the group posing with sensei in front of takamatsu memorial

Today a group of buyu from all over the world where lucky to visit once again Sensei’s second house.

Today around 11:30, we met with Akira, Noguchi, Darren, Collado, Miller, Eguia and a few others at the hombu where Senô sensei was teaching a group of students sweating in the terrible heat of the day.

you can see here how bad I felt in the AC

The heat and humidity were at their peak today and I felt bad to be in the car with Noguchi sensei (and the AC). When the group was complete with Darren and his car we drove to the Tsukuba mountain where sensei has located his second house.

This is there that he spends a lot of time painting, writing, and taking care of his many animals.

A real gentleman farmer!

When we arrived we were welcome by sensei dressed like a real gentleman farmer in his country outfit.

Many practitioners see him as “non human” and not only because he always repeats that he is a UFO.

The bujinkan is a system to live a happy life and he was shining happiness and expressing it like he does with his budô.

I love to see him so happy in his daily life.

the group preparing for the incense

In the garden each one us lit some incense stick to the 9 statues of the nine schools and we all prayed to the memory of Takamatsu sensei in front of the memorial of 6 tons built in the garden.

Do you know that in his office in Noda sensei prays everyday for the memory of his parents, of Takamatsu sensei but also for the sake of the shidôshi of the bujinkan?

Sensei is very religious person and only a few of the bujinkan students know that. Over the years when I was helping him for some work, I saw him a few times praying while we were working.

sensei and one of the poneys

In the garden there is a green house that we use in winter, a small arena where sensei “walks” the poneys, a small stable for the poneys and many staues and carved stones carved with the name of the nine schools.

The garden is filled with statues of divinities, symbolic rocks and carved texts.

After padding Kuki and Tobi, the two poneys of sensei and taking care of the dogs (asuka, mae and a third one), the water turtles in their basin, it was time to  ”pay our respect” to the statue of Marylin Monroe (sensei likes her very much).

Noguchi sensei and Marylin (a classic)

I have been visiting this house many times since sensei has decided to plit his time between Noda and Tsukuba.

And the “Marylin game” has become some sort of ritual over the years.

I think I have pictures of all the high ranks of the bujinkan (including me) having fun with the american star. as he puts it, life is too short to take it too seriously.

Put laughter in your life – rokkon shôjô

Then it was time to eat and the whole group climbe d into the cars and we all went to have lunch with sensei in a restaurant nearby.

ten chi jin?

The house is surrounded by rice fields on the plains down the Tsukuba mountain.

It is strange to be there after the being in the citadin life of kashiwa city or Atago.

With the heat hammering everything, it felt like being in another country. No noise, no wind only the sound of the cicadas in the trees.

A special thank you to Darren for keeping cool bottles of water in the car after the heat of the garden.

It was a real enjoyment.

In the restaurant

The poor restaurant keeper had a hard time coping with a sudden arrival of so many gaijin.

I have seen that many times over the years and I believe that sensei loves to do that.

As always this is a very special moment and I am sure that many bujinkan practitioners wojuld have liked to be there with us. We felt privileged and honored to spend these special moments with him.

the group with the translator

Since my last visit many new stones and stones have been added. The one on the left is to remember all our bujinkan buyu who dies since the beginning.

Death is what makes Life worth it explained sensei to the group in the restaurant. Because we train techniques to bring death to our opponent we develop by contrast a strong feeling of life.

Many times during lunch sensei spoke of our future Hombu dôjô that will be built soon to become some kind of cultural centre for the world.

Sensei asked us also to share these moments of true kumite with the buyu from all over the world this is why this long article is written for.

the last drink before closing this fantastic day

It was time to go back to our lives in the city and after a last teas in one of the room of the house with the walls covered by the many presents sensei has received during all these years, we departed.

We left sensei benefiting from the rest of this day and of the happiness it has given us all.

Funnily during lunch he thanked us twice to have been able to come!

Hatsumi & Noguchi sensei enjoying the instant

Be happy and do not take your life too seriously simply enjoy beautiful moments like this one.

Shikin Haramitsu Daikomyô

Invisibility is hensô jutsu

Yesterday Hatsumi sensei referred to hensô jutsu indirectly when he spoke about the seven ways (of disguise) or shichi hô de.

Those seven disguises allowed the spies to blend in the daily lives of ordinary people and to gather information or pass undetected.

