Doug Wilson will be in the USA and leading a martial arts seminar focusing on effective kihon of budo taijutsu and the aspects of distance angles and timing. Doug will be joined by other instructors throughout the day. Living and working in ...

makes this new Shuko claws ideal 

It is only one month until this great TAI KAI in Stockholm city, if you haven’t signed up on our web site please do that now! Right now we have 73 people from 12 countries signed up. 

It is not too late to sign up if you don’t know if you can come. If you decide late, you can just show up and pay the training fee at the door (no extra cost!).

There is no change of plans really, the instructors got their tickets, we got the venue, and we are excited! But here is a few news…

T-shirt’s, yes we will make a seminar T-shirt. We can’t show you how it will look right now, but it will be black shirts, the front chest will have the viking with the text “Sweden Tai Kai 2011″ under it. The back will have a big painting done by Hatsumi Soke. More info about this next week.

Seminar DVD will be filmed. Pre-orders will only be available during the seminar, the cost will be 350 SEK and it will probably be four discs. DVD will be region free and NTSC system. Payment is done at the booking, and the DVD-set will be sent by mail when it is done (usually within 3-4 weeks).

Saturday dinner and Party. We will have a closed party for participants and friends at Kaigozan Dojo close by. If you want to participate you have to sign up on Friday or latest at Saturday lunch time. You can participate without dinner, but you still have to sign up and we ask you to come little later when people have finished eating. If you want the dinner it will cost around 200-250 SEK paid in advance.

Things to bring with you, we have given the instructors freedom to teach what they want. They will probably build the training’s on what has been done in Japan this year. As usual it is mostly Taijutsu, but do bring small training weapons such as knife, rope etc, also swords (no sharp weapons will be allowed in training!). We have quite a big dojo booked, but we might split the group in two and train outside in the park (bring tabi, extra sweatshirt).

Accomodation will be offered by Stockholm Dojo’s. We will use Kaigozan Dojo for the party, so it will not be very comfortable for sleeping in unless you are prepared to go to sleep late, plus that we will remove all tatami. More information later on this…

If I forgot something please contact me.

/Mats Hjelm – Seminar organizer
kabuto bujinkan se (that’s with an @ and a . in between)

Sweden Tai Kai 2011 is sponsored by Svenska Bujinkanförbundet

It is possible to say that so far this has been a somewhat challenging year on several levels and there are still several months that remain. The year of the rabbit has been truly unpredictable and maybe even cruel in some ways. However, as ...

Hello my Budo friends,


here is few new pictures of my new Hira-sankaku Su-yari

I improve this type of Yari adding more details like is Kabura maki or Chidome, also new Ishizuki or Hirumaki, on blade in new octagonal Kerakubi, Tachiuchi is wrap better etc.
Enjoy in pictures 




if you think that is all, well my friends there is more :-))

Infinite Dots - elevator ceiling, Fujisawa. photo by randomidea

You may have heard about 万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo and how it has emerged to be part of this year's theme along with Kihon Happo. This arose partially because of the earthquake and other events in Japan, but this is also how Hatsumi Sensei seems to explore every year. Soke says,

"To be able to survive and live in the midst of this constant change, it is important to comprehend that which is the essence. To this end, I believe it is important to vary this theme of change every year."

Maybe you have a teacher who reminds you of 万変不驚 Banpen Fugyo all the time. You get the idea of "Ten thousand changes, No surprises", but how to put it into practice?

There is a poem from the 22nd Buddhist Master 摩拏羅:Manorhita,

心隨萬境轉 the mind follows the ten thousand circumstances and shifts accordingly;
轉處實能幽 It is the shifting that is truly undefined.
隨流認得性 Follow the current and recognize your nature;
無喜復無憂 No rejoicing, no sorrow.

How do you recognize your nature and what is it exactly? Manorhita asked one of his teachers this:

“What is the original nature of mind?” Vasubandhu answered, “It is the emptiness of the six sense bases, the six objects and the six kinds of consciousness.” And hearing this, Manorhita was awakened.

The six sense bases are seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and so on. The six objects are forms, sense, sounds, and so on. The six consciousnesses are the acts of hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and so on.

What does it mean for these to be empty? This word emptiness in sanskrit is Śūnyatā. It can also be translated as void, or relative or contingent. Roshi Gerry Wick describes it this way:

"Śūnyatā is really a wonderful, tender, limitless embrace. It’s always complete. It is without having to strive, without having to not strive. Another implication of emptiness is empty of any fixed position or state of being."

While this is an important lesson for life, the ten thousand changes in combat are the actions and strategies of your opponent. If you pay attention to every punch, kick or technique, your mind gets taken and trapped in following each thing. The same trapped mind occurs when you focus on performing your own technique or style. You will be surprised when something unexpected happens. This will lead to your defeat.

If instead you allow the mind to dwell in emptiness, for example - looking at the opponent's eyes but not focusing on them (some suggest looking at the spot where the lapels of the gi cross) - you will react naturally as the situation dictates. Anything your opponent manifests will just appear to be part of the natural flow and not surprising.

By paying attention to the non existent, you will be able to see the existent quite well.