武道同好会 Budo Doukoukai

Training Space

2012-03-01T15:00:00.003+10:00

In April of 1992 I moved with my wife from Hiroshima to Kawaguchi near Tokyo. I had already lived in Japan for more than a year but I hadn’t done much training yet, Hiroshima was tantalisingly close but still very far away from regular training. It also meant I had moved away from doing the usual jobs for foreigners at the time (Teaching English, Builders Labourer) and taken up an opportunity in my actual profession as a draftsperson.

I now lived right in the centre of the Bujinkan world. I had weeknights and weekends free to pursue my interest. My office in Tabata was only a couple of stations away from Ayase where Hatsumi-sensei taught twice a week. All the planets had aligned.

The apartment sat a few blocks down from Kawaguchi station. Kawaguchi itself was the first station out a Tokyo prefecture on the Keihin Tohoku Line and just in the unfashionable Saitama prefecture. Our apartment was on the first floor just above a motorcycle shop, a “Karaoke Box’ and a barber shop which seemed to double as a bookies. Behind us was the Sapporo brewery so the view out of all our windows was nothing more than beer crates stacked up. After a while you didn’t notice that the place was noisy because the noise was constant.

In order to practice most mornings I would crawl out my window and onto a patch of concrete near a generator. The centre of the area always contained an oil slick and around was junk people had thrown from their windows from whole fish to used prophylactics. Despite the bad conditions I managed to train there each morning reviewing the Bo, Yari, Naginata and Kenjutsu I had studied the night before. I look at my circumstances now in which I have a nice garden to train in and a dojo in my house but honestly I don’t maintain the same morning training ritual.

I think sometimes when things are difficult or you just have to make the best of something you are more focussed than when everything is too easy.

My Current Taijutsu Focus

2012-02-23T10:01:00.005+10:00

Some basic principles I’ve been trying to incorporate in my own training …

The foundation is the most important thing.
My budo is an intuitive study of biomechanics and physiology.
Anything I try to demonstrate should be repeatable.
I should be able to demonstrate a technique or combination on everybody in the room, not just on my pet uke.
I should be able to demonstrate the whole thing start to finish in one flow.
I should be able to demonstrate the whole thing at natural speed.
I should be able to demonstrate the movement on the move and not rely on a static uke.
Power and/or strength should not be necessary to apply any technique in training.
All my techniques should have no end, there should always be a continuation (eg makikomi)
Work slowly and aim for perfection every time.
Study timing, action / reaction, the use foot and spine to generate the power, the spiral
Taihenjutsu as uke and tori

The Bujinkan and Me

2012-02-10T16:35:00.004+10:00

The Bujinkan, like most martial arts, promises a lot but what does it deliver? I decided to look back and write this article as a bit of a stocktake of my training life. I have been involved in the Bujinkan for most of my life, I have gone through all the ranks, lived and trained for several years in Japan and run a dojo here in Australia. For those that wonder what this is like, here is my experience.

What training in the Bujinkan has done for me.

As with any activity that is as big a part of your life, as the Bujinkan is to me, the indirect effect is huge. The Bujinkan influenced my interest in Japan which in turn led me to live there, which in turn influenced me getting married to the person I did and influenced me to get a job as a bridge draftsman in Tokyo which directed my career for the rest of my life. I start out by noting this as because of this indirect effect it is impossible in some ways to separate what my life would be like if I hadn’t been involved in the Bujinkan over these many years.
The practice of the martial arts of the Bujinkan has provided me with great pleasure for the course of my training life. I really enjoy doing this and as a form of recreation has provided an enjoyable and positive distraction from the day to day.
I love the satisfaction of being able to do martial arts techniques. I enjoy watching a good demonstration and enjoy even more being able to reproduce what I have been shown.
I have been able to train with a lot of cool weapons like bo, naginata, swords and shuriken.
I have made some great friends and met some of the nicest people in the Bujinkan. I have enjoyed meeting people from around the world united in a similar interest.
Training in the Bujinkan has given me a window into Japanese culture and helped me interact with Japanese friends with satisfies my more general interest into Japan itself.
The Bujinkan has provided me with the life experiences of training in a dojo and also teaching and running a dojo.
I've had some great times.

What training in the Bujinkan hasn’t done for me.

