Skip to main content

Bujinkan Rank from the Heart

御神籤 omikuji, 道祖神社 (Doso jinja) Katsushika, photo by Michael Glenn
One day you learn there are no Bujinkan ranks… only people you can choose to invest in.

We form many relationships in this world: Family; friends; coworkers; parole officer; guy who works at the sandwich shop… It's obvious not all of them have the same value.

One thing I really love about the Bujinkan, is that it is possible to develop some of the most meaningful relationships of life with people you meet in training.

I have made lifelong friends. I have seen others do so. I have watched people date and get married after meeting in training. I have witnessed children start training at a young age and grow up to become amazing adults with an entire Bujinkan dojo looking out for them.

I have also lost friends who have died. I have my own personal way of honoring their life in my training. But the whole art is richer for the life they shared with us. And many of us feel this deep in our hearts when we bow in for each class.

There are people who have fallen away from the Bujinkan part of their life for some reason. We never forget them. And when they return, we welcome them like family.

At these times, no one thinks of rank or politics.

We are only thankful.

Hatsumi Sensei shared with us that the Samurai who became a Zen Buddhist... Shōsan, had the feeling of "The heart that thinks of oneself, suffers. The heart that thinks of others, is free."

I choose to invest in people on this path with me. My students, my teachers, my family.

How do you invest in yourself and others? Is Bujinkan training a choice for you?

Comments

  1. "There are people who have fallen away from the Bujinkan part of their life for some reason. We never forget them. And when they return, we welcome them like family."

    Thank you for these words!
    I stopped training about 5-6 years ago (somehow faded away...), mostly due to personal issues but as well due to a quite difficult training situation (unfortunately there have been some bad experiences with bujinkan politics).
    I came back last year after a weird experience that somehow showed me I should train again.
    And I indeed feel and felt very welcome by a lot of people -- some of them stayed friends all the time, some I hadn't seen for years, some even didn't know me.

    And while I feel that it's a pity I ever quit training it's great to be back again and especially to train with and under people that care for people and training and not for ranks. I value high what has been and actually is given to me by those people and do my best to give it back somehow.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bujinkan Daikomyosai Party and Training Themes from Japan

What are the current Bujinkan Themes? For my second week of Japan training, I begin with a visit to 上野東照宮 Ueno Tōshōgū. This shrine was built in 1627, and enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu. I have visited many times, but they did an extensive remodel a few years ago. This was my first time going beyond the 唐門 Karamon and into the grounds. The entire 本殿 Honden is covered in gold leaf and looks spectacular with the gingko leaves fluttering down around me. Michael Glenn at 上野東照宮 Ueno Tōshōgū Later that night, I arrived a bit early for Nagase Sensei’s class. He had moved the class time back 45 minutes so I took the opportunity to review my notes from the prior class. He has been working with 十方折衝 juppō sesshō and the directions for 天地人 Tenchijin and the sanshin within it. He described many aspects of Tenchijin. He would control his opponent at three points, high, middle, and low. He told us the Ten direction is 天照大御神 Amaterasu ōmikami. The Chi direction is 国常立尊 Kunitokotachi no mi

The Sound of Bujinkan 変化 Henka

One Friday night back in the old Honbu Dojo, Hatsumi Sensei moved to a very high level of training right from the start. After he asked someone to demo, he immediately went into counter attacks using his fingertips. And he said to be playful. Hatsumi Sensei painted and hung a scroll in the corner of the dojo. He did this every year to express the yearly theme. This year it was 神韻武導 Shin'in Budō . You can read this as Budō of exceptional artistry. Or, when you look at the characters for Shin'in, it could be a Budō that expresses the sound of the heart, the soul, or even  the kami. 神韻武導 Shin'in Budō, Bujinkan Honbu. photo Michael Glenn   Earlier that afternoon, I had made a pilgrimage of sorts to visit 矢切の渡し Yagiri-no-Watashi. The ferry that has been taking passengers across the Edo river for nearly 400 years. The Tokugawa shogunate did not build bridges over rivers to protect Edo. Ferry boats leading to the highway were strictly controlled, but ferries for farmers who had fa

Japan Report One 令和5年

Every Bujinkan trip I make to Japan feels like a gift. And I always share that with you all in my Japan reports. This trip, I decided to video a lot. Like every day. So there will be quite a few of these. The only issue is that it takes me time to edit all of this video, so these Japan reports may spread out into next year. The first video is here:  Japan Report One 令和5年 The first day of any Bujinkan trip to Japan starts with a marathon. 20 hours of travel by Plane train, and automobile. Also, a lot of walking with a heavy backpack up and down stairs, through airports and train stations, and of course to the Honbu Dojo! Because I’m crazy, I arrived at the airport and went straight to Noguchi Sensei’s class. The class was smallish, maybe 20 people. I was a little shaky on my feet so I slammed some milk tea to get my energy back up. I partnered with Mario From Croatia. Noguchi began with 中伝之捌型 Chūden no Sabaki Gata from 高木揚心流 Takagi Yoshin Ryū. He put a lot of focus into what the opposit