A few thoughts on entering

Recently I had a much needed review session at the hombu. I have thousands of corrections to make, but what stuck with me the most was the importance of creating the opportunity to enter the opponent’s space in order to execute the throw. Once inside and in the correct position the throw is almost an afterthought. For me, and for Saturday’s particular practice, the transition was the most difficult aspect of my training. Our teacher made it look so easy, but it just wouldn’t seem to click in my mind. Obviously correct kazushi is also necessary in order to reach the opponent as well. This is what I love about Budo, infinite study and learning opportunities! 

  

The importance of weapons training

In my short time practicing Japanese arts, I have come to appreciate the importance of weapons training in relation to both preparing for various scenarios and for helping to deepen my understanding of the “empty hands” portion of Motoha Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu. While still quite new to this budo I have come to appreciate the fact that while it appears simple and also similar to other arts that I have trained, it has a depth and hidden quality to it. While I say hidden, it is only hidden in the fact that I was unable to see what was actually going on in the movements and/or think past my own thoughts on what the movements represented. I greatly appreciate that there are so many helpful people in this art, willing to teach and guide students to a correct understanding of principles and structure. There are many selfless teachers in this art that have been willing to give their time and knowledge to me and I am grateful for all their guidance!

The recent addition of using a bukuto/bokken and a hanbo to illustrate the importance of structure, footwork, body connection/linking, angles/lines, harmony, grips(or lack of), and many other points which I’m sure I’m missing have really opened up my mind and left me with many points to consider in my training. Of course I’m still struggling with one of the most basic yet important points, which is good structure. Looking at good structure, and hearing the explanation can make it seem so simple, yet it’s so difficult! (At least for me) Luckily the use of weapons helps me to do a self-check on my own structure. Ideally I would love to live and train martial arts every day with a good teacher, but life tends to get in the way.

Hence the use of a bokken or wooden katana for self practice and self check on my structure. If I have correct movement and structure then the practice of raising and lowering my sword will use much less effort than if I am structurally wrong. When my structure is not correct, then my lower back will take extra strain and I will be able to feel the difference. I should use a smooth movement up and down, focusing on correct movement and not power to attain a smooth cut. As was pointed out to me by my teacher, a katana is usually very sharp and has a curved blade which performs the cut without needing added force. Added force is unnecessary and can cause the blade to turn and cut at an angle instead of straight and perhaps even cause the blade to crack or break. That would be terrible not only due to the cost of a nice katana, but even more so in a life or death situation.

These few points are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m perfectly happy to say that I have yet a lot to learn about budo!

Some types of wooden katana (bokken):

Different Students, Different Styles

I’m very grateful that I’ve had the chance to train at the main dojo or “honbu” these past 2 years. It’s allowed me to see that while there are sometimes small differences, overall students around the world train martial arts in a similar way. One point that has particularly caught my attention is the fact that while we all practice the same art, each one of us does it a different way. It seems that the longer that a student trains, the more differences I see in their own style, which is in my humble opinion, the way it should be. We are all different with different backgrounds, body types, etc. What I try to look for the the underlying principles. Hypothetically while it may look different, the same underlying principle should be guiding their movement. I still have a lot to learn, but for the moment this has caught my focus. Some of the students who have trained longer than me focus on turning and waist movement. Others on softness, and others on solidity. I really enjoy seeing all these different perspectives and hopefully someday I’ll be good enough to understand everything that’s going on. As for now, it is still confusing to work with one person one week, and another the next week and get completely different explanations. Should I just turn my waist/body to break the structure? Is it a step to the 45 degree to break the structure? Of course both of these questions lead me back to the principle: Break the structure. Demolish it. Kuzushi. 崩し。

We all start out with a basic pattern. A basic idea. I, like many students before me expected a definite answer. If this attack comes then I’ll do this! As if attacks happened in perfect coordination with the set defense that I learn. I’m trying to break free of my rigid mindset, but it’s difficult. I had the same mindset when I trained Kenpo karate. I thought that by learning thousands of defense patterns that when attacked I would be able to pull one of them off. What I failed to understand was that the defenses were trying to give me tools to work with. Tools that I failed to master. Because of this I was always very frustrated with sparring practice. It really bothered me that I could not make any of the cool defenses I learned work during a live sparring situation. Most of it was me getting hit and wanting the session to be over. Even when I got better at sparring, it never was anything like the devastating defenses I had learned. After 10 years I gave up on Kenpo. I wasn’t getting anywhere, stuck in a rut. What I understand now is that I had focused only on the chained movements and not the structure and purpose behind them. I learned to crawl, maybe even walk but never got to running. I was a black belt but lacked any understanding of basic structure and movements!

Thankfully, years later I found teachers willing to be patient with me and explain the basics to me. It’s a long way to the top of the mountain, but I’m enjoying the journey. I’m sure I’ll reach the top someday, but I’m in no rush.

The Harmony of Japanese Budo

I’ve recently noticed and thought more about the harmony that is a part of Japanese culture. An example of this is when listening in Japanese, native speakers make various sounds to indicate that they are listening. Quite different from native speakers of English who usually keep silent while listening.

Another example in Japanese is the roundabout way of expressing thoughts and feelings that might affect the harmony of a relationship. Most Japanese won’t say “No” directly, but instead answer with a “chotto…” or even agree with what you say, even when they don’t actually agree. One that I have found myself using is “Wakatta” or “I understand”. All of this is to promote a harmonious relationship.

I still lack a deep understanding of this as I often don’t know what to say and/or when to say it while conversing with Japanese friends or coworkers. Even finding the right timing at the store with when to receive my change and when to take the bag handles that are often put into your hand can be a difficult undertaking.When I am impatient I find myself resorting back to my own culture and stop trying to cross the cultural bridge. In my opinion I don’t need to, and should not give up my own culture. But at the same time I do think that a lot can be learned by miming the actions that I see, and exploring the reasons behind them.

I believe that this deep desire for harmony is inherent in Japanese budo as well. From the very start of class, the timing of a bow should be in harmony with your partners and teacher. Conversely the breaking of this timing is important for martial purposes. If you always meet the attack, then the stronger more rooted attack will win. But if you can arrive before the attack sets in, then you have a better chance of being the victor.

The end of summer, the arrival of Fall

Summer ended here with a bang. We had our athletic festival in the middle of September. It was nice weather thankfully, instead of the searing heat that I experienced the first two years I was here. We got rained out and ended up having it on a Monday. Predictably, only about a quarter of all parents were able to come. But the students still seemed all revved up and gave it their all. I’m not fond of the running courses, but watching the boys run barefoot in a warlike cry charging the other team and the girls go crazy in the tire pull contest is always interesting. The weather has been crazy these past three months with alternating hot and cold days, plus more rainfall in 3 months than I’ve seen in 3 years!

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs here, there are days that I love the experience which can be so foreign to me even after 3 years, and days where I’m so homesick that I’m ready to jump on a plane without a word to anyone. I often said that Japan is quite livable, and while that’s true it, it has never quite become home to me. I am fully appreciative of the opportunities here, and try to fully enjoy them before I head back home.

The budo training that I dreamed of all my life had come true. I found a teacher of real martial arts like those portrayed in the martial arts movies of my childhood. From David Carradine in Kung Fu, to Jean Claude Van Damme, to Steven Segal, the image of the miraculous old master who imparts his “secrets” to the young disciple. The secret is something that is printed in many books, and said by many teachers but is often overlooked. You need an excellent foundation. Correct structure is a must. But it’s hard to recognize that on your own. The eye of a master is needed to find the flaws in what you do. Strategy is vitally important as well. These are the only ways that a weaker person will overcome a stronger person. There are other details as well, depending on your art, but these two form the base for everything else. Principles!

