Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by genvessel One of the gokui or essences of budo is change. But changing what? Where does the change come from?  Here I try to catch the feeling or kankaku in the air of a class with Sensei. He often reminds us we should pick up the scent of the gokui on the breeze blowing through the room. That day Hatsumi Sensei was teaching us about kyuho no kamae. Or so I thought. As the class progressed, the naturalness of Soke's taijutsu allowed for unending variation. He had his uke basically throwing himself. It was the kind of thing if you saw a photo or video you might think it was BS. But in that room... the effect was palpable. Everyone watching knew that if they were his uke he would capture their spirit and work their body over in the same way. In fact, it felt as if we were ALL exposed. The "winds" in the room had changed. Part of the lesson that day was perceiving this change and where it had come from. The atmosphere of the class went from casual and jovial,...

photo by roy costello One night I was training in Hombu dojo with Hatsumi Sensei. It wasn't very crowded and he had us working with the bo which is definitely rare in the Hombu nowadays. He did a technique that left a very odd impression on his uke and those of us watching. It was as if he released the bo in the kukan, and the bo acted as his agent, throwing the attacker and tying him up. Wow. That was odd. Soke seemed to notice the confused looks around the room, because he explained to us that this was Shinbo. The translator looked confused as well, so Soke pointed up above the kamidana to the picture of Takamatsu Sensei holding the bo. Sensei explained that was why he wrote Shinbo beneath that picture. So what did Soke mean by Shinbo?  I am probably more lost than the translator, but Soke has referenced that idea before. There is a related concept called 花情竹性 "Kajo Chikusei where we strive to be as gentle as a flower, and as straight, or straightforward, as bamboo....

Friday night class with Hatsumi Sensei was crowded. It's always that way the weekend before Daikomyosai. In years past I've seen as many as 160 to 170 people in Hombu! It makes for an interesting training experience. Soke was very dynamic in the training, and was looking very lively with his intense purple hair. If you haven't seen him with it, you can visit Doug Wilson's blog: Smoke On The Water or my own post: Iro 色: Attach to Color, Follow the Color to read all about the purple hair and what it signifies. Sensei made great use of the crowded environment. He seemed to absorb the kukan and shrink it until his attacker was crushed within. It was like the air itself had been evacuated from the space. Yet somehow, Sensei was very free in this vacuum. It was great to see my Bujinkan friends and family from around the world. I'm looking forward to some great training here in Japan. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone