K I H O N
Newsletter #22
Jan/Feb 2002 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 ****
>> Shidoshi Insights: Worth Protecting
>> Taijutsu Tips: Training Tips
>> Kata Ideas: Thoughts on Technique
>> Budo Quotes: Martial Arts Quotes
>> Keiko Events: Upcoming Events
>> Shoshin Comments: Comments
*** Shidoshi Insights *****
A Good Face Is Worth Protecting
Joe Maurantonio, Shidoshi (BNYD)
It is important to keep one's guard up at all
times. Many new students spend extra time
practicing our tradition's various kamae
(postures) so they can learn the foundations of
our martial art. Yet, the important features of
these kamae are often neglected. The important
quality of any kamae is the strategic placement of
the limbs for offensive and defensive actions. A
large part of this is the placement of the arms to
protect the head, neck, upper torso, abdomen, and
groin, while retaining the ability to strike
easily as well.
Early in training, each student is repeatedly
instructed in the basics of kamae and shown proper
limb placement. As the student becomes more
familiar with the posture, they are instructed in
the purpose of each limb's placement and the
versatility of the kamae, each limb's ability to
attack and defend from its proper location. In the
early days of training, emphasis is placed on
using defensive moves to both protect and counter
a partner's attacks.
As the weeks progress, a student will learn how to
move from kamae to kamae while attacking or
counterattacking a partner. One specific lesson
within these exercises is the importance of
protecting the head and face area.
Most often, newer students begin in a good
posture, but upon throwing a right punch, they
lower their left hand and slacken protection of
the left side of their head. During the punch, the
left hand moves from its proper position of
guarding the head, neck, and upper torso to the
position of guarding - at best - the lower abdomen
and groin.
However, it seems that once the students
understand and remember that their guard needs to
stay up, they do this by holding the arm directly
against their body. This presents a significant
problem for mobility and utilization. One's limbs
should be kept approximately three inches from the
body. If the arms (or elbows) are held too close
to the body, they can easily be trapped and
rendered useless. However, if they are held too
far away from the body, they are easily captured,
and will also present too wide a range of openings
for the opponent's attacks.
Through repetition, we encourage students to keep
their guard where it can be used effectively for
continual attacks and counterattacks. We place
emphasis on keeping the arms slightly away from
the body, but in an aligned position to either
counter or strike the opponent. In class, we often
remind students - both new and old - of the
necessity of protecting one's most important and
vulnerable areas with the humorous, but serious
maxim, "A good face is worth protecting."
*** Taijutsu Tips *****
Tai Sabaki: A Foundation Of Taijutsu
Fred Feddeck, BNYD
Tai sabaki means body evasion, the ability to move
efficiently and position your body safely. It is a
very important skill to develop in taijutsu. It is
used to move your body out of the way of an attack
so you do not get hurt, and also to move into a
position from which you can counterattack your
opponent.
In the dojo, there are many drills that we
practice to develop a solid foundation of tai
sabaki. These often include avoiding cuts with a
bamboo sword and getting out of the way of a
punch. With a partner it is easy to practice these
tai sabaki drills, but how can you practice
outside the dojo? Here are two suggestions:
1. Begin in shizen and imagine that a punch is
being thrown at you. Move your body slowly out of
the way of that punch as you pay careful attention
to keeping your balance and moving smoothly.
2. Tie some cord around a tennis ball and hang the
tennis ball from your ceiling or a tree so it
hangs at your chest level. Stand in front of the
ball and give it a push. As it swings back at you
move your body out of the way at the last moment
as smoothly as possible and do your best not to
get hit.
There are many variations on the above training
drills, and with some imagination they can be
adapted to practice a variety of tai sabaki
methods.
*** Kata Ideas *****
Inashi Gata
Don Houle, BNYD
Although it is very important in creating more
effective taijutsu, inashi gata is not really what
most people would consider to be kata. Inashi gata
is a series of steps to help one develop effective
strikes. Inashi gata has four basic steps:
Accuracy - First, learn the shape of the fist, or
how to hold the weapon. Focus on striking targets
that are appropriate for the weapon in use, (fist,
blade, chain, etc.), and practice lightly hitting
those targets in the same spot over and over.
Distance and angling - Become comfortable with the
effective ranges of the weapon. It is important to
play with the distance and angles from which the
weapon can be employed to cover all possibilities.
Sometimes, creative uses can be uncovered by
striking with the weapon from an "inappropriate"
range. This stage is more about ashi sabaki
(footwork) than about the weapon itself.
Control - Make sure that strikes can be delivered
with the necessary power, and to the appropriate
targets, to effect the required outcome. This
comes about through utilizing the weapon while
training with a partner. Learn the subtleties of
how much force can be safely used without hurting
your partner.
Unification - Once the form is internalized, it's
time to make the weapon an extension of the body.
By striking with the whole body as a coordinated
unit, the weapon becomes a part of our taijutsu
and should no longer be though of as separate from
ourselves.
*** Budo Quotes *****
There should be joy in the martial training, that
is why we have playfulness in ninjutsu.
By Masaaki Hatsumi
[Ninpo: Wisdom for Life, Page 137]
http://www.kihon.com/ninpo/
*** Keiko Events *****
* New York Bujinkan Events
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/events.html
* FREE Self Defense Class - March 19
http://www.kihon.com/free/
* Bujinkan New York Dojo
27 Milburn Street
Bronxville, NY 10708
http://www.kihon.com/ny/
* US Tai Kai
http://www.taikai.com/
*** Shoshin Comments *****
Hicho - Flying Bird
Lauren Brandstein, editor
I have always liked hicho no kata. Maybe because
of the simple sinking strike, allowing me to use
my slight body weight to advantage, or the closer
distance, making it easier for me with my shorter
limbs to attack, so that where my opponent feels
crowded, I feel at ease. My sensei recently said
something in class that reminded me of the hidden
usefulness, the true feeling and beauty of the
kata. He reminded us to utilize the sinking motion
to execute the geidan uke, and a slight rising
motion to execute the kick, and then demonstrated
how it should look. I remembered again at that
moment what hicho means: flying bird.
When I first learned the kamae, I used to put my
arms out to the sides and wave or flap them if I
lost my balance. I imagined settling into the
kamae like a bird landing on a post. I also
sometimes imagined a pole going through the top of
my head, through my spine, through my heal, and
into the ground, like a plumb line showing me the
proper straight alignment. Now these natural
imagines, as well as the name, hicho, make sense
to me. The first strike is like a bird crouching
down in preparation for flight. The kick springs
up like a bird leaping from the bough. The feeling
of springiness is akin in my mind to the coiling
hip/arm motion of a boshiken struck from ju monji,
like the slingshot movement of a comet around the
sun. The strike forward with a shuto is like a
bird gliding forward on the air from the branches
of a tree, effortlessly, with perfect speed and
grace, straight and unstoppable as an arrow loosed
from the bow. One uses gravity and the flowing
momentum of the motion from spring to strike, a
controlled fall without effort, to achieve the
effect of unhindered movement and sail through the
opponent.
It occurs to me that the symbolism of the bird
poised and preparing for flight, springing up and
forward, is also symbolic of the process of
training and living a life of budo. Every day,
every moment of this life is the beginning of
flight, and we are always in the process of taking
off for ever greater heights.
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KIHON Newsletter and all contents
Copyright (c) 1999, 2002 by Joe Maurantonio
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