The Role of Enthusiasm in Training

Enthusiasm is something we all experience when we begin something new. This keeps our interest going while we establish a new routine around that new and exciting experience. With martial arts, it is easy to become so enthused with the training early on that some burnout as a result. Martial arts requires a life-time of study to become truly proficient at the deeper concepts of a system. What is more vital than enthusiasm is temerity. Temerity is having a tenacious, almost audacious, devotion to learning something. Even when we don't understand something or can't do something, we have the temerity to do it anyway so that we will eventually learn it. Some might call it, "being too stupid to quit." There are some fighting systems that are quite easy to learn, and so some would think it strange we study a martial art that requires so much dedication and study. They can't understand why we would choose to study something so difficult. Those people can't see the end result the way we do. We don't just want to learn some fighting techniques, we want to fully embody the ideals of the warriors of old and be more than just competent fighters, we want to be proficient masters of the martial way. Allow enthusiasm to have it's place early on, and guide it into temerity and commitment.

Be a Good Student

No matter what style of martial art you decide to go after, be a good student. Part of being a good student is finding a good teacher. If you can't find a good teacher in the style you want to learn, you need to ask yourself if it is really worth training in that style. There was a great blog post written about this by Michael Glen, of Bujinkan Santa Monica. I suggest reading his blog post:  Click Here

Art Showing

I wanted to let everyone know about a free Japanese art showing I am holding this week at our dojo. I have a collection of art from Japan painted by Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi Soke, the head of our martial art and the last living grandmaster of the Togakure Ryu Ninja. He is also the head of samurai schools including branches of Kukishin Ryu and Takagiyoshin Ryu.

We are hosting the free exhibit at my dojo to display 12 art prints that were originally on display at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo and several original works of art (Shodo and Sumi-e) on Kakajiku and other mediums. The dojo is located in Meridian, Idaho.

I will be showcasing the art prints and some original works of art I own by the same artist, on Saturday July 15, from 6 to 8 pm. Please feel free to emai

Dr. Hatsumi is the head of the Bujinkan organization, through which 9 koyru budo schools are taught. He is the inheritor of these nine koryu traditions from his teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. All are welcome to visit and view the art.

The location of the art show will be at the Living-Warrior Dojo
200 North Baltic Place #104
Meridian, ID 83642

Koryu Arts

In Koryu arts, any ancient martial art from Japan that pre-dates the Meiji restoration in Japan in 1868, the training is done a bit differently than in the Gendai systems, or modern schools of marital art and sport fighting. Don Roley wrote a great blog post about this and goes into detail about the purpose of this type of training. I'll post the link at the end for further reading.

Essentially, the training is broken down into a methodical, systematic way of training combative techniques without actually hurting or killing our training partner in the dojo. Essentially, as Don says in his blog post, if you are doing combative training and someone doesn't die, then it is simulated combat. We start out training very slow, giving students a chance to feel out a technique and to ensure it is being done properly. Then, later in a student's training and development, we speed things up and give the feeling and intention more indicative of real conflict. Various training tools are used at different stages of training for both unarmed and weapons training. If you come to a class, you will likely be training slow and controlled. As is often said by my own Sensei: "If you can't do it slow, you can't do it at all." There is also a mantra in martial arts that goes something like this: "Slow is controlled, controlled is smooth, smooth is fast."

Read Don's Blog here for his view point on this and further insights from his experiences living and training in Japan for over a decade: http://www.coloradospringsninjutsu.com/Ranting_and_Ravings_2016/Entries/2017/5/23_Understanding_Koryu_training.html

Whoever fights monsters...

There is a famous quote, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become amonster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." -Friedrich Nietzsche


One of Hatsumi Soke's well known quotes is: "I'm not teaching you to fight, I'm teaching you to control evil. - Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi

This is one of the many things that sets the Bujinkan apart from many other styles of martial arts. The way we learn this art from Soke is a transmission of lessons and a heritage through history. Instead of merely learning to punch and kick and to cause harm to people, part of our training incorporates understanding the warrior ways of living a peaceful life and only using our warrior art when it is unavoidable. 

The Kamae are not like Bonsai

Japanese Bonsai Tree

I often get asked by new students or potential students, "How does this art compare with (Karate, Aikido, Taekwondo, Judo, Jujutsu)." This can be a difficult question to answer because they obviously have an idea of what martial arts should look like or be like and any answer I give will be a compare and contrast or could contradict what they already think martial arts is. The best thing I can do is get a person on the mat and actually experience and feel true Budo in action. Two of the fundamental components of this art that have to be learned early on are Sabaki (movement) and Kamae (postures).

I want to focus on Kamae. These postures aren't static, they are adaptive and fluid and are what make this art so effective. And they are natural for the human body to do. I read a blog by Paul Masse about a class he translated for Hatsumi Soke where Soke spoke about humans being like Bonsai. Read his blog post here. Essentially Bonsai are beautiful trees, but not natural. They can't be found in nature. A person wraps wire around the branches of a young tree to force it to take shape and the roots are constantly trimmed to stunt growth. Humans are the same way, we allow ourselves to be molded and stunted by factors and influences outside of ourselves. It's really a great lesson, and it got me thinking about Kamae and Bonsai.

Kamae can be static and forced. Some martial arts develop their Kamae, their postures, in what are unnatural, either unnatural for creating great power, or unnatural in the way the body moves, thus leading to injury. The Kamae of the schools in the Bujinkan are very natural. Yes, they still have to be learned, but they develop natural power through movement that is natural for the human body. They adjust and change in a constant flow of movement, ever adapting to the course of a fight. Very unlike a Bonsai tree.

