K I H O N
Newsletter #27
March 2003 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 Wisdom
>> Sempai Insights
>> Taijutsu Tips
>> Budo Quotes
>> Keiko Events
>> Shoshin Comments
*** Shidoshi Wisdom ****
A Decade to Remember
Joe Maurantonio, Shidoshi (BNYD)
December of 2002 marked the Bujinkan New York
Dojo's tenth anniversary of our Bronxville School.
On the actual anniversary, we didn't skip class to
have a tall brew at a local pub, we didn't dine
out at our favorite pizza place nor did we
reminisce about the early days of the dojo.
Instead, we came together at the dojo and trained
as if it was any normal class evening. We even
trained in many of the same techniques we did in
December of 1992. The main difference was that we
were a decade older.
I am sure that many of you would agree with me
that ten years is a pretty long time. Most dot.com
businesses don't last a few months, many
storefront businesses don't last two or three
years, many friendships don't last half that long,
and many car engines won't see ten years.
Many teachers find that it's a lot of work to
teach; showing lessons as we have learned them,
coming up with new ideas to pass on the tradition,
to make training fun, and of always thinking about
your students first and yourself second. For us at
the Bujinkan New York Dojo, that's not totally
true; we train with our students, learning as much
as we give. We work on the same lessons, but to a
depth befitting our skills and abilities.
Together many of us have been to restaurants,
weddings, movies, seminars, tai kai and other
events to share the best of times. We've shared
tears of laughter and sadness. Here we have found
teachers, students, brothers, sisters and friends.
We have watched martial arts schools come go and
go. Our members have stood together to weather the
nightmares of great snowstorms, flash floods,
illness, and the tragedy of terrorism.
Our training has crafted a bond between us, a bond
that has helped many of us through both the best
and worst of times. Because of this many of us are
dedicated to our own tradition: Tuesday nights we
meet like warriors of old, to explore lessons that
help us to become better fighters, better friends,
and better human beings.
There is little I can say to adequately thank the
people that have helped make this happen. Glenn
Catania is my oldest dojo friend. When asked what
he thought about renting this new location he
said: "Let's Do It. Let's open the school and see
what happens." I would not have made the leap
without his gentle push.
A few weeks after we were in the dojo, a young
seventeen-year old kid named Fred Feddeck walked
in and joined us. Within a short period he was
setting the high standards by which we all came to
measure ourselves. Today, Fred is a sandan and in
charge of our Thursday night classes. A class I
sometimes come in to enjoy.
Unlike many, Don Houle had studied with several
other Bujinkan teachers prior to joining our
school. He had a black belt before he ever
visited, and chose to join us instead of the other
dojo in the area. It has been a GREAT boon to this
school to have his gentle words and keen insight.
To these individuals, and the many others that
have been or are a current part of our school, I
wish to thank you and for being a part of the
Bujinkan New York Dojo's journey.
**** Sempai Insights ****
Keep Going
Don Houle, Shidoshi-Ho (BNYD)
Just a few days ago, I found myself looking at
some old Ninpo-related books and training notes.
As I flipped through the pages of my first
notebook, now tattered and a little worse for
wear, I was reminded of the feelings I had during
my first year or so of training in this art. Each
session introduced some new and foreign movement
and several exciting lessons in how to move my
body to avoid dangerous punches, kicks or knife
stabs. One aspect that made this all the more
exciting was that these movements I was learning
were so similar to things I had been looking at in
books by Hatsumi sensei and Stephen K. Hayes for
years before my first actual lesson with my
teacher. I was finally performing some of these
same techniques!
I also remembered feeling overwhelmed by all of
this new information. How could I ever really
embody all of the concepts and techniques that my
teacher was showing me? How could I ever connect
two or more physical techniques to capture the
nagare (flow) for which my seniors in this art
were constantly striving? Although I didnt know
when or even if I would ever be able to do these
things, I continued training for the sheer
enjoyment. A few months became a few years and
slowly, I did start to see these concepts come to
life in my own movement. My ability to link
techniques together remained pretty weak, but I
continued to train with my teacher and on my own.
I dont know when I stopped feeling like I would
never be able to live up to the techniques in
those books. It might have been when the books
began to take a back seat to my own training.
Maybe it was when I actually had the opportunity
to train with the authors of those books and I saw
that these people were not supermen, they were
just more experienced than I. Regardless of the
actual moment that I stopped feeling that way,
when I looked at the pictures in some of these
books just a few days ago, I found myself
recognizing series of techniques that I had
performed many, many times before without
difficulty - sometimes without even thinking about
them! These concepts had become part of me without
realizing it. Through continued training and trust
in my teachers and sempai (seniors) I had achieved
some understanding of budo taijutsu.