Thinking back on my time here, I definitely think it’s true that Japan is quite safe. The quality of life here is high, with clean air and water, and nutritious food. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I like Western food the best. Whether it be hearty meat and vegetable from the European traditions, Mexican food, or even Middle Eastern food, all of those rank higher on my palate than Japanese food, Chinese food, or any other Asian recipes. I still like much of the Eastern cuisine but Western food is my comfort food.

Teaching here has fallen into a bit of a rut. I don’t feel that I have much opportunity to be creative anymore. I don’t do much with the 8th or 9th grade classes, and only a bit more with the 7th grade classes. I realize that we are assistants in our positions and that grammar is best taught in ones own native language, but as it’s called “team teaching” I would think that there would be more teamwork and less assisting. Oh well.

The Culture Festival preparations are going on, and I feel left out. As usual I haven’t been assigned to anything. I feel that it’s more tiring wandering from group to group, finding things to do, rather than already having a task to do. I should welcome the chance to be creative, but it’s very exhausting being creative day after day. I need a long tropical vacation!

To close, I must say that I look forward to the Fall colors, and doing some hiking while the crisp Fall weather is here, before the chill of winter sets in. Hopefully though, I can get some snowboarding in this winter!

Midsummer madness

Summer is now is full swing in Japan and the heat and humidity pack a double wallop of brain melting, insanity inducing weather. The students are less eager than ever to study and even the academic students would rather be anywhere than in the classroom. I can’t blame them. Why Japan refuses to provide students with air conditioning baffles the mind. I think it’s a golden opportunity to encourage study. If they had a choice between the oppressive heat outside or a cool air-conditioned study room, I think most if not all students would choose the cool study room!

The good thing about summer though, is that I become much more active than in winter. Perhaps it’s from living in Arizona, but I find the heat bearable since I can dress lightly and drink lots of iced drinks to cool down. On the other hand I can’t deal well with the cold here. I usually end up paralyzed with no desire to leave the heated carpet or heated table in my living room. But that’s probably due once again on the fact that Japan doesn’t really heat many living areas. Just as there are few houses and schools with A/C, there are also few houses and schools that heat the hallways or even classrooms. Our school has 2 radiator type heaters in each classroom. The heat they give off disappears the minute someone opens the door to the hallway.

The cicadas are back and their droning hum is seemingly everywhere. I find myself comforted by their song which carries me off into a daydream almost every time. Thankfully the other bugs such as mosquitoes and wasps are out in fewer numbers than previous years. Let’s hope it continues that way!

I’ve had the opportunity to make a small garden with the help of my neighbors. I’m lucky to get such expert advice since organic farming is their livelihood and they often get apprentices from other parts of Japan who come to study their methods. Very friendly people who often give me additional vegetables besides the tomatoes and green peppers they helped me to grow. Summer seems to be dominated by yellow and green tomatoes, green peppers, corn, okra, and cucumbers (yuck!).

Gardening is a lot of work. I thought I would just have to water the plants a bit each day and that would be it. But the plants need tending, such as picking away certain parts that would be counterproductive to the plant’s growth. Also a framework must be set up for the tomatoes since they’re vine plants. What started off as two small plants has turned into a network of various vines that seem to be sprouting everywhere! It’s been interesting, but the plants produce much more than I can eat. I think for a family or even a group of friends a garden is a good idea, but for a single person it’s too much.

Houten Ryu Sword

After an intense and tiring morning of spear training, what better thing to do than train some more in the afternoon! I am not sure if I envy professional martial artists who train 6-7 days a week and twice a day! We arrived in the Hattori, Osaka training center. First we trained about 2 hours of Bujinkan arts. Of all the arts I’ve trained its the most painful. Sure I’ve been banged up and gotten injured in various arts, Kenpo, Brazilian Jiujitsu, boxing, etc., but I must say nothing ever prepared me for the painful pressure point strikes and excruciating joint locks that the Bujinkan employs. I have a newfound respect for the art of ninjitsu.

