K I H O N
Newsletter #25
AUGUST 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
>> Sempai Advice
>> Taijutsu Tips
>> Budo Quotes
>> Keiko Events
>> Shoshin Comments
**** SHIDOSHI INSIGHTS ***
Blade of Grass
Joe Maurantonio, BNYD
In ancient times one of the names of the ninja was
kusa. This alias, much like shinobi, was used to
describe mysterious operatives from a certain
Japanese clans. The kanji pictograph for kusa
means 'grass' and is derived from the clan members
that strategically used hiding in fields and
woodlands to become invisible to their enemy.
From their description as kusa (grass), there are
three relevant insights we have come to learn
about our martial arts training.
The first insight is that grass is abundant. Grass
can grow most anywhere it has space. Blending with
the grass gives us the notion that our training
must be abundant and take place wherever grass
grows. Simply put, our training takes place
regardless of where we happen to be at any given
time. Training is not limited to one place or to
scheduled hours of the week, but rather must be
acted upon in every facet of one's life.
Our second insight is that although each blade of
grass looks the same they are all unique.
Different in size, texture and color they still
blend together to form a collective body in our
gardens and fields. From this we learn that though
we all are unique individuals, training is a
binding factor. Furthermore, though we may apply
the principles of body movement with slight
variations, it is those principles that bind us as
students of our chosen art.
Last is that grass grows when watered and trimmed.
Grass returns season after season, again and
again. Though displaced and trampled upon, in time
the blades return to their upright position. They
harbor no ill will or animosity. Accordingly, we
see the lesson of perseverance. In the face of
adversity, we must move with the world around us,
adapt, let go of resentment, and continue onward.
By embodying lessons that we learn from the kusa,
we can see our training as a constant part of our
daily lives with nuances that individualize its
principles while binding us to our fellow martial
artists.
**** SEMPAI ADVICE ****
Basic Information
Glenn Catania, BNYD
Walking is a motion we take for granted. The
simplest of movements; it requires no thought.
Point yourself in the direction you want to go and
WALK. If you think about it, how do we do it? What
fires in our nervous system that makes our limbs
move without conscious thought? It is a miracle.
Without this ability we would never be able to get
from here to there. In our art of taijutsu, the
kihon is what fires our ability to move. The
basics are where all the movements come from.
Imagine attempting koku (a kata) from Gyokko ryu
if you have never done ichimonji no kata. It would
be like attempting to walk up a flight of stairs
without legs. You would be doing it without a
base, without a foundation. Our basics are the
steering wheel - without which you couldn't drive
the car.
Practicing the basics teaches you very important
items. They show you the way our movements feel.
When you learn to ride a bike, you put two hands
on the handlebars and go. As you get better you
are able to ride with one hand, and eventually you
can ride without holding the handlebars. You could
never have done that unless you used two hands
first. This is walk before you run, sure- but what
about draw before you paint? When you get to a
higher level of taijutsu, the basics (kihon) give
you a place to invent, to create from. When
attacked, there is no way to plan what you will
do. More than likely, though, something will feel
familiar in the attack. Some piece of what is
being thrown at you will remind your body of
something else that was thrown in training.
New students are always trying to see what the
older student are working on. Here is a little
surprise. They are working on the same things as
the new students, just at a different level. Every
punch, kick, lock we get is being received with
something from the kihon, some part or piece of it.
I began this short article stating that walking is
something we take for granted. If you are a newer
student do not take the basics for granted.
Practice them until you think you know them 100%
(you don't). Then practice them some more. If you
work hard you will one day ride without your hands
on the handlebars.
**** TAIJUTSU TIPS ****
Intangible Roadblocks
Don Houle, BNYD
Students new to budo taijutsu, faced with a
movement they are struggling with, will often say
"I can't do this." or "I can't move like that!"
