K I H O N
Newsletter #17
June 2001 ISSN# 1534-1437
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An email newsletter focusing on Ninjutsu/Budo
Taijutsu training. Published by www.KIHON.com
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**** CONTENTS ****
>> Taijutsu Tips: Training Tips
>> Sempai Insights: Instructor Insights
>> Budo Quotes: Martial Arts Quotes
>> Keiko Events: Upcoming Events
>> Shoshin Comments: Comments
*** Taijutsu Tips *****
How To Attend A Seminar
Fred F. Feddeck, BNYD
Many people in the Bujinkan attend different
training seminars offered outside of the dojo they
train in. These can be very fun and exciting, in
addition to providing some good training points.
There are several things you can do when you
attend these events to get the most out of them.
Arrive early: If you think it takes an hour to get
to the seminar, leave an hour and a half before
the event. You dont want to be late due to getting
lost or traffic problems. Besides being
disrespectful to the hosting dojo and seminar
instructor, you may miss some key information that
sets the entire pace of the seminar. Always get to
a seminar early, as this will give you time to
fill out any paper work that may be required for
you to train, and will also allow you time to
change and warm up.
Respect: Do not forget that you are a guest
training at the seminar. Keep your training bag
neatly packed and placed aside where it is not in
the way. Treat the dojo and the other students
with respect. You want yourself and others from
your dojo to be welcome at future seminars.
Appearance: Remember that while you are training
at the seminar you are also representing your
dojo, and this is reflecting back on your teacher.
Besides being respectful and training with good
heart, make sure your gi is clean and not in
disrepair. A neat appearance and attention to
detail show an awareness of tradition and respect
for the training as well.
Notes: Taking good notes is the one of the "keys"
to a successful seminar. Remember, so much
information is going to be shown in such a brief
time, the only way you will be able to really
practice it and work through the material later
(on your own) is by taking good notes. During any
breaks or during lunch, take a few moments by
yourself to write down any feelings or movements.
Be friendly: Training at a seminar is not only
about learning from the guest teacher. It is also
a chance to meet and talk to people from other
dojo. It is a unique opportunity to talk with
like-minded training people and share some of
their insights into training.
*** Sempai Insights *****
Rushing
Don Houle, BNYD
Many students of Budo Taijutsu often rush through
their training. Newer students are always looking
for some "new" technique, or at least a different
way of applying an old technique, that will make
them "better." Students who have been around for a
while may charge through the drills and exercises
that they have performed many times before,
hurrying to get to the "real training." Even
senior students may hurry through working with a
junior student to be able to move on and work with
someone closer to their own level.
In my own experience, I have trained with many
people who seem to think that one should sprint
through training, and that they should always see
immediate and marked improvement in their
taijutsu. To these students, the goal is just
around the corner and they are running to catch
it. What I have found is that it *always* seems
like the goal is right around the corner. Then you
get around the corner and it's moved on - like
some kind of wacky bus system! This type of
student may find him or herself exhausted from the
constant game of cat and mouse. The truth is,
plateaus, walls and pitfalls, setbacks and
injuries, and all the other obstacles are not
impediments to our training - they ARE the
training! Now, it may sound like I am saying
"don't work too hard in training," but that's not
really it. We should train hard with the intent of
improving, but we shouldn't get too stressed about
it when we are forced to take some time off from
training, or when we don't see instant
improvement. After all, if we are in this art for
the long haul, then we have a lifetime of learning
ahead of us!
*** Budo Quotes *****
In the densho, there are descriptions of shoden
[beginning level], chuden [intermediate level],
okuden [advanced level], and gokui [essential
teachings]... My students practice these waza
one by one. After about ten years, they will
master most of the waza. I tell them, "The waza
described in the densho are only elementary ones.
Do not fool yourselves, no matter how good you
are, into thinking that you have completed the
menkyo kaiden [license for complete mastery]. You
would be better off thinking that the material
you completed was simply shoden. Then when you
finally graduate training, it is like mastering
chuden. Okuden is the real life from then on..."
By Masaaki Hatsumi
[Ninpo: Wisdom for Life, page 144]
http://kihon.com/ninpo/
*** Keiko Events *****
* Bujinkan New York Dojo
http://kihon.com/
* BNYD Events
http://kihon.com/events/
* Mark O'Brien USA Seminars
http://kihon.com/mob.html
* Bujinkan New York Dojo
27 Milburn Street
Bronxville, NY 10708
http://kihon.com/ny/
*** Shoshin Comments *****
Attacking With Everything
Lauren Brandstein, editor
A while ago, working with a black belt in my dojo,
I was taken a bit by surprise. The attack was a
grab and punch. My sempai grabbed me, waited a
beat, and then punched with a speed, force, and
intensity I was not entirely expecting or prepared
for. An instant later I found myself shockingly
intact, having successfully removed *almost* every
part of my body from the line of his punch,
including the all-important face. However, I was
in a fairly awkward and dangerous position, too
close and off balance, trapped at the foot and
knee by his forward leg.
After, when I was able to think back, I realized
it had not really been that fast or that hard a
punch.
What got me was not so much speed or power, but
the way he attacked with everything, every part of
himself. He attacked with his whole body, using
not just his fist and arm, but the driving weight
of his body and the necessary step as weapons
themselves, moving me, trapping me. He caught my
foot because he was stepping through, and it was
there; he committed whole-heartedly to the punch,
and I had been training complacently, half-
heartedly. He startled me with the intensity of
his purpose and his surety of movement, which I
had mistakenly perceived as muscular strength and
actual speed. It was essentially his intention,
physically manifest, that caught me by surprise.
He had the intention, not of harming me, but of
*forcing* me, to evade, counter, or simply move
(had I been struck). In any case, I was giving up
ground, reacting to him. He attacked with a true
budo spirit: the intention of giving training the
effort, attention, and respect it deserves (and
that make it worthwhile), and forcing me to do the
same.
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** DISCLAIMER **
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