Here is one of the list of these 7 disguises:

1. 出家 shukke – buddhist monk
2. 虚無僧 komuso – itinerant priest
3. 浪士  ronin (or tsunegata) - wandering samurai
4. 商人 akindo – merchant, tradesman
5. 楽士 gakushi – musician
6. 山伏 yamabushi – mountain warrior
7. 旅芸人 sarugaku (or tabigeinin) – performer, entertainer

Those disguises might have been very helpful in feudal Japan, but I honestly doubt they would be of any use today in modern Japan. What is interesting is that sensei referred to that in a “gyaku way” during the class. We are used to see those lists of “ninja fields of expertise”. But to me this is the omote of our art.

The ura side is more interesting. What sensei wanted us to understand yesterday was not to disguise ourselves for some james bond kind of mission but to be aware of the type of clothes the attacker is wearing and to adapt our techniques accordingly.

Today this list would be more like: businessman, delivery guy, mailman, police officer, young gothic or rasta, electricity company employee, thug, etc. And this list is not limited to seven. Each one of these persons is wearing different clothes and accessories making the fighting more difficult (or easier) depending on those “uniforms”. One of my student who is now jûgodan once fought a rasta guy with dreadlocks, the rasta guy was nearly bald at he end of the fight.

The same would happen if you had to fight someone wearing a heavy leather jacket, a backpack, or a bathing suit. How do you find a kyûsho 急所 on a leather jacket? how would you deal with close distance against someone with a backpack or even a bike? how would you grab naked skin? Obviously the written technique of yore would not be sufficient.

Sensei’s budô is about adaptation and a tie, a pen, a phone, a backpack or a coffee mug can become tools to deflect or launch an attack. When we train in the dôjô the possibilities are limited as we are all dressed in the same way. This is why the introduction of the yoroi kumiuchi in 2003 was such an important evolution in the bujinkan system because once you understand the multiple possibilities of fighting the yoroi (with or against it) you develop new skills not relying on a specific technique but based upon your level of consciousness.

Techniques are useless if you are not able to adapt your movements to the opponent’s actions. And this is why sensei keeps reminding us to use  hanpa (半端) or unfinished techniques to be in tune with the flow of things.

You begin a movement and let uke’s reactions and intention dictate the emergence of your next move.

Ayase Budokan

I am just coming back from the Ayase class (exceptionally on Friday). The first class with sensei after four months of  diet is always a good experience. Before the class I gave him his “official” Yûro Shi Tennô t-shirt made specially for him and he wore it right away. This is our little “post Paris Taikai ritual” that has been going on for a few years now.

As usual he asked me to open the class and we did a nice “flowing” movement receiving an attack in a very soft uke nagashi, moving uke off balance with the footwork, changing hand an ending in a sort of omote gyaku. No grab, no violence, only a nice nagare keeping uke in motion preventing him from attacking twice and taking his balance. On top of that sensei did it better with less movements and a better efficiency. I guess this is why he is the teacher and me the student. Every time I have the chance to demonstrate a technique I am always amazed at his ability to simplify my movements and to make it so good that I cannot reproduce it, even though it was my movement in the first place.  I did three other techniques during the class and  each time sensei was developing more flow by moving less. when you watch him moving you easily forget that he is over 80 years old. He looks like a young man!

His natural movement is really like “magic” as he is able to grab a form and to add life into it. When you are his uke you feel no danger at all and when he controls you on the ground he is hardly touching you, but you still cannot move. In fact this is not that you cannot move, you could but you do not want to move as if his presence manifested by a very slight physical contact was draining any intention of retaliation from your brain. All those who have had the chance to be his uke can tell you that. Power is expressed in such a subtle way that your decision process is blocked. In a way you feel so safe that you are not willing to move anymore.

Today during the class sensei covered many aspects of budô. He  insisted on the importance of understanding the juppô sesshô to be able to fight without fighting and to be in control of the utsuwa (器 - ki) with our tamashii (魂 - kon). He didn’t use these terms from last year but this is the easiest way to express it. In one technique that  I did that was ending with yoko nagare, he insisted that we move in a direction opposed to the other possible opponents. That is what I prefer in the bujinkan training. It is not only two fighters but always more than two fighting and our actions should unfold in a natural manner in order to stay protected in any directions potentially dangerous. The movement is limited and by using uke as a shield we are able to protect ourselves using our first opponent against his partner(s). This is to me the real difference between sport martial arts and true budô. In the bujinkan strength is not the point and violence is useless, the whole thing is to develop the correct attitude to help us flowing without thinking in  the action.

