Bujinkan Santa Monica

I was training with my teacher Peter Crocoll this weekend and I made a critical error that led to an injury to my eye. Peter was teaching sojutsu, and the worst possible thing happened. I blocked a seven foot spear with my eye. This injury could be devastating. Yet I am fine. It could have been embarrassing, yet was not. Instead, my taijutsu protected me and I came out with some wonderful knowledge. I won. Soke says to always be winning. He references Daruma who fell down seven times but got up eight. In other words, don't fall down- fall up. I was supposed to use my hips to redirect the spear with my weapon. Instead I used my hands alone and the thrusting Yari was directed right at my eye. What saved me was my experience with taijutsu. I FELT what was happening and was able to ride the strike so that it glanced off my eyelid. The injury I received was a swollen bruise. Oddly the yari didn't even make contact with bone or my eyeball. How does a seven foot spear t...

1985. I'm having lunch with my friends from high school. We chose this spot on campus because no one bothered us there. We could be the goofy teens that we were without trouble. Except today. I was about to experience maybe the most important lesson about kamae that Soke has offered us. I had been obsessed with ninjutsu and devoured every book, magazine, or VHS tape I could find. I was still a few years away from any real training. It just wasn't available then. There was no such thing as the internet in '85, and very few legit teachers of Hatsumi Sensei's art anywhere. We were sitting on a bench, eating our lunch, and around the corner comes some guy I had never seen around campus. He asks for a cigarette. None of us smoke. He demands money from me. I tell him to leave us alone. He states that he will take it from me. I stand up. "You can try," I tell him. Then I take a deep pose in what I now know as doko no kamae (sometimes called the angry ti...

Some of the best lessons of the Bujinkan lie in between techniques. Before the attack or after the battle. Or simply in the air between combatants. In this space, this void, there exists everything and nothing. Both peace and conflict can arise. And anything in between. 虚空 Koku If you don't find this idea in your training then you miss out on a great power in our art and in life. Hatsumi Sensei gives us a roadmap to understand this in the following quote: It is taught that the foundation of Budo is to first understand taijutsu, through which you can fight even if you have no weapons. This means to persevere in the martial ways (bufu ikkan), and to train consistently and with utmost effort. Then you will grasp the secrets of muto dori (no-sword technique). Succeeding in this, the mysteries of the secret sword (hiken) will be revealed, and no matter what weapon you hold, your heart and your taijutsu will dance skillfully in the void (koku). While these ideas may seem esoteric ...

Sometimes people want to adopt military or law enforcement tactics in the Bujinkan. Maybe they percieve these tactics as being the most real since these people are on the front lines testing their tactics everyday. While it's true their tactics are proven and tested, the reality their tactics address is not the same reality the Bujinkan is training us for. This can be seen clearly in the "rules of engagement" in the military or "use of force continuum" used by law enforcement. standard police Use of Force Continuum: 1. Physical Presence 2. Soft Hands 3. Mace or Pepper Spray (A K-9 unit would fall here) 4. Hard Hands 5. Police Baton, etc. 6. Threat of Deadly Force 7. Deadly Force The 1999 Marine Corps Close Combat Manual (MCRP 3-02B) presents a “Continuum of Force” broken down as follows: Level 1: Compliant (Cooperative). The subject responds and complies to verbal commands. Close combat techniques do not apply. Level 2: Resistant (Passive). The subject resist...

Takamatsu Sensei used to say that even a small fly could go go to the ends of the earth if it held onto a horses tail. That's what we are doing if we follow Hatsumi Sensei's teaching. We are trying to hang on to a galloping horse. But the horse is not Soke. It is the many generations of tradition and the spirit of Ninpo that is greater than any of us. Even Hatsumi Sensei himself has stated that his fifty plus years of training doesn't mean much. He feels he is still walking along behind Takamatsu. Soke also reminds us that a horse's tail is actually used to flick away pests. So if you don't respect the nature of what you have grabbed onto by training in the Bujinkan, you may be in for an unpleasant journey or swatted away. Once you have a feel for the nature of the ride you are on, the trick is learning how to hang on. It can't be done with strength or willpower. Maybe this is one meaning of Bufu Ikkan. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I was training in Hombu dojo one day in Noda and both my training partner and I were scratching our heads over something Oguri Sensei had just demonstrated. As usual with Oguri's taijutsu, it looks unassuming and simple, but has a dramatic effect on the Uke.  I make a point of going to Oguri's classes when I am in Japan.  There are many wonderful treasures he can share from his 40 plus years of training experience.  Anyhow, my partner and I kept having to pause in the middle to try to observe Oguri Sensei across the room as he helped another group of students. We would see him move and the result he had on the uke.  Then we would try.  And the results were not as wonderful.  I looked down at Oguri's feet and noticed their position.  Something clicked in my head.  I asked my training partner to attack again.  It worked! What I had noticed was Juuji.  Or, rather, the perpendicular angle of Oguri to his uke's kamae.  Often this...

Learning is an interesting thing.  In every field of human knowledge, when you understand something, more questions arise.  The closer you look at any subject the more mysteries you find. In the Bujinkan this process becomes obvious the more you explore.  Usually someone's training goes a little like this: Beginner up to Shodan: Basics.  Just learning where to put your feet and hands.  Basic ukemi, taijutsu and weapons.  This time feels very productive because everything is new and every class is filled with new facts you can get a handle on.  Sometimes there are glimpses of more mysterious aspects of the Bujinkan. Shodan to Godan: More basics.  But also serious study of the ryuha that make up the Bujinkan.  A focus on weapons.  And more advanced concepts of strategy as it connects with distancing, timing and angling.  During this time, the student may begin to encounter contradictions and things that are inexplicable in the t...