Friday night with Hatsumi Sensei

Friday night class with Hatsumi Sensei was crowded. It's always that way the weekend before Daikomyosai. In years past I've seen as many as 160 to 170 people in Hombu! It makes for an interesting training experience.

Soke was very dynamic in the training, and was looking very lively with his intense purple hair. If you haven't seen him with it, you can visit Doug Wilson's blog: Smoke On The Water or my own post:
Iro 色: Attach to Color, Follow the Color to read all about the purple hair and what it signifies.

Sensei made great use of the crowded environment. He seemed to absorb the kukan and shrink it until his attacker was crushed within. It was like the air itself had been evacuated from the space. Yet somehow, Sensei was very free in this vacuum.

It was great to see my Bujinkan friends and family from around the world. I'm looking forward to some great training here in Japan.

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Japan Report One 令和5年

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I start off my Japan Report Four video going to Hatsumi Sensei’s house and the Bujinkan Honbu office. I do this on every trip because this is how I submit my rank paperwork for my students. In the video I talk about my “secret” route to his house. I also recall past times when I could just visit and have tea with Soke. During my walk to his house, I review some of my notes from old classes with Soke. During one class he said 自分の第六感兼ねあいうち Jibun no dairokkan kane aiuchi. This is when you make your intuition match reality. Or, more directly, your intuition is combined with something concrete such as a strike. Later in that same class, Hatsumi Sensei said 意識をさせない Ishiki o Sasenai. He was telling us not to allow our opponents to sense our intentions. Don’t put out any intention for your opponent to read. I thought it was fascinating to think about dairokkan and the use of intuition while also hiding your intentions. Hatsumi Sensei’s classes were full of subtle lessons lik...

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