RIP Oguri Sensei

This week saw the passing of one of the four Shitenno, Koichi Oguri. He had trained in the Bujinkan for over 40 years and was one of Hatsumi Sensei’s first students.

I did not know him particularly well, but had the pleasure of training at his classes a number of times and also had the honour of being partnered up for part of one of Soke’s lessons. He was a kind person who would help you learn if you simply had good manners and took the time to observe and practice what he was trying to convey.

He will be greatly missed not only by his family but by the Bujinkan community as a whole.

2011 End of Year Summary

So ends another year – this year has for me been a year of ups and downs and new responsibilities.

On the home front I became a Dad for the first time, and this has obviously changed my perspectives and made me feel more responsible and meant that my priorities have needed to be re-jiggled.

I was also ill for a month at the start of the year too, but thankfully that has passed and I am now ‘fighting fit’ again. In fact I ran another half marathon in September which I enjoyed and it raised some money for the British Heart Foundation.

On the Budo front I have been able to maintain my training throughout the changes in my life, though I have needed to modify how and when I practice, though the insights gained from training I try to apply to my life more generally.

Within my training I have had a strong focus on trying to develop and strengthen my core principles and the foundation from which we work. We have trained constantly in the Kihon and its applications. We have studied the Ten Chi Jin and also looked at the first level of Gyokko Ryu, which contain some important ideas. We have looked at some work with the sword and some work with the knife too.

I have maintained my connection with my main teacher in London, and I have gained useful insights from these frequent trips. With my life at present I won’t be able to travel to Japan for a while yet, so maintaining links to be in a position to do so has been important to me.

Next year we will be continuing the theme of foundations within our classes, but also looking at the sword too (as per Soke’s theme for 2012).

I look forward to seeing you there.

Jim

Fingers, Eyes and Ribs

As the year of training has unfolded and Soke has developed the theme for the year, I have heard that the main points that have appeared within Soke’s movement is to take these areas or affect these parts of the body.

If one thinks about it, these areas are natural vulnerable areas and one can impact someone’s movement greatly if you are able to connect to these kyusho.
If the eyes are taken, then the effect is obvious (I.e. By directly hurting them) but I also feel that by effecting and utilizing the visual characteristics of people and understanding how we process information we can use this too. This could be used by creating the impression you are closer than the person thinks/sees you are or further away for example.

The ribs are a place which can obviously hurt if struck correctly. Accessing these can be tricky so correct timing, angling and distancing needs to be employed. If you take posture (by using the eyes or fingers, for example) then these can be more readily accessed.

The fingers are naturally vulnerable too – often if someone is attacking you these will be the nearest thing to hand to utilize and they are a great leveller if taken at the right moment. Sven at the weekend demonstrated that taking any point should be done in a way that was mobile – I.e. You don’t grab firmly and keep hold on this point – you adjust and move so the person cannot resist too readily and compensate.

A Sunday With Sven

This weekend just gone I had the pleasure of training with Sven Eric Bogsater – this individual is one of the ‘Four Kings of Europe’ as called by Soke. He has a huge amount of experience in training within the Bujinkan and can offer people attending his seminars a wealth of information.

I was able to attend the Sunday session of the two day event and we looked at a range of material, but for about half the day we examined a form from Shinden Fudo Ryu. Sven explained that the way it is taught and shown within the original school is a little different than the way he has been shown it as it appears within the Ten Chi Jin – which is a Bujinkan construct, not a creation of the original school. Sven pointed out that Soke has laid out the Ten Chi Jin for people in the Bujinkan to practice and develop their understanding in Soke’s way of doing things, but also to practice the original form as shown from the school, as Soke’s movement has developed from this. Sven explained that within Shinden Fudo Ryu the idea is to strip oneself back to one’s natural essence and be in an extreme form of naturalness – i.e. Look into oneself and drop your ego and the mask that people put on to others. From there you can enter this idea of being ‘zero’.

Sven demonstrated the waza and the different ways he has been shown it from different sources and then looked at using weapons and how this impacted upon the range and space. This included looking at using the sword, the jo and the naginata. Sven emphasised the need to put some ‘feeling’ into what you do and to work on the reactions of the person receiving the technique.

As the day progressed Sven started to look at different taijutsu options and how to use the Kihon as the lynch pin to this work, including how to deal with multiples. The multiple work I found particularly tricky, as demonstrated by Sven as he was using minimal contact.

This mis-direction and using his timing and distancing to unsettle the structure of the person will give me plenty to train on in the coming months.

