Bujinkan Santa Monica

Three Lamps, 日本民家園 Nihon Minka-en. photo by Michael Glenn I have found three easy steps to make 神韻武導 Shin Gin Budo happen. Sounds great even if it might be a lie. But could it be easy? Let's see… One thing I know for sure about this year's theme is that it's difficult to teach. I went to Japan last month to study with Hatsumi Sensei. And he gave me a lot to work on. So I have been working. Like many things Soke shares with us, this theme is connected to many previous themes. It did not suddenly appear this year in our training. And I personally am grateful to have this as a focus because I have been working on this very idea for several years in my own training. But I always tell my students, this is what I am doing and studying myself, but I don't know how to teach it. Sorry. Yet, thanks to Hatsumi Sensei's focus this year, I have new insights that I can share. Maybe they will help anyone trying to get a grasp on Shin Gin. As I mentioned in another post about t...

Parking Lot Ku, near 観音寺 Kannon-ji, Ayase. photo by Michael Glenn What do you make with empty space? What is the point of 空間 kukan? Many years ago I was training with Hatsumi Sensei and he told us, "Your own intention becomes "ku". Your body becomes "ku." And together in that space you can live." Wow. That is a powerful answer to conflict. Then last month I was training with Hatsumi Sensei and he told us, "You've got to play in the space here. Be able to move freely, make your own kukan. Move with the opponent in the moment in a friendly fashion." I've been giving a lot of thought and study to understand this year's theme. This theme resonates very deeply for me personally. One of the reasons I think it does is because I have been on a path leading to this for many years. I said in my last post about this year's theme of 神韻武導 Shin Gin Bu Dou , that Soke feels that we in the Bujinkan have finally matured enough for him...

Hatsumi Sensei's 6 ton 大黒天 Daikokuten, photo Michael Glenn One day I was asking Hatsumi Sensei about the meaning of a particular scroll he had just painted. The reading of it was one thing, but the kanji, brush strokes, and shape of the entire piece suggested more. He answered me... sort of. Luckily I was familiar with the word he used. He said, 徴ね。Shirushi, ne? Meaning this scroll had signs, hints, or clues. I remembered that word because of some training I had done with Soke some years ago outside under some Japanese maples. He showed us a style of ninja walking that I describe here: How to Read the 徴  Shirushi Taught in 口伝 Kuden Soke leaves signs and hints for us to follow everywhere. You just have to develop the capacity to sense them. I recently found another secret path that he has indicated for people who can find it. Hatsumi Sensei dedicated a 6 ton 大黒天 Daikokuten statue created in honor of Takamatsu Sensei. This was on the 37th year of Takamatsu's passing. But he ...

Moonlight Enters the Bujinkan Hombu, photo by Michael Glenn Below is a video preview of my latest notes from Japan about 神韻武導 Shingin Budo . When I was training in Japan last week, I wrote extensive notes. I also recorded some video. This is part of my own learning process. If you've been on a training trip to Japan yourself, you know how compressed that experience can be. Maybe you go to 2-3 classes everyday for 2 weeks. That is more classes than some people who live in Japan attend in a whole year! It is a huge amount of information crammed into a short time. Hatsumi Sensei told us last week that when we are fighting we have to read the signs or hints (気配 kehai) that our opponent or the situation show us. So I record my notes as I discover these signs. If I get a hint of something important from my teachers, I make a record of it for later. Then I come home and unpack my luggage. But also unpack my mind and body. I use my notes to debrief myself. They are like a compr...

Cameraman Enters Torii, Shibamata Hachiman Jinja 柴又八幡神社. photo Michael Glenn Our Bujinkan theme for 2014 is spiritual culmination. Hatsumi Sensei said last night that it has been 42 years since the passing of Takamatsu Sensei. He said that the students of the Bujinkan have finally matured enough so that he can share these teachings with us. Maybe you have seen the scroll hanging in the Hombu. Or have heard the theme of 神韻武導 Shin Gin Bu Dou. It is easy to hear these words, but very difficult to understand and include them in your training. After training with this idea in Hatsumi Sensei's classes, I have a suggestion for how to open up this theme in your training this year. Soke tells us that the theme this year is about not doing your own techniques, but rather letting the divine techniques work through you. He told us that this happens with a divine resonance in the kukan. The space itself becomes divine. Harnessing this theme requires the clarity created by 大光明 Daikou...

Today a most extraordinary thing happened in Hatsumi Sensei's class. As you probably know, the Hombu Dojo we currently have in Japan is slated for demolition. Many of us will miss it very much when a new Bujinkan honbu dojo is built. But my friend and student William Kelly O'neill did us all a service. He spent the past many weeks painstakingly (emphasis on pain) recreating the Bujinkan Hombu dojo in miniature as a gift for Hatsumi Sensei. Hatsumi Sensei and Bill O'neill with mini Hombu What he didn't know was that it was a gift to the entire Bujinkan. Tonight he presented it to Soke Hatsumi. Hatsumi Sensei checks out mini Hombu Bill has been sending me pictures and explaining his design process over the last few weeks. The amount of detail, research, and thoughtful personal elements in his project have been very inspiring to hear about. At first I thought he was a bit crazy, but when you see the results... Hombu Miniature I know Bill put his ...

Michael Glenn under the cherry tree, 新宿御苑 Shinjuku Gyoen Last year I had one of the most profound experiences of my life. Yet it was really nothing unique. In fact, many poets and artists have made note of it in their work. And this experience informs some core ideas in the Bujinkan. I was standing under the cherry trees. A light breeze fluttered across my face. Then I was showered with falling petals. I felt blessed and melancholy at the same time. Such is the power of sakura. In Japan this reverence for the signs of change is a deep subject of poetry, art, religion, and our own Bujinkan training. This was on my mind when I taught 桐之一葉 Kiri no Hito Ha in a recent class. I wrote about this in my Bujinkan training notes , but I felt even more reflective after class. The name of this kata gets to the heart of the subtle signs of change. Hatsumi Sensei tells us we should know the verse from which the name of this kata is formed: 桐一葉落ちて天下の秋を知る One leaf of the Paulownia tree falls to ...