After that we went upstairs to the training hall used for kendo. With wooden training swords (bokuto, bokken) my friend instructed us in a few of the fine points of Houten Ryu. Houten Ryu is an art that I have not been able research very well in English. There seems to be a dearth of information. I’m surprised because from what little I’ve seen it seems like an excellent art.

Previously I had been shown a bit of the Kusarigama and Fundou. The Fundou is a chain with a weight attached at the end. I would NOT want to be struck with it! But this day we focused on the lightening fast sword kata. Well, I certainly didn’t perform it lightening fast, but I can imagine that when done by experienced practitioners that it must be fantastic.

We started with 5 simple block and counterstrike kata and then moved to kata that have numerous block block block, strike steps. I found the strikes to resemble what I’ve seen in the junior high school kendo program, but the blocks were unlike any that I had seen before. I definitely want to learn more about this art. Sadly, the Soke (head) of the lineage passed away last month. He was 92 years old. Rest in Peace great master. I never got to meet him, but my friend has retold me amazing stories of the man’s life that he heard from the soke. I am also impressed that the Soke made my friend do Japanese calligraphy homework each week. Truly a man of the arts.

The Spears of Hozoin

I must say, I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to live and train in Japan. It’s my firm belief that understanding the culture of a martial art is just as important as studying the art itself. I use my free time training Japanese arts and reading about Japanese history in order to get a better idea of where an art came from, the circumstances under which it developed, and what events changed the art as necessary to cope with the changes that time brought.

This month I was fortunate to go to Nara and train in the spear of of the Hozoin Monks, a Buddhist branch of fighting monks. The spear is unique in that the end of it has a crescent shaped blade just before the point. With this the spear wielder can not only thrust, but also slash and even catch the opponents spear and disarm him. The art was founded by a monk named Hozoin Kakuzenbo Innei. He loved martial arts and trained in sword arts as a child before making the interesting choice to become a monk. A monk that loved martial arts. Legend states that he saw the reflection of his spear in a pond which made it appear to have a cross-shaped spearhead. Thus the style was born.

The first thing I noticed was that the practitioners train hard with a deadly seriousness. Of course when they talk they smile and even make jokes, but during practice they looked as if they would not hesitate to disembowel their opponent should opportunity arise.

My two friends and I arrived early and met the Soke. We were instructed to sit in seiza (kneeling position) on the wooden floor of the training hall until class started. Another practitioner came along and greeted us in English. He was very friendly and talked to us a bit before telling us to sit in some folding chairs that were near us on the wooden floor of the training hall. As soon as we started to get up the soke turned around and vetoed that idea. We were to remain in seiza until class started!

Class started after about 15 minutes and we bowed in with the rest of the members. After that we were paired up with a few different instructors who took us to one side of the deck and started instructing us in the proper way to stand, hold the spear, and thrust it. The first thing I noticed was that the spear was extremely long and heavy. I don’t know how the fighting spear differs, but the practice spear is entirely made of wood, even the point and cross section at the top. The “attacker” had a spear that had no cross but it was a bit longer than any staff I had ever used. Most staffs I have used are about 6 feet long. These were easily twice as long and very heavy.

The training was intense and lasted from 10-noon. Two hours of pain from the deep stances and heavy spears. Both my arms and legs were jelly. But I loved the hard training and hope to go back again someday. All the members I talked to were extremely friendly and helpful.

Living to work vs. working to live

I must say, one of the biggest differences I have noticed between Japan and America is the concept of work. In America most people work to live. We work to pay the bills, to have money for our interests, and to provide a better life for ourselves and our family. Unless you have a job you love, you probably don’t spend any more time at work than necessary. Punch the clock at the start time, take breaks and lunch up to the last second you can, and run for the door once work is finished.