One point made by Sven was that people clearly need to keep training in their foundation and not to get carried away with trying too much clever stuff – I.e. Learn to walk before you can run. Therefore I will continue to have a strong emphasis on this within my own training, working on body posture, hitting, receiving, angling and the points within the Kihon.

Sven mentioned that when he spoke with Soke in September, it was detailed how people in the Bujinkan need to increase their knowledge to be better informed in what they do – as people have been up until now have been relying upon their abilities. Combine greater knowledge with one’s own ability then someone’s capabilities and scope for improvement can grow.

This certainly gives food for thought and I would recommend people to attend these types of events.

Preserving The Heart

The Bujinkan Arts have this idea of Fudoshin within them – that is of being enduring or having an immovable or unflappable heart. I understand the character for ‘Nin’ means to endure or survive.

Within our training we must always strive for this idea of preserving our heart or our spirit. This should spill out into our daily lives as a natural extension of being a Budoka. This also is connected to this concept of ’10,000 changes and no surprises’. That is, you keep your head and deal with what is happening about you with this immovable or unshakeable spirit.

These are heady ideals, but I think worth striving for.

I also think, as a Shidoshi I have an important role to play with this idea of preserving the arts that make up the Bujinkan. The Bujinkan itself is a recent creation, but the actual methodology, techniques and principles are much, much older. As a Shidoshi I have a part to maintain this connection between the future of the Bujinkan, its present and its past. In other words, I have to ensure I preserve the heart of what makes up the essence of the martial arts I have learnt, through maintaining my own training and development but also to share what I know with the people who come to train with me. In the future they may in turn have this responsibility and be Shidoshi themselves.

Strangely enough, as I understand it, Shidoshi means something like a ‘keeper of the way’, not teacher or instructor. The certificate that is issued once the Godan test is passed doesn’t state you know it all – it simply says that you have some knowledge. It is not a certificate of mastery. As a Shidoshi then I have a role to develop my understanding further, but also to preserve and pass on what knowledge I have. There is obviously a danger here of passing on information that you have not fully grasped to others. This is a potential pit fall, but one can only aim to persevere at improving all the time and making sure that anyone attending your training recognises that you are simply passing on what you understand of the arts.

The Starting Point

Training in the martial arts can be a time consuming and a long process if one wants to be any good at them. I recall reading when Nagato Sensei was asked about what is important in martial arts training, he simply said ‘find a good teacher’. Sound advice I feel, and this process is not always an easy one either.
I was lucky – I had trained in other martial arts before finding the Bujinkan (quite by accident really), and was not sure about attending at first, as there was a mention of Ninjutsu within the flyer I had picked up. It also mentioned Samurai arts too, so I figured I’d take a look and go with an open mind. When I arrived at the class, people were friendly, and when the class started I immediately noticed that the methodology shown had real value and covered the gaps that had been present in my previous martial arts training (I had done Judo and Karate and some Tai Chi prior to this, in total about 4 years worth of experience). The teacher, Phil, clearly knew his subject, and was able to do things that simply took people’s ability to fight apart. I noted his foot work and the sneaky and pragmatic application of this knowledge and felt impressed, but also a little scared. I think this ‘fear’ factor is important for any prospective student to feel. If you are not somewhat scared of your teacher, then there is no point visiting them. You should also respect them as individuals, and they should be able to communicate to you in a way that makes sense (as any teacher should be able to). Some practitioners within the Bujinkan are skilled and excellent at what they do, but don’t necessarily make good teachers because of this lack of ability in conveying ideas and principles.
I was lucky enough to train with Phil for about 9 years, and since then I have been fortunate enough to find one of Phil’s students to learn from, Duncan. Again, he ticks the boxes in terms of being an excellent practitioner, but also able to communicate ideas clearly. Another aspect to think about is the person you learning from simply a teacher, or do they continually seek to improve their own understanding and skills. If they do, then you have found someone definitely worth training with.
I would recommend anyone to think about these points before starting on your martial journey.

Evolution

The Beginners Course was a positive event for the club – we had a handful of new people start training and people learnt and enjoyed themselves. It is really important for the success and growth of any class to have new people begin their training journey. It challenges the existing members to develop different skills, and assist the new people. I have heard that as a martial artist you should obviously build your own skills and become a better practitioner, but also this should be balanced out with assisting those people who come to class. This assists in the well-being of your Dojo, helps you develop your own abilities to analyse, and also fosters a sense of responsibility for the new student. This process also serves as a means by which everyone training steadily improves – the existing members have to improve in order to assist the new people, the new people get better, and this triggers off further development in the longer serving students.

