Bujinkan Santa Monica

Michael Glenn thrusts into emptiness with the Yari, from a recent video on rojodojo.com In a recent class we were training 四方技 shihō waza. This form has an important secret for all of Bujinkan 槍術 sōjutsu. Soke calls it 槍繰り yarikuri. This can be translated in various ways, like repetitive thrusting. But we must consider why Hatsumi Sensei explains it this way. What he tells us about yari kuri is that, “the thrust is kyo, the kuri is the jitsu.” This means we should employ 虚実 kyojitsu in our thrusting with the yari. Where the thrust is the illusion or falsehood, and the repetition is the truth. This means that each thrust with the yari can be either true or false. So how do you decide which is true and which is false? Hatsumi Sensei described this moment in terms of our bojutsu gokui, when he says “realize the moment of truth, thrust in, and only after you feel a connection with something does the force naturally flow into it (the thrust).” I recently made a video about