Bujinkan Santa Monica

滚滚江水 Torrential photo by livepine There is a bit of magic in the Gokui we find in the history of our art. This magic can help us with training or in our own lives. One that Hatsumi Sensei has shared with us says, からまれて何にーっの勝手なし、身を捨ててこそ浮かぶ瀬もあれ Like many ideas in Japanese, there is more than one way to translate this into English. Two that I've heard are: When you become entangled, there can be no victory. By sacrificing yourself, you have the chance to be saved; or, with no thought of one's self, float in the torrent by throwing oneself in. In English we have similar sayings like: nothing ventured, nothing gained; make your own luck; put your life on the line… commit totally; Risk it all to win it all. These ideas show the power of being fully committed, but where does the magic enter in? Well some other translations hint around this: When you are ready to sacrifice yourself, you may succeed; by rejecting the body comes opportunity; It is those who sacrifice themselve...

影電話 photo By shokai Do you know how to use a shadow shield? If you've dropped all your fantasies of being a Ninja and only focus on dojo martial arts, you may have forgotten about what attracted you to being a ninja in the first place. So let's be mysterious Ninja for a moment. We have a skill, yes, a skill in our training called 遁影 ton'ei. This is sometimes translated as "shadow shield," but there is more subtlety for us to understand. Shadow is not just a nickname for Ninja, it is an aspect of ton'ei no jutsu. So this is a tactical strategy as well as a mysterious one. For the tactical, you simply fight with the sun at your back so that the opponent is blinded and has trouble seeing you. As Hatsumi Sensei says you are casting your shadow forward. Hiding in the sunlight is the real shadow of budo. For one mysterious aspect of 遁影 ton'ei, learning this skill can start with kamae. Soke says that even as you stand in any specific kamae, your heart and m...

地震體驗室 photo by Anav Rin If you follow the news this week, or any week on earth, really… violence (暴力 bouryoku), disaster, and tragedy never make sense. Sometimes the more you learn about a violent act or violent person and his motives, the less you understand. You can study a disaster like a historian. But you can never comprehend the scope, depth, or impact on real lives of the event itself. A few years ago, Hatsumi Sensei told us that our training should pass into areas that can't be understood. I wrote about what he said here: Beyond Godan Into Wakaranai-Keiko What can you do about this in your training? If you learn the concept of 万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo, then you can embrace the incomprehensible in your training. So how do you start doing this in the dojo? Last month when I was training with Sensei, he explained more about this strategy for dealing with these events in our lives. He said, "We're doing these things that can't be understood. And in real life people ...

Edo-Tokyo Architectural Museum. photo by kanegen I guess I didn't understand kukan. I was in a class with Hatsumi Sensei, and the things he did and said made that clear to me. For example he said,  "When he's close, then use a sanshin strike. Let's think that this strike is a strike on the kukan. No one will think you'll do this." and another time he said to "Bounce the opponent off the kukan." and to "use the kukan as a shield." Hatsumi Sensei then added,  "you're not "doing" a technique. Being able to control without holding on in the kukan. It's like juggling in the kukan. This is the most important thing for the upcoming kunoichi taikai. Because you don't need strength to juggle." And the effect on his opponent was palpable. I could see it happening in front of me. He was being "bounced." OK. So the simple physics don't match up with any western translation of kukan I have heard....

Michael Glenn Somewhere Below 7th Floor Kashiwa Plaza Hotel I am having a lot of fun making these training videos. But what would be even more fun would be to collaborate with my friends in the Bujinkan. So to get that started, please help me by picking my next video project here: Click here for Your Vote If you haven't seen any of my videos, you can find them here: Michael Glenn's Bujinkan Videos  I really appreciate all the support and feedback everyone has given me when I travel, or through all the great emails you guys have sent my way.

If you want to know how to use the ken, do it like you have a dragon wrapped around the blade. That is my advice after studying this weapon in Japan. Let me explain how I got there. As part of the theme for 2013 in the Bujinkan we are studying the straight sword 劍 tsurugi or ken. At first, I didn't know what to make of this, since Japanese swordsmanship is largely devoted to curved single edged blades. But after my recent trip to Japan and being exposed to the symbolism AND practical use of this weapon, I am absolutely blown away. When I first saw Hatsumi Sensei using this weapon this year, it literally seemed to writhe in the space like a snake. This got me thinking. 2013 being the year of the snake, how might these things connect? As I looked around hombu, and during the kunoichi taikai at Ayase, I saw many types of ken in use during training. Which one are we studying this year? I think the answer is all of them, but Hatsumi Sensei showed up with an impressive example to put o...

Nagato Sensei with Michael Glenn During the Kunoichi Taikai, Soke asked Vanessa Adán to show some things from her experience dealing with mentally disturbed or drugged patients at a hospital. Patients are often bigger and stronger than the nurses who have to deal with them. Especially for smaller women nurses. Patients may act violently and react with aggression. Hatsumi Sensei suggested that we learn to "Move in such a way that the opponent doesn't resist. He doesn't continue to fight or create more agrression." Of course in these jobs, one of the key challenges is to calm, subdue, or control the patient without injury to them or the staff. This can be difficult in a chaotic situation where accidents may occur. Another strategy Soke gave us was, "to move in such a way that it doesn't give the opponent any feeling. Once you feel something, you need to be able to change. Otherwise there will be an accident or something will happen. Move in such a way ...