Bujinkan Santa Monica

下谷神社 Shitaya Jinja, photo by Michael Glenn I got up early to catch the train into Tokyo. I headed to 下谷神社 Shitaya Jinja to fill in my 集印帳 shūin-chō stamp book. But I also wanted to purchase some 御守 Omamori as gifts for my students back home. 2024 is the year of the dragon and Shitaya Jinja has a bit of a dragon theme. You might remember on a previous visit I was very lucky to be invited to enter the 拝殿 haiden. There, on the ceiling, is a painting of a dragon by 横山 大観 Yokoyama Taikan that was commissioned by the parishioners. I thought my students would appreciate omamori with a dragon motif. After my visit to Shitaya Jinja, I had another train ride all the way back out to Noda-shi, and the Bujinkan Honbu Dojo. The first class was with Noguchi Sensei, and I was definitely ready to hear his laugh. I heard him as soon as I opened the door of the dojo. I was the second student to arrive and Noguchi gave me a cheerful welcome before I even stepped over the threshold. We had a g...

Bujinkan training in Japan isn’t only about training. Sometimes it is about cultural experiences you might have there. And sometimes you might even find healing in the dojo! I began this day in Japan with a visit to 美術刀剣松本 Bijutsu Tōken Matsumoto in 西葛西 Nishikasai with my teacher Peter Crocoll. He brought a tsuka from home to be refurbished with new 柄巻 tsukamaki and fittings. We had some nice tea while Peter and Matsumoto-san swapped stories about their experience at this year’s 大刀剣市 Dai Tōken Ichi sword show. While they chatted, I wandered the shop looking at all manner of swords and weapons for sale. By the time we left I was happy to still have my wallet! This is a summary of the video I recorded in Japan which you can see here: Japan Report Five 令和5年 From there it was back to Noda-shi for training. On my way I shared a story from one of the classes I had with Hatsumi Sensei at the old Honbu dojo. Soke was teaching 無刀捕 mutōdori but reversed it to teach us a counter. In th...

Last night Paul Masse invited me and my teacher Peter over to his house in Noda-shi. While we were in the backyard swapping stories, his wife Tomoe invited us inside to a warm dinner of ちゃんこ鍋 chankonabe. She and Paul are very friendly and generous. Paul asked Peter what he found at the antique weapons market. Peter said that he was looking for 矢の根 yanone, which are arrowheads. He also said he bought a tsuba with a giant centipede on it. Paul was curious about this so Peter told us the story behind it. He told us 俵藤太物語 Tawara Tōda monogatari, the legend of Tawara Tōda. I share my version of the story on the video so if you'd like to watch the full video report, you can find it here: https://www.rojodojo.com/japan-report-three-reiwa5/ . But the short of it is that Tawara Tōda killed a giant centipede with a well aimed arrow. We had a wonderful time over dinner while swapping stories. Paul’s young boys were full of energy and were running around like crazy people. Danzo thou...

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 opp...

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...