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Moti's Warrior Awareness Feldenkrais Seminar and local Budo Taijutsu training - February 2012
Information coming soon
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2 weeks in Japan! - January 2012
Information coming soon
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Local training - December 2011
December was time to train with buyu 'martial friends' at a couple of local events: Phil Legare and the BTSD had several instructors together to share for a day in Gaithersburg, MD. The following weekend Chris Carbonaro was down in Richmond, VA.
Eastern Martal Arts Center - Richmond, VA
A theme of 2011 - Gan Shi Nankotsu 'eyes, fingers, heart'- attacking the eyes and fingers may in turn attack the heart through stimulating the nervous system. From the Kihon Happo theme this year we discussed the concept of your basics evolving and changing with you, remaining as the necessary foundation for Jissen Gata 'real techniques'. You must train actively - continue to think, study and understand the purpose as you improve each piece - blind repetition is of limited value.
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Projectile training - October 2011
The Fairfax and DC Bujinkan Dojo Instructors did some pistol, rifle and shuriken practice. We had some retired military/police there for the fun as well.
Breath control and squeeze!
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Jim King classes - September 2011
Jim King was in DC on business and kind enough to drop in and share his insights from his training experience in Japan the last couple years.
Jim’s Omote Gyaku ‘outer reverse’ was great because a wrist lock controls the whole body up to the spine, not just the wrist! We worked on the concepts of hiding behind your opponent's and your own weapons/punches/kicks. We positioned our opponent on a line so that they were weak and unable to deliver powerful attacks - remember to use 3 dimensions. Jim reminded us of the importance of getting people to generate real attacks with intention soon, so that we aren’t just practicing mechanical skills - we want to keep our training at a higher level. Warriors must be able to deal with negative energy that others may not be able or want to handle.
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Mark Lithgow - KOPPO OF KEN Seminar - August 2011
We attended Mark Lithgow’s “Koppo of Ken” 3 day seminar this August 2011. Originally from England, Mark has lived in Japan for close to 30 years and can often be seen as Grandmaster Hatsumi’s translator at Hombu classes on Sundays. The seminar began Friday quite uniquely, with him watching everyone do Kihon Happo ‘8 base techniques’ without demonstrating anything first. This was a marvelous idea as it allowed him to get a general sense for everyone’s Budo. As he read from the densho ‘book of teachings’ we worked through the first few techniques with him giving his impressions from his decades in Japan. Though we spent most of the time working on sword, most of the principles applied to unarmed combat as well.
The main theme of training being Koppo can translate as ‘bone way’ which is to say that you need to align your bones/structure optimally for power/attack/defense/positioning. Ken is a general term for sword or fist. Mark mentioned that we should not translate Kihon as basic because it may imply that it’s something you move past. Kihon is the ‘base’ of your training, it stays with you; you continue practicing it. Jinchu is normally regarded as the kyusho in the middle of your upper lip, sometimes hit with a Fudo-ken in basics. Jinchu can also mean center of the body (where you belt knott is) which needs to be aligned where you need your body’s natural power to be directed. This could be forward for a punch of sideways for a sword block. You should be able to kick at anytime with your back leg if your Jinchu is aligned properly. With the sword your attacks and cuts need to be aligned on angles where there are multiple targets with your neck being one of the main points of attack and stab normally being the final blow.