As the person leading the training, I have to refine my knowledge, be able to explain, show and assist all who train in the class. This again, aids my progression and development.

A further outcome for having new people start is that it will help the martial art grow, and also benefits society more widely – I believe that martial arts help make our world safer. Martial artists, if training with the correct mind-set, serve as protectors and individuals who can do the right thing (and this does not mean become vigilantes). More so, I feel that having people around who train and take this training seriously are moral and decent, and surely if there are more folk around like this, then this has to be a good thing. This ties in with Jack Hoban’s philosophy, which I think is an excellent way to view martial training:

http://www.examiner.com/martial-arts-fitness-in-chicago/from-killer-to-protector-redefining-the-marine-warrior-ethic-through-martial-arts

This article shows how training should be focused on the moral and ethical outcomes of your actions, leading to people who are able to protect others and themselves.

Through this martial journey, I hope that I, and the people who attend my classes develop our skills and hone our moral compass, and that we continue to evolve as individuals and martial artists.

 

Revision and New Insights

We have continued to work on the Ten Chi Jin these  past couple of months. We have completed our revision of the Book Of Chi, having studied throwing and other movements during July, and finished off our review of this material with strangles and choking methods.

Some interesting points came out through the training. Increasingly it is apparent that without proper co-ordination of one’s own body, following the logical building blocks of effective movement found within the Ten Chi Jin, then if you come into learning these movements ‘half way through’ – i.e. start with the Chi, rather than the Ten, you will rapidly become lost.

Within the training during this period we looked at how to disturb and disrupt the base of the opponent to enable throwing movements to happen. If the person has a base they cannot be thrown. The aim of the practitioner is to prevent the person establishing a base from which they can easily resist from. Once the base is upset and disturbed, using careful footwork, striking and guiding movements, then you can then use a throwing movement. Throws in the Bujinkan are generally not done in a manner where you aim to throw the person on their back – as in Judo. The aim is to throw the person in a way which injures them. Careful training is needed here to avoid injuries in training and developing trust in your partner.

We also studied the locking techniques when studying the material from the Book of Chi, again, from the point of view of disturbing the person’s base – once the person is off their balance and unable to effectively position their bodies, you can apply a locking technique or throw them into a locking technique, or ultimately they fall into one as they attempt to escape.

We looked  at training with strangles/chokes – these are difficult to apply when thinking about self protection in my opinion. They are useful to learn, but they can take some time to apply fully and there is the potential (particularly if facing the person’s front) for being struck and countered.

We then moved onto looking at the movements within the Book of Jin, which is the last level of training.  This carried us through July and into August. These forms help build upon the learning that has already taken place, and shows other ways of moving in numerous contexts. The first section of the Book of Jin covers looking at how to work from the floor, and it also looks at how to deal with grabs from the front, strangles from the rear and attempts at being thrown. The names within the techniques do help in understanding the thrust or principle that is being conveyed within the material shown, and their meaning is not always apparent.

Working through the Book of Jin, some of the differences between the schools can be explored. The material is drawn from the 6 main schools studied within the Bujinkan, and this work does help us understand some of the contextual differences between the methodology and tactical outcomes from each.

I feel is important to examine the Ten Chi Jin on a regular basis as it helps capture some of the broad principles found within the Bujinkan martial arts. It is also important as these lessons have been passed down over many generations to us, as they have worked and helped people survive over this time.

The next session we meet up to train in is for the beginners course – this will be an excellent opportunity for new people to start and get an introduction to these arts, and for existing students to brush up on the fundamentals again. I intend to run the course from a principles point of view, rather than a ‘technique A’ for dealing with ‘scenario A’ perspective. I feel this will help avoid some of the confusion faced when starting out in this art. As Jack Hoban commented previously, tactics must come before techniques.

Step By Step

We are continuing to work our way through the Ten Chi Jin in class – this session just gone we spent time on looking at the final movements and principles from the Book of Ten and moved into the Book of Chi.

Within the Mutodori of the Book of Ten there are three techniques which are taken from Gyokko Ryu. These three ways of doing things have not been randomly placed in here – they clearly illustrate ideas based upon differing contexts. The first technique shows if you have the option of escape and covering distance – when thinking of the rolling in these forms, it is important to recognise that you would not be doing these movements in a brightly lit room. Most likely it would be dark and there would be natural terrain to hopefully help you in your escape (e.g. trees/ditches, etc).  The second form shows if you are able to roll to a place where the person is not expecting you to go as you don’t have the luxury or distance to escape to, but still have enough space to try to get around them. I feel it is important when doing this movement to make sure you are placed to cover any second attack. The final form shows if you have no other option but to close and deal with the attacker directly – this could be due to time, space or your belief you may well prevail if you can close them down assertively and rapidly.

