Japanton – Chronicles of Anton in Japan!

I have been to 43 classes so far and have 8 to go.  It has been so long since I have been hear and a lot has changed.  I can only liken the atmosphere around here as a bit tired.  There have been several minor earthquakes and two typhoons since I have arrived 3 and a half weeks ago.  You can tell how much the big earthquake has weighed on this country and how much recovery remains to be done.

This is different from any other Japan trip I have been on as I am looking forward to getting back to Canada.  I will see if I have time to visit the Tokyo Sky Tree before I leave but I think that I may just forego any sight seeing and just stick to training and then Canada bound.

I hope I can work another shutdown and make it back here for Daikomyosai after the Lubos seminar.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

I had an interesting conversation with some fellow Budoka that I count amongst my good friends.  The discussion was concerning the comparison between those who study the martial arts and those who have learned to fight through experience.  A great deal of material was covered over the hour period which we were on the subject.  I will try my best to condense summarize what was said and what my thoughts are on the matter.

Mainly from the “real fighting experience” side you will tend to hear the argument that “person X that I know takes martial arts and they got beat up by person Y who is just a brawler”.  Another argument you will hear often is when you are in a “real fight” you forget 90% of what you learn anyhow.

I can not speak for anyone else who was sitting around the table discussing this but here are my thoughts.

Martial arts is meant for self defence, the goal is to survive and protect yourself and others.  When you first step onto the dojo floor you have a certain level of proficiency and every day you are trying to increase that.  When we forget Jigoro Kano’s talk about “mutual welfare and prosperity” martial arts training becomes a competition to defeat an opponent.  The only one we should be trying to beat is ourselves of the past.

As Budoka we are often expected to active some fantastic results, never lose a fight and be in phenomenal shape.  (Well so far I have the last part of that down.)  The truth is we are students trying to learn and as such we can’t put the expectation that we are going to be invincible.  We must however live up to the expectation that we improve everyday.  It’s not whether or not we can beat someone who never took the martial arts before.  There will always be someone stronger.  Budo gives us a chance to improve upon ourselves and gives us a fighting chance because of slow and constant development.  If we are stronger that we were when we started the martial arts, we stand a better chance of survival and that’s the point.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

So I arrived in Japan the 1st of September.  There were a limited amount of people who knew because I wanted to make it a surprise for others whom were on their way.  They are here now and my sneaky preparation hid the fact from them until I walked in the honbu door.

So so far 11 full days in I have attended 22 classes.  I will start posting some of the training ideas that I have picked up from the classes over the next few days.  Hopefully I can get a bit of information that will help your training at home while I am here even if it’s just through my words.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

At the Canadian Tai Kai I went over something which to me is very important.  So important that I have decided to share it with everyone whom can read this blog.  So Please bear with me and thank you for reading.

In 2001 I had the privilege of meeting Abi Allen, a fine martial artist whom had a lasting effect on me and my taijutsu.  Abi is the first person to ever make me say, “she is a good martial artist” as opposed to “she is a good martial artist for a woman”.  The skill and reality which Abi brought to training is something that I will appreciate and try to emulate for the rest of my life.  If you find this praise a bit over the top for me, I apologize but I do feel that strongly about her and her skill that my words are not enough to let you know the respect that I had and still have for what she taught me.

To give a brief description of what she taught me 10 years ago which I felt obliged to pass on it was three basic methods of generating power from the koshi sanppo.  For those whom are not so familiar with the names of techniques, that is ichimonji no kata, jumonji no kata and hitcho no kata.  Abi explained them as rotational power in ichimonji, transitional power in jumonji no kata and vertical power in hitcho no kata.  I don’t know that I can explain the concepts better in writing that I can in video so I will leave it up to you for now to ask me for the information when you see me next.  I am sorry but sometimes that’s just the way things go.

I miss you Abi, I will practise well.