99.9% of people have no understanding of what it is that I do and don’t care if I am getting better at it. Despite my efforts training it doesn’t impress anyone in the real world.
Most people don’t take me seriously either in Japan or in Australia if they know what I do and therefore, for the most part, I don’t bring up my interest with those outside of the circle of those directly involved.
It has caused me do have to deal with people in my personal recreation time that I would prefer not to. I have had to deal with other people’s crap and get involved in issues that I otherwise wouldn’t have to had I not been in the Bujinkan.
In self defence I am still vulnerable to larger, stronger, younger, more aggressive attackers with less to lose than me. I am still just as vulnerable to surprise attack.
Any skill I have in self defence is not utilised. My lifestyle doesn’t put me in constant danger and I am far, far more likely to be injured or killed by disease, accidents and even disasters than being attacked in a dark alley making the point of spending so much time, money and effort on the pursuit of self defence skill redundant in the extreme.
Despite the martial arts of the Bujinkan being of greater interest to me, it’s not as directly effective in training me to win a fight as MMA.
Even though it provides some exercise I still need to do some cardio, lift weights, stretch, eat right and all the things that every normal person has to do for their own health and fitness outside of training time.
The Bujinkan hasn’t made me a better person. I am still the same normal person with the same normal qualities and defects as anyone else. The philosophy of Hatsumi-sensei’s talks and writings, as interesting perspective as they are, haven’t provided me with any particular enlightened insight. The biggest influence on my personality, character and who I am is still my own life itself and my own experiences of which the Bujinkan is a small part.

So what does this all mean to me? Despite the pros and cons I feel that I have really enjoyed my time in the Bujinkan and have got a lot out of it. I think when you enter something with realistic expectations the activity becomes a rewarding experience. When you enter into something with unrealistic expectations based on your own misconceptions or that which you have been sold by others the result is eventual disillusionment.

My opinion? The Bujinkan is a fun physical recreational activity where you can make friends, learn new skills and get some insight into Japan and the Japanese martial arts. Once you start believing yourself to be on “the path of the enlightened warrior”, a yoda-like zen master, modern day samurai / ninja or ultimate fighter / killing machine be prepared to be very disappointed. Keep realistic, make training a part of your life – not your whole life and most importantly have fun with it.

How to Coach Experienced Students from Other Dojo

2012-01-05T11:49:00.001+10:00

I found that although when you go out to open a dojo for the first time your image is to be training new students from scratch you quickly find that the dojo equally consists of members with varied previous Bujinkan experience. This presents its own challenges. As much as you desire to mould every member in your dojo to your own image, when someone of ten years previous experience joins the last thing he or she wants is to hear that everything they do is wrong and they have to start again.

When someone with a fair amount of previous training joins up they are usually quite happy to adapt to new things and gain new experience, it’s how the instructor approaches it that’s important.

As an example, you might demonstrate omote gyaku and have everyone break off to practice it. You notice the new member doing it differently. If you walk over and tell him he’s doing it wrong and force him to change to your way he may bristle a bit at the instruction. Better is to look at what he is doing and possibly note to him that his technique is a little different than what you are showing, ask him if what he is doing is his actual intention, if it is then assess his technique on it’s own merits and possibly suggest some improvement in the technique and/or show your preferred version as another suggestion. Then let go.

Letting go is the key here. Experienced students want suggestions, coaching and mostly to practice. The large range of variation in the styles of training and technique even with the shihan in Japan demonstrates that there is no standard to be adhered to and that different is not necessarily wrong. The quality of being able to let go, accept difference and to coach rather than teach goes a long way to building a better dojo.

In addition I find that having people with extensive and varied experience means that I can call on them to demonstrate things from different perspectives. From this, members of the dojo gain a richer perspective and I learn as well.

Training Alone Part 1 - Taijutsu

2011-12-14T13:56:00.002+10:00

Many people ask about a simple training regime for training by yourself at home. In order to study Budo I believe you need to train with a partner and preferably with a good teacher, but self training drills are important as extra homework, when you can’t get to a dojo or if you just want a quick workout.

I believe in keeping it very simple and short. The example I give takes only around 30 to 40 minutes. I don’t recommend adding much more to it at first, it’s always better to start off with less than more. This example is for taijutsu. Later I will add versions for sword and bag work. You will only need a space in which you can safely perform one roll, either indoors or outdoors is fine. I’m not adding any technical instruction which I leave up to your experience. Don’t rush, work on getting each movement correct.

- Chi no Kata x 10
- Sui no Kata x 10
- Ka no Kata x 10
- Fu no Kata x 10
- Ku no Kata x 10

- Rest 1 minute

- Zempo Kaiten Ukemi (Forward Roll) x 10
- Sokuho Kaiten Ukemi (Side Roll) x 10
- Koho Kaiten Ukemi (Back Roll) x 10
- Yoko Nagare x 10
- Zempo Ukemi x 5

- Rest 1 minute

- Migi Ichimonji no Kamae (hold for 1 minute)
- Hidari Ichimonji no Kamae (hold for 1 minute)
- Migi Hicho no Kamae (hold for 1 minute)
- Hidari Hicho no Kamae (hold for 1 minute)
- Jumonji no Kamae (hold for 1 minute)

