Bujinkan Santa Monica

Paul Masse Santa Monica Training We had some great training with Paul Masse last weekend. One idea that Paul shared with us is: 強弱柔剛あるべからず　故にこの心から離れ　空という一字に悟り　 体また無しとして　之に配す Neither strong or weak, soft or hard, separate from the heart of these and enlighten yourself to the one character of nothingness. Make your body nothingness and reside therein. This comes to us from Toda Shinzaburo Masahide of the Togakure ryu. Another translation of this phrase can be found in Hatsumi Sensei's book, "The Way of the Ninja," "One should be neither strong nor weak, neither soft nor hard. Leave such thoughts behind, awaken to the Void, and make your body Null to abide by this." Paul had us exploring these ideas through 虚実 kyojitsu, 無心 mushin, and 縁 connection. Paul explained that for kyojitsu to be effective you have to sell it. He likened it to a magician performing an illusion. In order to sell it, he has to believe in it himself. In the world of magicians this is cal...

"Caution. The simulated protective device was not safety device and offered no protection."                                               photo by Sam Howzit  鎧をつけている人は、転ぶと大きな音がする。 He who wears armor falls with a big crash! This saying reminds me of medieval knights of old, encased in metal, then falling off their horses, only to bellow on the ground like a sick overturned tortoise. anyone who has worn yoroi may have experienced similar sensations. But the armour that really weighs us down most often and acts against us is in our own hearts. We wear our pride or technique on our bodies like it will stop bullets. Ninniku offers us a different choice. In our Bujinkan training this is some of the most powerful armour available. Hatsumi Sensei has exp...

photo by ngader We can learn a lot from the Kamae in our art. For example, there are three Kamae that are often associated with hanbo that Takamatsu Sensei called 三心の構  Sanshin no Kamae. These three simple looking kamae contain important insights about the nature of fighting and combat that can change everything about the way you understand Kamae and Bujinkan Taijutsu. Hatsumi sensei says these Kamae are "three phases:" 型破の構 Kata Yaburi no Kamae – form breaking 無念無想の構 Munen Muso no Kamae – no intention, no thought 音無しの構 Otonashi no Kamae – silent posture The stances betray no outward signs of readiness for action, offensive or defensive. You stand exposed, weapons lowered, and your body square to the opponent. This emptiness makes these kamae positions of pure, unlimited potential from which all manner of henka can arise. These kamae all pass rapidly from stillness into motion and motion into stillness. Offense and defense are one and the same. Emptiness and real...

photo by London looks I was talking with Paul Masse about recent events in Japan. We were contemplating the appropriate "safe" distance from these disasters. Hatsumi Sensei often suggests to us that we evade by the width of a piece of paper. He gives us this image as a hint to take a small evasion, or, just as much space as needed. I have even heard him say that it should be the width of air. Now that seems risky for sure! But there is another way to evade that isn't evading. And Sensei does this but it is not easy to see. To open our eyes let's look at one example from nature and one from Hatsumi Sensei. While talking with Paul, I was reminded of a different kind of distance from a favorite poem. I shared this idea with Paul and he seemed to enjoy the feeling of it: The Little Duck -----  By Donald C. Babcock Now we are ready to look at something pretty special. It is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the surf. No, it isn’t a gull. A gull alway...

Enso by Isan Shinko (1740-1815) I'm sure you've all studied kihon happo. But it's one thing to study those eight basic fundamentals and a entirely different thing to study the kihon OF the happo. Hatsumi Sensei says this idea can be expressed very simply with a common Zen symbol of Enso which I will share below, but what will it mean to us? Sensei has said that the word happo suggests infinity. He said that placing the number eight on its side gives us that symbol ∞. Soke goes on to explain that a technique does not have a beginning or end but just flows one into the other like the symbol. A simple way to consider this is with tai sabaki. In angling we often start with cardinal points for evasion or striking (please excuse my clumsy finger diagrams): Then we split those four directions to make 8:  Then split again: You can see how it begins to get infinite... especially if you add the up and down directions so any angle in space is possible leading to ...

Desi being shy. My dog Desiree died this week after being part of my family for almost 18 years. Although not unexpected, I definitely feel her absence. As I sit with this feeling, I am glad for the heart found in our training. Hatsumi Sensei said that Takamatsu Sensei gave him a calligraphy which read 我無し ware nashi or "no self." But there is another reading of that concept which can give us a different strategy in combat or life. And since this is a martial arts of distance, we can find a very intimate distance when erasing the self. Something sensei often repeats is that there is no difference between attacker and defender. So one reading of 我無し ware nashi is "no opponent" or "no enemy"... no we or no us. No separation. How do we get that distance? Sensei explained this once in a class at Ayase, "In training you have to understand the opponent's heart. If you don't read his heart, if you only read your own heart and do your own tech...

Photo from Gifu Prefecture by tallkev One of the hiden 秘伝  (secret teaching) ideas of the sword is that life and death are just flip sides of the same instant. The reason this is a secret is not because no one talks about it, but because you must discover its mystery for yourself. Hatsumi Sensei is always reminding us that just as we can end life with the blade, we can also protect life or what he calls, the "life giving sword." So what about this secret and how does this translate into sword technique? When you are in kamae, and about to cut or thrust to your opponent's suki , there is a Seimeisen 生命線, or an invisible lifeline between you. If your sword is on this line, it is "live," if not it is   considered dead. This line is very fine and there isn't room for two blades there. So only one blade can give or take life. This is also an aspect of Shisen 死線, the point between life and death. To truly understand this lifeline requires a state of fudoshi...