Bujinkan Santa Monica

Mt Fuji all the way from Kashiwa, photo by Michael Glenn Hatsumi Sensei surprises me with his teaching. The night before I left for Japan, we studied 忍者刀 Ninjatō in my own dojo. Then, on Friday night in Soke’s class at the Bujinkan Honbu Dojo, he taught one of the secrets of this weapon. I try to prepare for these lessons, yet I am still surprised. I suppose the only way is to always be ready. This is the ukemi of being Hatsumi Sensei’s student. I landed at Narita Airport around 5pm local time. My normal plan is to run through immigration and customs as fast as Japanese bureaucracy will allow. Then catch a two hour train ride straight to Hatsumi Sensei’s class. One hour into the train ride I began to lose my motivation. Warm trains make me sleepy. That, and the 20 hours of travel that wasn’t over yet. I stood up to shake off the tired. It was already dark out, and the train cabin was reflected back to us in the window. I leaned my head against the door to watch the lights p...

邃渓園 Suikeien at 帝釈天題経寺 photo by Michael Glenn This fall we will have our 秋修業 Aki Shūgyō on Oct 20. This training event sets the Bujinkan theme for our fall training. The training theme is set to take over the season. We will move from  哀れみ Awaremi to 楽しみ Tanoshimi. Not for Everyone! Only the most dedicated teachers are willing to go on a 修業 Shugyo. Only the most dedicated students commit to the adventure. Are you in? text or call: (424) 272-6307 to RSVP Our theme comes from the clue Hatsumi Sensei gave us when he matched the seasons with 喜怒哀楽 kidoairaku, or human emotions. In fighting, we normally strive to remove emotion, or at least, not let it control us. But the ura waza, or hidden technique, is to harness the power contained in emotion. We draw it out of our enemy to use against them. Maybe on a deep level, we can even tap the power of emotion from within ourselves. Hatsumi Sensei told us we must learn 遊びの中真実 Asobi no naka shinjitsu, or the truth hidden within pl...