Bonsai have their own beauty, but it is not the same beauty as found in nature. As soon as a person stops caring for a bonsai, they either die or start to grow wild. This is what also happens if the Kamae of a martial artist is not natural. If it doesn't develop natural power through natural movement, it can lead to injury and the inability to be adaptive. And in a fight, being adaptive is vital. So, it you are thinking of getting into Karate, Kendo, Taekwondo, Jujutsu, Aikido or other marital arts, or already study, feel free to check out our dojo to learn what I'm writing about here.

This year the theme in Japan is Shin Gin Bu Do, or spiritual culmination. This is a huge, very high level theme. Basically it is the idea of entering a sacred space. Like walking under a Tori Gate or into a sacred area. The idea is to give up our own techniques and let the divine work through us as martial artists. This is very hard to understand conceptually, let alone to make happen in training. This is really an ever present idea in the Bujinkan, but Hatsumi is making this a focus because he said the Bujinkan is ready for this high level of training.

So, how does this relate to our martial arts training here in Meridian, Idaho in the Living-Warrior Dojo? We will continue on as we have been doing. My reason for starting going through the yearly themes of the past in short segments starting last year was because a pattern to the themes began to emerge. Last year the theme was the divine sword. I knew if there was to be a theme for 2014 it would be huge since it is the 42 year since the passing of Takamatsu and the number 42 has a lot of significance to the Japanese.

So, after working through the themes that lead up to this year's theme, we will be better prepared to truly study what has been taught in Japan this year. I will be going to Japan to receive this very high level of instruction. But, like I wrote earlier, the very nature of training in the Bujinkan is already with this theme in mind. It is in the Shinkin Haramitsu Daikomyo, it is in the phrase, Chi Haya Furu Kami Oshiwa Toko Shiaini Tada Shiki Kokoro Mio Ma Mu Ru Ran. It is in the name of the Martial Art itself, Bujikan, which means Society of the Divine Warrior. Training in the Bujinkan is learning to become a living, Divine Warrior.

Living-Warrior Dojo is the only authentic Bujinkan Ninjutsu school in the Treasure Valley. Marital Arts for Meridian, Boise, Kuna, Star, Nampa and surrounding communities with traditional Japanese Martial arts. Bujinkan Meridian, Idaho.

Last night was a great class. We warmed up by going through the Kamae Gata, then practiced doing Tobi and changing directions with Tobi including against someone with a sword. Then we moved on to training various forms of Ura and Omote Takeori. After that we trained Ogyaku against wrist grabs and then punches.

Then we combined what was learned and used these techniques against a jab/cross combo. The main concepts to make this work correctly were proper Taijutsu and sensing the intentions of the opponent, then the Takeori and/or Ogyaku were simple to apply with little to no effort.

After that, we took our martial arts training to studying techniques from the first scroll of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu, a school formed in the 1600s (but its techniques can be traced back to the late 1500s). We played with three of the wazas from this schools Jutaijutsu (Jujutsu as it's commonly known today). The key elements to this school involve not resisting your opponent but rather using the opponent's attacks against him by utilizing his power and momentum in ways he doesn't expect. We had a lot of fun with one particular technique, Ura Ude Ori. The universal experience everyone had with this technique when they were the "gad buy" was that they had no clue what was happening to them or how to respond in any way.

That is the magic of Budo Taijutsu, the techniques from these ancient schools. When we move beyond the waza and look deeper at their principles, the true magic comes to life.

Living-Warrior Dojo is the Treasure Valley's only authentic Bujinkan Ninjutsu school. Serving Meridian, Boise, Kuna, Star, Nampa and surrounding communities with traditional Japanese Martial arts.

This is a great little video from Duncan Stewart Shihan in Australia. These are clips from a longer film that demonstrates the the Ten Chi Jin, the basics of the Bujinkan. It's a demo, so the movements are exaggerated.

Living-Warrior Dojo is the Treasure Valley's only authentic Bujinkan Ninjutsu school. Serving Meridian, Boise, Kuna, Star, Nampa and surrounding communities with traditional Japanese Martial arts.

A Must Read. Bujinkan Meridian, ID Martial Arts

Okay, so you have to read this article written by one of the Japanese Shihan about the early days training with Hatsumi (1960s). Read this description of the dojo back then, awesome! Here is the link to read the full article:  http://www.budomontreal.com/Document/Ishizuka_Shihan_About_Hatsumi.pdf

"Training started by clearing away the items in the dojo and cleaning it -- wooden floor, around 8 mats in size. Of course we practices punches and kicks, and also throwing techniques and aerial somersaults. But as non of us were any good we kept breaking through the floorboards, and then training had to pause for a while as we got out a saw and hammer and all helped to repair the floor. We would pull up the floorboards right to the joists, cut planks to fit then knock them into place. Once the repairs finished the training started again. But as these repairs were done by amateurs, the planks were of different thicknesses and so the floor was quite uneven -- we were lucky never to have any injuries. There were often even nails sticking out..."

This section is from the middle of the article. It is really a great read, enjoy!

Living-Warrior Dojo is the Treasure Valley's only authentic Bujinkan Ninjutsu school. Serving Meridian, Boise, Kuna, Star, Nampa and surrounding communities with traditional Japanese Martial arts.

No Lie Blade Training. Bujinkan, Meridian, Idaho, Martial Arts

This was a fun workshop using the No Lie Blades. The training knives leave behind very distinct red marks where you would get cut. The first portion we just had fun attacking each other and seeing where, as the defender, our defense needed improvement. Then the rest of the workshop was geared towards improving our defender skills and reducing/eliminating the cuts. Lots of fun, really good instruction. Our instructor was a Bujinkan Shidoshi who also teachers military and law enforcement this workshop.

See you in on the mat at Living-Warrior Dojo, your school for traditional Bujinkan Ninjutsu martial arts. Martial arts school and training for Meridian, Boise, Kuna, Star, Nampa and surrounding communities.