Bujinkan Santa Monica

I was.  For a good 10 years.  Maybe more. When I began in this art in the prehistoric '80s, no one knew anything.  Well, some said they did.  But looking back, I tend to feel differently.  Not many had even been to Japan, much less separated ninja fact from fiction.  Even something as basic to our art like Sanshin no kata, to this day, you will find fact mixed with fiction. Since we are currently studying this in my basics class tonight, I thought i would write about it.   My CURRENT understanding of the forms (open to new info), is this: What is often called "sanshin no kata," is actually only one exercise in a series.  The series includes Sanshin no kata Shoshin gokei Gogyou no kata Goshin no kata Sanshin no kata is the swingy arm movement similar to chi no kata.  But it is also a way of moving.  The whole body taijutsu that makes our techniques effective at a basic level.  It can be used in the context of nearly...