The true movement is not a technique it is a response to a situation where no preconceived answer can be applied. Sensei insisted once again in not grabbing the opponent. When you grab uke you are actually showing your intention, grabbing yourself, and freezing your flow. This is why he insisted again in the juppô sesshô concept in the sense of “negotiating” (折衝 - sesshô) in all directions (juppô = 10 directions). On controlling uke he said that we have to control uke not with our strength but with our legs activating the kûkan (空間). The known concept of yubi ippon jubun (one finger is enough) to control uke was used extensively to create the sanken (a series of three hits) followed rapidly in different part of the body and to prevent uke from thinking properly or understanding what is happening. We did also techniques against kicks and used the kake taoshi hitting uke to sai with sokki ken. Once again sensei insisted that we hit with the body not the knee. He used the same explanation when controlling uke on the ground “choke him with kûkan” by using your legs.

Finally he referred to henso jutsu explaining that historically there were 7 ways to disguise yourself (cf. sarugaku, kumuso, yamabushi, hokashi, sukke, tsunegata, akindo). But this was for us to understand that we must adapt the techniques to the type of clothes worn by the opponent. Part of our study of budô should be dedicated to learn how to adapt a given technique to the type of cloth the opponent is wearing.

In conclusion quite a nice class full of tips and tricks to work on in the future weeks.

Tomorrow at lunch I am invited with a few other jûgodan in his second house. I will take a few pictures of Takamatsu sensei’s memorial and of the lunch and share them with you on this blog (hopefully tomorrow). Stay tuned!

Be happy!

crossing the "flow" of a river in India

I arrived this morning in Narita and now after a well deserved shower and a little nap I feel ready for this new trip.

It was strange to arrive in Narita before the shops and restaurants were opened. In 20 years it was the first time I saw those shops closed. Naively I thought that in Japan people were working 24h a day.

I spoke today with Volker Paternoga who is going back home tomorrow. He got promoted to 15th dan and told me how strange it was to give the Sakki test. The sakki test is nothing “magic” it is a natural human survival reaction put to light by years of training. Actually I see the sakki test as double: the day you take it; and the day you give it. This is to me the exact same experience and feeling. When you lower the sword it is not from your own decision, you lower the blade because it is time to do it.

Everytime the thinking process is involved in our actions we lose the nagare of life and we “force” our nature in an unnatural manner. To the same extent on the mats, the best natural movements appear when there is no preconceived idea on what we are going to do.

Hatsumi sensei’s budô is the school to be moving into the flow of things and take the best out of it whatever is happening. I am really happy to have the opportunity to meet him again and to learn more.

Eugenio from Italy is there and I have to meet him in the lobby. I will keep you informed as much as I can on this blog during my trip.

Be happy!

Friday classes will be held at the Mabashi Shrine…

where we have fully air-conditioned facilities!

The time will be 4pm as usual.

Shiva, Arnaud & the dôjô Koi

Hi all,

I am on my way to Japan again this year. It will be hot and humid (today 33° Celsius and 70% humidity) but apart from the “ten” conditions it will be good to walk on the Japanese “chi” again and to meet my “jin” buyu.

As I did last time when I created this blog I will do my best as to explain the various concepts exposed by Sôke in his classes. Even though I do not speak Japanese, my 20 years of travelling there help me to understand, if not the words, at least the concepts of sensei’s budô.

I will be back right before the Jupi Summer Camp where I will give the “latest news” and feelings from Japan to those of you attending.

If you are still wondering if you should go or not to Japan I would say that if you really want to grasp the gokui (essence) of budô*you have to go there once a year (minimum). I am lucky to have organized my life to be able to go there three times a year because I decided long ago that it was my priority to learn directly from Sôke and the other shihan. Japan is a different culture, the level of budô displayed in the classes is amazing, and sensei’s philosophy of life is worth listening to and sticking to.

My new entry in this blog will be from Tokyo.

Sayonara,

*this is the title of the next book by Hatsumi sensei (published by Kodansha  for dkms hopefully).