Finally I am back in Toronto.  No posts for a while an I apologize for that but now I am inspired and will do my best to keep you with a healthy dose of Anton Budo know-how.  Sat and had a talk with Craig Olson, got a sneak peak at Sensei’s new book and spent some more time thinking about what I can show everyone here.  Also what they have to show me.  I know it will be a good time so if you happen to be in the greater Toronto area this weekend please stop by and say hello.  Or better yet train because we all have a great deal to learn through these opportunities to share.

Your life is on the line, practise well!

In light of work causing the next Japan trip to be put off to the new year (Hatsumi Sensei don’t retire please), it’s time for some serious self study.

One thing that I have been glossing over in the past few months of training has been an emphasis on kamae.  When moving through a technique you should be in kamae/moving through kamae, appropriate kamae.

Aside from ukemi, the first thing you should learn in my opinion is kamae.  You start with your basic Hira, Seigan, Shizen and Seiza.  Because Gyokko ryu contains many of the basics of our art, I would teach Ichimonji, Hitcho, and Jumonji from Gyokko Ryu.  When you learn those and move through these kamae then you would follow up with Hoko, Doko, Fudoza, Kosei and Ihen.  It is very important to have correct powerful rooted kamae without surrendering your ability to move.  This alone can take some months to understand the basics.

The real trick to Kamae is being in an appropriate kamae.  It does you no good to be in a good strong kamae if your distance is such that you are in a position where you can not defend yourself.  Appropriate kamae in at an appropriate distance should above all be the focus of your training.  So I guess we need a good way to practise this now.

The exercise is simple take two kamae, take two of the 9 directions (I am counting the 8 compass directions and down by means of seiza, fudoza or another kamae on one knee).  Lets say forward and to the left is my first direction, and my second direction is directly back.  I will take my first kamae forward and to the left then my second kamae directly backward from there.  Then I will change the order of the kamae, then change out for new kamae.  After I have moved through all the kamae I will do that for all 80 other combinations of movement.

I kind of droned on for a while there so I am sorry about that, but kamae is something I have been thinking through a great deal recently.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

When I have felt in the past that I was stuck in my training, I often chose one thing to work on.  It could have been my trailing leg during my rolls, making sure that my knee followed the line of my tsuki, or keeping my shoulders rolled back.  Anything is OK, just making sure that you have something that you can improve and observe that improvement.

Make sure that as you train you keep something in mind.  It is easy to get discouraged in this art, if you have something to measure progress it will help you get through it.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

I am once again away for a few days for work.  There is much to learn from those who have recently returned from Japan.  Enjoy the chance to get this training.

Your life is on the line, practise well.

Since seeing some of my friends from Japan, I have been thinking more and more about a life as a budo student in Japan.  But more as a resident of Japan who trains budo.  I can imagine it is very difficult living in a way where everyone assumes your life revolves around training.

For us visiting it is important to keep in mind that those whom expatriated are not there to babysit or translate for us.  It is on their kind whim that they help us.  They have jobs and lives in Japan to which they have to attend.  What makes you think they have time to deal with a stranger whom is going on a 3 week holiday?

I thought it was important for me to say, and also remind myself of when I go to Japan next, which if I start work should be very soon.  Your life is on the line, practise well.

If you are confused about the title of this post well let me explain.  I do not like to review a seminar that I help teach.  I will say that I am impressed with the skill of the Canadian Bujinkan Practitioners.  I may be biased, well no I am biased but I do believe that there are many good practitioners in Canada.  You just need to be able to see them so go to the Canadian Tai Kai next year, you will get some good exposure to skilled budo-ka whom you can get to have do seminars for you without having to pay overseas airfare.  (I have some free weekends this year too.  I am not saying anything, I’m just saying.)

Overall I would especially like to thank the visitors from Japan, Craig Olson, Shawn Gray and Bill Brown for sharing their experience and giving their time to come to Canada.  It is nice to see the quality of persons that we have representing our country living in Japan.  It makes me proud to say that I am from Canada when I visit Japan because of that representation.

Your life is on the line, practise well.