of students and myself.

When my life was on the line, it was saved by this Budo, as long as I have permission I will dedicate my martial arts training to the art of Hatsumi Sensei and his standard bearers.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

We have restarted our curriculum cycle.  As I have mentioned before we are going from 4th kyu to shodan.  This will be new to a lot of the students as it will be new to me teaching the material.  For the longest time I have been going over the lower level kyus (higher number kyus) to get the basic movements ingrained in (y)our bodies.  Now it is time to get the higher level concepts integrated in your movement.

Many of the techniques which you will study over the next few months are going to be techniques you have seen before, I will just spend a lot more time on the details of how these techniques work so that you can become creative with their application.

I will warn you in advance, in the Bujinkan Shodan is not a big deal.  In Japan as a whole shodan is not a big deal.  It literally means lower rank.  It is more of an indication of dedication rather than proficiency.  As soon as you forget that conversations like “That person does not deserve that rank” or “We have a more stringent grading than everyone else” come up.  This is not the correct approach.  As soon as you get the idea that because you are associated with a certain way of doing things gives you a sense of pride, you have lost the point.  The rank doesn’t matter as long as you can survive.

If you are in a fight and have a shodan under a stringent curriculum but still lose it means nothing.  What is important is that you learn the feeling that Hatsumi sensei is trying to convey.  Once you have that feeling everything else will fall into place.

Your life is on the line, train well.

I received a question a while back on three timings as it pertains to kicks.  Well in short it doesn’t easily.

I could very well get into a long winded explanation on the nature of closing the distance with kicks.  But I believe explaing kicking in a different way would be of more benefit.  We should instead look at your kicking range based on which leg you are using.

If you could please imagine yourself in a ichimonji of the gyokko ryu variety (quick pop quiz for my students) and think about throwing a kick.  I am guessing 99.9 % of you imagined the kick of the rear leg.  Well there you have it, you have established one distance.  Keep in mind though you can also throw a kick with the lead leg.

The lead leg is a bit more tricky because if you don’t close the distance you are limited to hitting something/someone whom is already in your range.  The other option is you are hitting a target which is moving into your space.

Kicks are something that I feel we (as a club) are not very skilled at.  There fortunately is an easy remedy for that.  Training our kicks.  Although the theme for the next couple months is back to curriculum (4th kyu through shodan) I will make sure to practise kicks every class.  Please help me remember because this is something which is very useful when dealing with an opponent whom overpowers you by a fair amount (ask me in class).

Your life is on the line, train well.

As Budo-ka we have a responsibility to those around us.  We hold ourselves (or should) and are held to a higher standard because of our training.  In our art this goes beyond punches and kicks.  In budo we study the relationship between ourselves and others.  At the start that is our opponent, and we move out from there.  I would like to take a bit of time to recognize Jon and the work he did in raising money for a Cancer walk/run that was held yesterday.  It is actions like these which make an impact on those around us.  Acts of selflessness benefit our global community and that is the kind of attitude that I feel Hatsumi Sensei is trying to generate between all of us who train in his art.

Your life is on the line, train well.

In our budo, there is more than just the physical aspect of technique.  I am going to spend a little time talking about the mental aspect of our techniques.

Budo is a very unique activity which I feel must be associated with a intellectual realization.  Like music, art or mathematics; you can have the same groundwork with different results.  Through an exploration you will come to a moment where something will make sense and the task will become so easy you will wonder how you were having trouble with it before.

Two budo-ka of equal physical ability will not necessarily be even in skill.  This becomes apparent when you are dealing with multiple opponents.

With multiple opponents, you can not become attached to the techniques and skills which you have learnt in the past.  Sometimes you need to abandon your techniques half way.  Sometimes you have to take the initiative.  When you are at a disadvantage is when your skills are really shown.  You must be an artist, creative with your tools.  You need to know what to put in and even more importantly what to leave out.

This is a bit of a scatter brained Hatsumi-esque post but if you want more information on what I am getting at ask me.

Your life is on the line, train well.

Before you get carried away and say Mr.P you have talked a lot about striking already, what more can there possibly be?  We must examine how our legs are used in the strikes.

Just a review the there timings are:

1. Step then strike (longest range)

2. Step and strike at the same time (mid range)

3. Strike then step (close range)

I mention these timings from the start of training.  When you are learning the techniques of 9th kyu you should already have this in mind.  It stops the ridiculous Bujinkan tendency to do lunge punches when you are so close a reverse punch will do.

Why do we learn the lunge punch then, the blog reader asked nonplussed by the dilemma?  Because covering the greatest distance and doing the first mentioned timing is the easiest way to generate the power.

You see when you step then punch you can treat the stepping leg as the power generator.  It pulls you forward, and twists your body.  Just add the sink to brace yourself and you have one powerful strike. The third timing is a bit more difficult, you are pulling forward with the lead leg.  Once again this twists your body and generates power. The second timing is the most difficult.  Power is generated using both legs.  There are two pulls involved with this punch, with the lead leg and the stepping leg after you break the centre point of the punch.

I have been saying recently that if you want to add power, move strongly with the legs and keep the upper body relaxed.  When you work with this concept (whether it be new, old or just a different method of articulation) keep this strong lower body relaxed upper body in mind.  It will help all aspects of your taijutsu.

Your life is on the line, train well.

Well I was going to post something on a new insight I found into the striking timings, but I am getting harrased about not posting.  So if you want a new post you will have to ask a question in the comment.  You know something that I have done or said in class about which you are unclear.  Anyhow I am done, those at class to day know who to thank for this.

Well I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the Peter King seminar hosted by the west end club.  The topic will be the Amatsu aspect of the art which has been pursued by Peter King.

There is more information on their website but you can ask me in class for details.  Please let me know if you are interested in going so that we can get some numbers and arrange payment.

We are very lucky to have continuous training of high calibre in Edmonton.  These opportunities can only continue with continued support.

Your life is on the line, train well.

It has been quite some time since I actively went over weapons so I am g0ing to give you an overview of what I will be doing.

The weapons that I will focus on are hanbo (3 ft staff) and tanto (knife).  The reason, because I feel like it and I think they are good weapons with which to start.  The hanbo is a weapons which can be used in may different ways and can be found in some variation very easily.  Though I said it’s 3 feet long, the techniques can be used without much need for adaptation over a great variety of staff lengths.  The tanto is a weapon which is very common, especially in Edmonton.

So what can you do to practice at home?  Do san shin with a hanbo and tanto.  With the tanto first in your rear hand then in your lead hand.  With the hanbo, trying to use as many methods of gripping the staff as possible.  We have trained a long time to get the mechanics of the movements correct, now it’s time to add some flow.  Don’t go fast to start but eliminate the breaks in your movements.  Your strikes should flow.  Don’t leave the strikes sitting out there afterwards either, treat your training as if you are facing an actual opponent whom you are trying to beat.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I am trying to get used to a new job and the resultant hours.  I will try to post more regularly once again.

Your life is on the line, train well.

How awesome was that seminar, ridiculous.

Well for a seminar review I don’t know how to do this.  The ukemi was challenging, the rope techniques frustrating and the sword techniques amazing.  Yes for taking so long to post about it I don’t know what to say besides I can’t wait for him to come back to Edmonton.

Shawn’s next trip seems like it will be in Winnipeg Manitoba and I will be renting a van to make the trip with anyone who wants to go.  Please everyone who was there leave your comments because I can’t begin to say enough good things about the seminar and the people whom were in attendance.

Thanks to everyone for your support, I look forward to more semianrs at your club or mine.