Sometimes the student will fumble around,
attempting to get his uke into whatever technique
the teacher is demonstrating until the instructor
comes over to offer assistance. Other times, he or
she will modify the technique being shown to fit
their own movement or their own ideas of what the
technique should be
In this scenario, the student is cheating himself
of learning the new movement. By allowing his mind
to decide what his body is capable of, he limits
his future ability to the repertoire of techniques
he's already capable of performing. In budo, it's
important to remember that ones mind will often
play tricks on us by placing non-existent barriers
in our way. Although they exist only in ones mind,
these barriers can be as difficult to overcome as
any real physical obstruction. Sometimes these
hindrances take the form of fears that limit our
ability to perform a particular technique. Other
times, they may be issues that seem to be
unrelated to our martial arts training entirely.
Whether these barriers are as seemingly simple as
making it to class on time or as difficult as a
fear of putting ones physical safety in the hands
of a fellow student, they can all lead to the
student giving up on the martial arts.
It's easy to reject techniques that cause these
uncertainties or difficulties to arise and change
the movement to something more comfortable. It
should be clear that the instructor has your best
interests in mind and that he or she has offered
this technique as a stepping-stone to greater
taijutsu skill. Modifying the technique is an easy
way out. In cases like this, one must retake
control and recall that our conscious minds not
our subconscious fears control our bodys actions.
Problems in performing a technique should lead the
student to work harder to gain the skills
necessary to make the movement work as
demonstrated by the instructor. Only by pushing
past ones comfort zones can the student of budo
taijutsu gain a higher understanding of our art.
**** BUDO QUOTES ****
"A sincere martial artist has to keep training,
to be steadfast to changes that occur or the
passage of time, and live with an eagerness
for budo as his base."
By Masaaki Hatsumi
[Ninpo: Wisdom for Life, Page 42]
http://www.kihon.com/ninpo/
**** KEIKO EVENTS ****
* Bujinkan Tai Kai (USA)
http://www.taikai.com/
* New York Workshops and Events
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/events.html
* Bujinkan New York Dojo
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/ny.html
* Bujinkan Middlesex Shibu
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/nj.html
**** SHOSHIN COMMENTS ****
A Small Lesson
John Rizzo
Many, if not most, new students have a difficult
time with our formal sitting postures. They feel
unnatural, and even painful. Even after the
student is past the pain, the discomfort usually
remains.
Some of my own thoughts were, "Who would have made
up such an odd way to sit?" and "It's like they
went out of their way to make it difficult." I've
recently discovered that nothing could be further
from the truth.
My nine-month old son has, in the past few months,
started sitting up on his own and crawling about.
Just this past weekend I noticed how he was
sitting, and I got a little chuckle out of it. He
was sitting in seiza ("right seat": in which we
tuck both legs beneath us and sit on our heels).
It occurred to me that every child I've ever been
around sits like that.
While I was paying attention to him, my son
crawled off to another spot and sat up again. He
was sitting in a perfect fudoza ("unmovable seat":
in which we fold one leg beneath us and sit on the
foot, the other foot is drawn in to the folded
knee). I almost couldn't believe it.
In a moment of sudden insight, I realized that
babies only have access to the most natural of
body movements- until they're old enough to learn
taught behaviors. My son had "invented" seiza and
fudoza because they are completely instinctive.
The reason is simple. In a word: Balance.
Babies are contending with a weak body and a
disproportionately heavy head. Imagine taking a
sedative and trying to carry a filled fish tank on
your shoulder, and you may have some idea of what
they're contending with. To sit, they must create
ways in which balance is inherent. Fudoza and
seiza are the obvious choices.
In comparison, think about how most of us now sit
on floors. We fold our legs and sit "cross-
legged"- and to do so without rolling over
backward, we must lean a bit forward. To stand
from this, we have to uncross our legs, lean
further forward, and finally get up. To rise from
fudoza or seiza, you must merely take a step
forward.
We have unlearned the most natural postures
available to our bodies, and have done such a
thorough job of it that we've made them not only
unnatural, but uncomfortable.
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KIHON Newsletter and all contents
Copyright (c) 1999, 2002 by Joe Maurantonio
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