Will You Step Aboard the Boat to Win the Fight?

電柱 Denchuu in front of Bujinkan Hombu. photo by Michael Glenn

Hatsumi Sensei spent all class trying to teach us muto dori. This is not unusual. He mentions muto dori in almost every class. He has been doing so for years. It makes sense, if you are not there when the attack arrives, then you have successfully defended yourself.

We were lucky tonight. Soke was teaching us how to use our legs and footwork for muto dori. People sometimes think Hatsumi Sensei is talking about psychology, or he is using metaphor to talk about esoteric ideas about disappearing or being invisible. Well right now he just wanted us to move our feet, dammit!

But move them in a special way.

He said to step "浮舟のごとし" ukifune no gotoshi. This means to step like you are stepping onto a floating boat or pontoon. How does one step from the stable dock onto a boat?

If it is a small boat, raft, or canoe… you step carefully. Any big or unbalanced movements will rock the boat or tip it over. If you are in a fight, the boat is your opponent and his intent on attacking you.

You must step by subtly shifting the balance from the stable, dry, safe land where you stand before being attacked… to the unstable, rocking, dangerous boat of the fight. Then you will be on board.

When you step like this onto an actual boat, the boat barely moves. You transition and become part of it. Its motions in the water are now your motions. Anyone who has been in a canoe or kayak knows what I mean.

Some people step off the land like doing a cannonball. They disturb everything and make a big splash. But they also make a big target. They will have to fight hard to stay above water or not get killed by the attacker.

Practice stepping onto a boat. Or a skateboard. Or a balance bar. Onto ice. Onto rice paper.

Shift your weight through the knees and joints. Then shift your consciousness to be on board and floating with danger. Take the ride like the little duck I wrote about here: Fudōshin 不動心 or Fudōshin 浮動心 Floating Heart?

And then step back to safety and stability. How does it feel?

Comments

Japan Report Seven 令和5年

I began the morning in a hurry because I had to get to the dojo early. My days in Japan are very busy. I run and gun to fit in all of the classes, recording my video reports in between. And I still have to find time for food, laundry, sleep, as well as tourism and shopping. Today I planned three classes, Furuta Sensei, Nagase Sensei, and Noguchi Sensei. But I didn’t have time to review my notes until the next morning in a cafe. The coffee sure helped. The FULL video review can be found here: https://www.rojodojo.com/japan-report-seven-reiwa-five/ The first class was at the Bujinkan Honbu dojo with Furuta Sensei. We began class wearing a lot of knives. He said you should wear at least 9 knives. He didn’t mean that literally but the number 9 implies an infinite amount. So you have the ability to respond or attack infinitely. He kept hiding behind the attack of his opponents. I learned this approach from him a few years ago during our study of 雲隠流 Kumogakure Ryū in ...

Japan Report Six 令和5年

I was invited to Furuta Sensei’s home dojo out in the countryside. He is very generous and picked us up from the train station. The only problem is that he plays a Lady Gaga CD on repeat during the drive. Furuta’s home dojo is very rustic with traditional tatami mats. He started training with ukemi and my cotton tabi really slid across the straw! His exploration of 基本八法 Kihon Happō is influenced by his study of 雲隠流 Kumogakure Ryū. As the next Soke of Kumogakure Ryū, he is hard at work learning and studying this school. And I feel lucky to be part of this journey every time I study with him. At one point he showed a detail of how to attack the 急所 kyūsho 血止 chidome and 血ダメ chidame. The name of this kyūsho means to stop the blood. Obviously this would incapacitate an opponent if you pull it off. But Furuta Sensei used a hooking strike into chidome to unbalance with one finger. The kyūsho becomes a 支点 shiten. The pressure creates a pivot or a fulcrum to affect the oppon...

Japan Report Four 令和5年

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...

Bujinkan Santa Monica

Search This Blog