Explosive Ku Power! An Essence of Budo.

Budo isn't talking. Budo isn't thinking. Nor is it writing or reading. Budo isn't sport. It isn't self defense. Definitiely isn't fighting.


I could go on like this endlessly saying what budo isn't. But let's try to get at what it is. One impression I have from Hatsumi Sensei is that the essence of budo lies in the creativity that arises from ku.

Soke shows us this in his art and his budo. He says,

"There are so many blessings that come out of that emptiness... It reminds me of the painter Okamoto Taro, who says that his creations appear like explosions out of nowhere."

In budo, the second you make a technique, or talk about it, or drill it, you cut yourself off from the source. Things become fixed and frozen. And thereby defeatable or dead.

So how can budo be taught? What are classes for? Soke's method is unique. He says,

"What I want you to do is just take it as it is. Don't think too much. If you get involved in thinking about it, the whole thing gets lost or loses its purity. Don't think during practice- DO! The more you think, the further from the truth of budo you get: budo is not an academic subject!"

The essence of budo is really very simple because Satori is only a step away.

An explosion from ku could come from any direction. Even from within.


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