Bujinkan Santa Monica

Asura in Kōfuku-ji, Nara. photo by 小川晴暘 Sanshin is one of the most basic, fundamental, and important concepts in the Bujinkan. Yet even after years of training it remains mysterious and elusive, even one the most misunderstood aspects of our training. Ask your teacher what it is. Many will give you their pat, standard answer given to all beginners. Others will wander off in a glassy-eyed, meandering philosophical and esoteric treatise. And there are even some who will try to tell you how to stand or step while delivering a punch. They may not be wrong. But they probably will be missing key ideas. I will not try to correct anyone except to say, please discard what you think you know. Hatsumi Sensei recently gave us a clue to the secrets of sanshin when he was teaching us about kaname: 全体を捕るということは、要をとる。三身一如のことは言う。 Soke suggests here that you take everything together by only taking what is essential in the moment (kaname). This is sanshin unified as one reality. Three as one....

三つ鱗 Mitsu Uroko photo by Michael Glenn Since I am a ninja, I am part of a secret society. Secret societies are fun to learn about. One of the most obvious ways into a secret society is through its symbols. I recently stumbled across one mysterious symbol called 三つ鱗 Mitsu Uroko in a place I didn't expect to find it. You have probably seen this symbol. For Legend of Zelda fans it is known as the Triforce. But you may not know that the creator of this game, Miyamoto Shigeru, took much of his inspiration from the mountains and temples of Kyoto. And if you travel around Japan, you will encounter this symbol yourself. What does it mean? And why should anyone in the Bujinkan care? Let me explain. The origin story of this symbol is tied with one of the most powerful Shogun and clans in Japanese history. As told in the Taiheiki 太平記, Hojo Tokimasa went on a pilgrimage of fasting and prayer to the island of Enoshima. While he was in one of the Iwaya Caves, the Goddess Benzaiten ap...

自拍的藝術 photo by 【Ｊ】 The Bujinkan is not for everybody. It is only for people who get it. My way of teaching the Bujinkan is not for everybody. But it works for me. And it works for those of you who get it and who want it. If you study with me, I add a secret teaching technique that I will call "Michael Glenn's Patented 秘密 Himitsu Bujinkan Strategy™." I use this silly name because I want you to try to figure out what it is. If you can guess it, I will send you a free DVD. So if you want to be successful in your Bujinkan class, there are 3 simple steps: (add Michael Glenn's 秘密 Himitsu Bujinkan Strategy™ first) then, Attempt Observe Repeat So let's consider these steps in order. Attempt. It is better to start by trying. Until you try, you don't even know if you can do it. Until you try, you don't know where your mistakes will be. This is the only way to know what to look for in the next step. Next, Observe someone who is successful. In you...

地蔵尊 Jizouson Altar at 万満寺 Manman-ji. photo by Michael Glenn Henka is like a ritual of birth and death. One essential fact of existence that everyone seeks to forget, is that we are born to this world and guaranteed to die. Everything dies. Thus the way of Bushido is death. But Hatsumi Sensei would like us to flip this idea to rebirth and to give life, protect life. How do we do this if we are half dead already? The traditional rites of passage used to teach people to die to the past and be reborn to the future. I feel this process every time I travel back to Japan. It is always a new birth. Sensei seems to demonstrate this in every henka and even by the way he moves through his day. This is what we should strive for in every class and in our lives. Why die to the past and be reborn? What does that even mean? What is the point? Everyone comes to class for different reasons. But most hope to improve themselves in some way. What kind of improvement are you seeking? To be a k...

A man lost his head. Not his mind, but his HEAD. Some say he brought it on himself, some just accept that it was the code of the warrior, a result of Bushido. But he wasn't the only one to die in the Akō Vendetta incident. More than 60 warriors died just to take this one man's head. Here I stood lost on a Tokyo street corner. My source had left me with a murky glint in his eye and a hand-drawn map to the scene of the crime. Of course I had to go there. Map to Lord Kira's Residence Going there meant feeling the silence of a 310 year old crime scene. You see the Akō incident happened in 1703 during the 元禄 Genroku era in Japan. It is also known as the story of the 47 Ronin. This story speaks to the very soul of Japan and pairs the code of Bushido with the drama of a great tragedy. It has been told and retold to the point that it has become legend. But facts are facts, and I wanted to see for myself. First I had to figure out where this sketchy map was taking me. It ...

Pay Attention Because Hatsumi Sensei Never Stops Sharing, photo Michael Glenn I just learned how to do a secret ninja move with the 鎖分銅 kusari fundou. Hatsumi Sensei explained how to do this move from a shadow kamae to crush your enemy. I immediately retrieved a kusari fundo that I have owned for 27 years from my weapons cache. Now for the ninja testing. When I was sixteen, while my friends were buying cool new tires for their cars, I bought a kusari fundou. Like all the other Ninja weapons I was attempting to acquire at this age, I had to watch the mailbox every day to intercept the mail before my parents did. When it arrived, it was better than I expected. This was 1986 and Ninja Movies were playing in the movie theaters. Hatsumi Sensei or Stephen Hayes were on the covers of Black Belt magazine every other month. The Ninja fad in the U.S. was in full effect. And I was fully hypnotized. When I unwrapped this simple but strange new weapon, the first thing I did is what everyone sho...

Michael Glenn, The Only Idiot Wearing a Jacket in July, Bujinkan Hombu In case you are not aware, 婦人の護身術 fujin no goshinjutsu, along with 無刀捕 muto dori and 剣 tsurugi are the themes for this year. I have been lucky to travel to Japan twice so far this year to experience these themes directly for myself. I just got back home this week, and I have been reflecting on the meaning of my experiences. Hatsumi Soke painted a scroll for me and my dojo to guide our training in 2013. The layers of meaning and feeling behind this kakejiku will inform much of our training during the second half of the year. This scroll had a surprising message. All I can say, is that these themes and Hatsumi Sensei's approach to them are not what you think. If you want to keep up with me and my latest training notes as I study this material, you may sign up here for free:  Free Training Reports or... For Rojodojo members you can learn about the message in the scroll, and the latest information about...