**** Taijutsu Tips ****
Rolling
Garrett Galimi, BNYD
How I think of rolling Rolling has three parts.
Entry and exit are the most important. Entry is
how do I get from here: walking, running,
standing, leaping, falling, kneeling, different
kameas, into a roll. Exit focuses on how to get
out of the roll, and move into: a run, walk, leap,
and different kameas. Within each entry and exit
there exist many options, two-handed rolls, one-
handed, no hands, one leg, no legs from the air.
The middle portion of the roll is about being a
ball, and what parts of the body will touch a
surface.
How I practice rolling In the beginning I chose to
roll on an empty stomach and soft surface, until
my skill improved. Front shoulder roll (zenpo
kaiten) was the first roll shown to me, so that
began my rolling practice. I would begin standing
up, and lower myself very slowly to the ground
with both hands, until my shoulder touched the
ground. Then I would try, and fail, to roll from
shoulder to opposite hip. If the roll worked, I
would get up using both hands for balance. As I
learned more rolls, I practiced them in the same
manner. Once I had some very basic rolling skills,
the experimentation stage began, and has not
ended. I tried one-hand, no hands, from a leap.
Can I roll across the front lawn, and pick up the
newspaper while rolling? What is it like to roll
on mud, ice, and concrete? How about in dress
shoes, a winter coat, summer shorts, on a full
stomach? Each question inspires a new roll to work
on. When difficulty arises I slow it down, and go
back to the beginning. I practice the most basic
form of the roll, and play with it slowly until it
makes sense.
Three Tips for better rolls: 1) Relax, Relax,
Relax! Relaxing will make your rolls easier to do,
and more flowing. It will help your breathing;
which will help your roll by keeping oxygen
flowing to your brain, and keeping you alert.
Reducing unnecessary tension lowers the
probability of straining yourself. If you do not
use unnecessary energy you will have more energy.
Relaxing through a roll enables you to feel what
your body is doing. Once you know what your body
is doing, you have the information necessary to
improve the roll.
2) Practice, Practice, Practice. There is one way
to practice rolling: roll! Like anything in life,
if you want to get good at it, its going to take
hard work. There are several different ways you
could practice, which are only limited by your
imagination. When practicing, always use caution
to not hurt yourself. Not hurting yourself has a
lot to do with knowing your body.
3) Realize rolling is a physical act. Your
physical ability and shape will affect the roll.
If you lack flexibility to curl into a ball, it
will be difficult to roll like one. More
stretching will help that. If you lack strength
and balance to easily lower, and raise yourself to
the ground, that becomes the physical movement you
must overcome for improvement. Focus on what you
have to do for improvement.
*** Budo Quotes *****
"In order to not be immersed in evil,
you have to comprehend evil and then
you can develop a strong spirit to
dispel its darkness."
By Masaaki Hatsumi
Ninpo: Wisdom for Life, Pg. 119
Buy it online at:
http://www.kihon.com/ninpo/
*** Keiko Events *****
* New York Workshops and Events
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/events.html
* Bujinkan New York Dojo
http://www.kihon.com/dojo/
**** Shoshin Comments ****
Train At Your Level
John Rizzo, BNYD
Thinking back to when I first started training in
the Bujinkan arts, I remember many frustrations.
For the first few weeks, I really concentrated on
rolling when I was practicing. During one class, a
sempai (senior student) took me aside and
explained that I was rolling incorrectly. What I
had been practicing at home was wrong.
That was a little upsetting. Why hadnt I been told
sooner? I had practiced it the "wrong" way so much
that Id grown used to it. It had started to feel
natural. So, why then had I been allowed to
continue rolling improperly when I was in class
until my sempai finally took me aside?
The answer is simple: what I was doing back then
really wasnt that bad for a beginner. I wasnt
going to injure myself with what I was doing. Had
that been the case, I surely would have been
corrected. The sempai and my sensei said nothing
until they felt it was time for further
instruction.
This still happens, even today. Not too long ago,
my sensei saw me do a back roll (koho kaiten) and
pulled me aside. He told me that what I was doing
wasnt quite a back roll, it wasnt quite correct. I
wasnt upset this time, realizing that what I was
doing up until that point was "good enough" for
where I had been.
As you progress, more is expected of you. I asked
my sempai for assistance, and together we worked
on my back rolls. And for now, that is how I
practice them. When I get better yet, my sensei
and sempai will work with me on how to further
improve them.
For now, though, I'm practicing them at my level.
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KIHON Newsletter and all contents
Copyright (c) 1999, 2003 by Joe Maurantonio
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