Class log:The passing of another Epoch –

                    

As the new year approaches, its soon time to say goodbye to yesterday. This has been personally a really good year as for training, learning and growing. Budo taijutsu is more then a martial art. I’ll talk more about this topic as the year closes. This past friday we trained at a different location. This location felt pretty weird and somewhat lonesome. For a brief moment I felt disconnected, only to realize it was’nt so much the location, it was my ego adjusting to the circumstances of humility. A rare but yet subtle shift of consciousness. In spite of all this, I suited up and started the class that marked a new epoch in the annals of ninpo taijutsu. Kamae and posture were discussed. We looked at kamae and the importance of strong posture the beginning foundation of budo taijutsu. From this we transitioned into some conditioning techniques & basic striking waza. This approach taught me some really important points of reference when teaching to beginners & dan grades. I demostrated afew methods and excerises of striking & deception that eventually showed up in my form/technique. The kankaku is the essence of budo taijutsu the key to all martial arts. We used  the five elements to model our attack against uke. The peace and quite of nature that was found on this dreary evening showed me an important lesson on how to use natural movement to disappear out of uke perception.  We all lined up in formation and proceeded to count off doing the gogyo to connect in rhythm. Something happened when we did the form as a dance in a group fashion. The students seem to physically encourage eachother.  Chi no kata and sui no kata out of the five was all that we covered friday. I added weapons to the movement and talked about the principle of muto dori (being unconscious) of a weapon and how to apply that same readiness to any situation especially the drill we was working on. I found when your not conscious of the weapon, your free from the responsibility of having to use or evade this sometimes distraction, yet  move appropiately. Kuki taisho is the spirit for which I’ve become in every part of my life.  I talked about the 6th element “Shiki” being that we were on the subject that evening. It was interesting to see how this element significance played an integral part in our learning the sanshin no kata. You have the sqaure for chi no kata, then the circle for sui no kata, etc. Sunday in class we continued with the remaining 3 katas. In these katas contains the key to exploring further our studies in the kukishinden ryu. The revision of our beginners program turned out to be a success this past sunday with the following to be practice and done for every kyu class.

Kamae –

Hiken juroppo –

Shi ho tenchi tobi -

kaiten –

ukemi –

sanshin no kata –

kihon happo -

Practicing these fundamentals showed me the essentials that needed to further explore the schools that has become the basis for Hatsumi sensei philosophy and art.

In a friendly way,

Anthony Lucas – Bujinkan Shidoshi

                       

Happy Holidays – Class resumed yesterday in Queens rather then our usual location. It was a real pleasure training last night. We spent a great deal of the first class revisiting the “chi no kata” + “sui no kata”.  Our focus was not some much on the various fists, more so on the footwork.  I talk about a reasonable distance with the body & mind that eventually lead to right timing.  Some points of signifigence:

kamae – ichimonji, seigan and dokko.

Tsuki – jodan, chudan – jodan uke

Uke Nagashi – blocking, striking and receiving

Nagagre – flowing, ryhthm and action

Hi ken Juroppo – soku yaku

Ganseki Nage

Bo Staff

Bokken

Yugen

 Just a small list of some of the topics we covered. I actually got the chance to record some clips and put up on you tube.  Training tomorrow Sunday at 11:30am – 12:25pm (syllabus) and 12:30pm til 1:30pm (ninpo taijutsu + happo biken).

In a friendly way,

Anthony Lucas – Bujinkan Shidoshi

Class Log: Budo Taijutsu + Ninpo Taijutsu + Happo Biken

                 

It’s been almost two weeks since my last entry.  My attention to matters of the dojo (infrastructure) is of priority at this time. We’re currently revising our program.This is to ensure the intergrity of Hatsumi Sensei’s art. The philosophy + training from my last trip to Japan along with the evolution of my taijutsu has been the  focus of late. Patience is of paramount importance while maturing in budo taijutsu. What puzzles me is how much young people seeks faster ways to evolve in budo taijutsu. This is a grave mistake & self deception (kyojitsu) to unconsciously be driven by pride.  Pride unattained, leads to futility.  Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a buyu about being driven, bujinkan grades and greed, etc. The conversation mainly was concentrated on my friends advancement and how unimportantly it is to run off to Japan for dan grade in comparison to actually training and evolve into becoming a better person, friend, spouse and most importantly a student. Hopefully this talk made sense to him. 

I started class last night with “moto gata”(striking techniques). We did 10 reps on each side (hidari + migi), followed by 10 push-ups in rotation. This was especially good for us old folks. *sigh*  Following the revisions of this part of our new program, was good feedback from everyone attending the first class.

Kamae – 9 & 8th kyu

Hi Ken Juroppo + Tsuki - 9 & 8th kyu

Tai Sabaki – 9 & 8th kyu

Nage waza – 8th kyu

Torite waza – 9th kyu

kyusho (uko, kasumi & suigetsu) 9th kyu

Suburi w/bokken 50 – 100 reps – required for every grade.

Happo Biken Ken/kasumi no ho (emphasis was on the legs + controlling uke with no strength)

We looked at hoko no kamae (bear receiving posture) from the koto ryu tradition and used this kamae to learn & express “mae, yoko and ushiro naname”.  Following this sabaki we put a chuden tsuki in there and “tori” did’nt have to do much (no power) but let uke fall into his own kukan. This is where tori practice fudoken and koppoken  tsuki to uke’s kasumi & uko. The kamaes from gyokko ryu (ichimonji no kamae) and koto ryu (seigan no kamae) was shown with the distinction of the foot placement + body angles were emphasised.  As for the sword portion of the second class, there was no particular tradition which we began from.  We talked about good kamae (low posture) & (relax posture) with more of a natural kamae. Distance and timing we looked at with placement of the body in terms not being where uke expects tori to be. This was good for everyone because this taught us how to relaxed and move when its appropiate.  Practice slowly and with good form rather then hurry to finish. Allow uke to cut nothing and fall into nothing where the space is empty, then suddenly you appear (kyojitsu). Uke seen you before action was taken, then discover while moving through time a void (nothing) is created by tori thus uke experiences fear & confusion followed by tension that isolates uke (tai ) body, mind and spirit. Tori appears again, this time its to late for uke to cut/strike or even escape. This is “kasumi no ho” as was taught to me with respect to the sword. In 2005 the year of “Roppo no kuji” we did alot of unorthodox placements of the hands on the tsuka and moved freely.  I like the idea of entering ukes psyche and controlling him/her from there. From Juppo Sessho no Jutsu (taijutsu though) 2003 and Roppo no Kuji (buki) 2004 – the principles are the same. Distance and timing becomes more apparently clear and how necessary it is to learn the formula.  Power is not needed for this art, this is why I love the Bujinkan. I’m a medium size man, definitely not muscular nor a fighter. I find using the body from taijutsu practice and the mind/spirit from the philosophy of budo completes me. 

Note: BudomartUSA – the online webstore will undergo a change as well as have more items for your fancy.  Koteki Dojo website will eventually undergo a change. Stay tuned!

In a friendly way,

Anthony Lucas, Bujinkan Shidoshi