The Book of Chi builds on the prior learning which has taken place from the Book of Ten. The first forms from this show moving against people grabbing your wrists, then body then attempts to throw. These movements should be practiced with the mind-set that the person will be trying to do something else to you following their initial grab or hold.  Last night we looked at the timing in taking these attacks to prevent the person being able to get a proper hold or forceful attack in by catching their movement and placing oneself in spaces where the opponent has limited options. These movements, including the next series of options (kicking in response being grabbed etc.) should be, in my opinion, done in a manner where the person attack becomes nullified fairly early and intercepted. It should not be trained in the manner of someone grabs, then you formulate your responses – by then it will be too late. Interestingly, later on in the Ten Chi Jin there are movements shown where you are caught a little off guard and you have to deal with a person who has managed to corner or capture you more effectively – for example in some of the throwing counters where you have been thrown and you use this to help trigger off your response.

We finished last night on working on the kicking counters, looking at distance and counter strikes, then using Ken Kudaki to disrupt the body position of the attacker, again, done in the manner of expecting a follow up attack. Hence, the Kihon of effective positioning, timing and body mechanics come into play, to help prevent or disturb any further action on the part of the attacker.

The Ten Chi Jin is an excellent tool for teaching and training, as long as it is not viewed as a random collection of material, but as a way of looking at principles of self protection, with each step leading onto another step in a natural and logical manner.

Resistance

Last night we trained with resistance and a non-cooperative uke. This made training in the Kihon Happo ‘grappling/locking/balance breaking/structure taking’ techniques very challenging and interesting.

A couple of  points came from this training -

1) The way the Kihon is laid out is that the mainly hitting/striking techniques are taught before the grappling. I feel this is important and points to the fact that striking is the primary method to maintain your safety. If the person gets close enough to grapple forcibly with you, striking is a primary way of maintaining your own safety.

2) In the dojo people often simply walk up and hold you arm, or your lapel and wait for you to start your technique – in the real world people will be moving as they grab and looking to do something next - be it a throw, push you, pull you or hit you. This helps in many cases the next part of your response.

3) In some instances, training against resistance leads to the person grabbing simply putting loads of tension into their body - it will be nigh on impossible to move them and apply a throwing/locking technique if they do this. Most likely, if the person simply tenses up and resists totally then you will need to hit them – and hit them pretty hard. Normally if this happens, they move away or back off and gives you space and time ready for their next attack, which will most likely be some form of fist or foot attack from distance (and hence the first three principles and movements found in the striking parts of the Kihon help here).

4) If someone is being strong, they will also try to counter what you do if you are able to position yourself to begin some form of lock or throw. This is particularly true if they know a little about how locks/throws work and if they know you are entering into one. If they counter, again this movement may well provide you with an opportunity to exploit their body position as they shift their weight and balance. If they simply close down and resist, this may well also create another option for you – e.g. if you go to apply ganseki, and they try to stand up and direct their force upwards, you may well be able to throw them on their back from this momentum.

5) If the person is actively resisting their focus can well lead them to not see other avenues of movement – they are moving from a offensive posture into a defensive one as they try to stop you doing what ever it is you are trying to do. This is good in some ways as the person is no longer attacking you, though you end up having to re-create an opportunity for them to move into a place where you can exploit their position through covering your real intentions. Ultimately, last night due to my crude understanding, most often I simply found myself relying upon striking to enable me to keep safe if they really had a good position where they could resist from.

6) If someone is entering in, I found a good tactic is to seize the initiative before they were able to ‘hunker down’ and settle into a decent hold or grab – normally hitting as you create the next step in your movement to unbalance them. It is interesting to note that 4 of the 5 grappling techniques from the Kihon normally begin with a hit in their most basic form. The first technique, omate gyaku, which does not involve a hit, seems to work best when the person is caught as they come into grab (as if they put a hand on you and grab, then they are likely then to follow with a punch – which is covered in omate gyaku tsuki which involves hitting to begin the process of un-balancing).

I am positive there are more points to be raised as time goes on about working with resistance and non-cooperative partners, and I will add to this in time I am sure.