How different Japan is from America. Arrive early for work. Sometimes one to two hours before the official start time. With no extra compensation or encouragement for your effort. Take a break by talking to your coworkers about concerns at work. Eat lunch as fast as possible to start working again. Once the official end of the day time comes, stay longer. A LOT longer. Japanese workers stay anywhere from 2-6 hours after the official end of work time. Overtime pay? Ha! Still a new concept in Japan and one that isn’t practiced widely. Weekends are a chance for more work! Of course the hours are not as long as weekday, but still weekends offer little opportunity for rest and relaxation. I’d hate to think of how little time the average Japanese family spends together. With parents at work most hours of the day 7 days a week, and children at school almost as much, it’s no wonder that “being able to read the air” or “kuki yomu” is such an important part of Japanese society. They don’t seem to have any time to discuss matters as a family!

Of course this is based upon my limited view since I work in the Japanese school system. I’ve heard private companies can be better or worse depending on the company and position held. Still, even after living here over six years I’m still surprised when I come home late and still see lights on at the school and it’s past 10pm.

I can only theorize that deep down everyone enjoys living to work. Always being busy is surely a good way to keep your mind off of other things in life, be they good or bad!

The challenge of self improvement through Budo

The more I read about traditional Japanese martial arts, the more I am impressed with the ideals they try to instill into practitioners. When I was younger I read an autobiography by Gichin Funakoshi that impressed me. It stated that one of the ultimate aims of Karate-do was to improve oneself. I’d like to say that it stuck with me and transformed my life, but that did not happen. Somewhere along the way I got lost in life’s distractions, video games, and UFCs.

The idea of constantly working to perfect myself was a fascinating idea. Unfortunately I was not ready to put in the work required to make progress in the ideals of Budo. Perhaps I was just too young and immature. While I was never a party animal, I definitely liked drinking with my friends and hanging out. I was always too busy to practice those ideals, or worse thought them too old-fashioned or uncool. Now that I’m in my fourth decade of existence I can now appreciate the need  for Budo principals in our world.

No one person is perfect, but I certainly have met people who represent a higher code of ethics or morals who inspire me. When we fail to follow these ideals we not only bring ourselves down, but also affect those around us. I’d like to give credit to a book I’ve read that really illuminated a lot of ideas in Budo ethics that seemed very cryptic to me. The book “Budo Mind and Body” by Nicklaus Suino has been a real eye-opener for me. I’ve never met the author, and don’t even practice the same styles of Budo as he does, but his writing has helped me to understand that the self improvement goals of Budo are still important in this day and age. Perhaps even more so as the internet and other technology allows us to easily communicate with, and thus have an impression on people from other cultures.

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the other people who have helped me on my journey thus far. The world of Japanese Budo is still quite new to me and I have a lot to learn. I’m sorry that I am so hard headed and slow to learn. But I’ll keep trying my best. Thank you all who have helped me so far, and those who will help me in the future.

I’d like to include in this post some quotes from Nicklaus Suino that have really impressed me: “Daydreaming saps the body of energy and ends up making practice even harder” I’ve been quite guilty of this not only in Budo, but in many areas of my life. Now that I think back to long days at work on boring days I remember that my mind was somewhere else and not focused on the task at hand. The idea of “being in the moment” which I’ve always heard, but thought of in a different way is really hammered home here. It’s quite possible that had I just buckled down and put myself fully into what I was doing that then I would have not only done better at work, but the day would not have seemed as long. Going on the author states “Force yourself to concentrate on the techniques, constantly finding new aspects to work on. When you feel tired doing practice, push yourself past the fatigue and train even harder. You will find that the more you commit to hard practice, the more energy you will have available for it.” A very long quote, but each part of it seems very important to me. I wonder how many things in life I could improve upon each day just by being more focused on the task at hand…

 

If you are interested in reading more please check my link:

http://www.amazon.com/Budo-Mind-Body-Training-Japanese/dp/0834805731/ref=la_B001JP33IQ_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1368075697&sr=1-3