- Rest 1 minute

- Punch x 30
- Reverse Punch x 30
- Forward Kick x 30
- Sideway Kick x 30
- Back Kick x 30
- Groin Kick x 30
- Inside knee kick x 30
- Outside knee kick x 30
- Knee x 30
- Jumping kick (with both feet) x 10

- Stretching and Breathing exercises

Finish

Dojo Etiquette

2011-12-07T14:23:00.002+10:00

For someone teaching a Japanese budo in Australia, to what degree do we include Japanese ideas of etiquette and formality in our classes and why? Martial Arts classes of various forms in Japan are generally known to be fairly formal affairs, even by those with no experience in training themselves. That being said there are many misconceptions, in my opinion.

In general I would say training in the Bujinkan in Japan has around the same level of etiquette and formality of the local tennis club, of course the local tennis club in Japan is a lot more formal in its social structure than that of Australia. If an instructor has spent some time in Japan, speaks the language and has spent some time engaging with the local population at work and / or socially they probably have a natural sense of how etiquette and social structure work in Japan and could possibly introduce this into their classes.

Where it goes wrong is when the usual local instructor tries to introduce his own ideas on Japan, probably based more on misconceptions and movies. You then get the embarrassing thing of the whole group acting like caricatures of old samurai or some sort of paramilitary group. Doing quasi-Japanese things like having students shouting “Sensei!” or “Hai!” at the end of each instruction (which no native Japanese would do), dropping to their knees to hand over something to the teacher, bowing way too deep and too often, calling each other by their last name (eg Smith-san or Mr Smith) etc etc is embarrassing to those who have some actual experience with Japanese culture and makes the whole martial arts thing farcical to normal Australians.

Worse still I suspect many of the teachers who get into this sort of thing are really just getting off on some S and M thrill or a huge power trip.

There is really nothing to say that as a teacher of martial arts that you immediately become some sort of cultural ambassador for the Japanese nation. In my opinion less is always more and the less etiquette and formality you bring in the better.

People may argue that this should be brought in at a local level so when the students visit dojo in Japan themselves they know what to do. From my experience, the extreme examples of those playing the caricature of the Japanese warrior are usually the most socially inept and rude in Japan.

Many Japanese students complain of the lack of understanding of “Japanese manners” when visiting dojo in their country. I often find when they talk about Japanese manners and customs they are really just talking about common sense and what pass for reasonable manners anywhere. They often just make the distinction just in case it’s not rude to leave rubbish in the dojo, teach your own students when visiting someone else’s dojo, stuff around, etc in your own country.

So my opinion of budo etiquette; be it in Australia, Japan or any country comes down to the following few basic points – all involve nothing more than using brains and common sense …

Respect the Facilities
If it’s a permanent dojo, the local church hall, a park or (in the case of our fictional Japanese tennis club) the local court you keep it clean and in good repair. You don’t have people lying around eating a pie and chips on it, walking around in muddy feet and generally treating the place badly. In Japan it is usual to bow before entering or leaving the training area. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but if it feels unnatural to do in Australia then it can be omitted – but still means the dojo be given the proper respect.

Respect the Equipment
Keeping your uniform and training gear in good repair is important. Make sure your keikogi is washed and in good repair. Make sure all the equipment is kept in good repair. Treat your weapons with some respect – don’t just throw them in the corner of your shed.

Respect the Group
It’s not all about you. Everyone is there to train and the best training will come about with everyone functioning as a cohesive group. Try to be involved more than the turn up, train and leave sort of person. Make some sort of effort to bring stuff out and put it away, clean up etc. Don’t just work in a little clique of your friends. Make sure that you are training more than you are teaching, even if your training partner is getting it wrong let them work it out rather than picking on their every move.

Respect the Teacher
I don’t necessarily see the need in Australia to be called “sensei” or have student bow and scrape to the teacher like they were some sort of feudal lord. Even so, even if the teacher is being paid they are giving their time to lead the class. The most important thing to realise is that the student is not a customer and is there to receive a service from the teacher. Being called sensei or not has nothing to do with the basic point of expecting the students to listen and participate in the class that you are leading.

Respect the Material
It doesn’t matter what you have done before, what you saw on the UFC last night, what another teacher told you or what you think works or doesn’t work “on the street”. You are there do participate in the budo you are being shown. There is nothing ruder than someone that just goes off and does their own thing – especially in Japan. Just do what you are being shown, try your best to do it half correctly and move on.

In summary, in my opinion dojo etiquette and formality have less to do with pretending to be Japanese people and more to do with acting in a manner that allows the smooth running and participation of the dojo for all. Most of it is common sense – although unfortunately many people seem to lack this.

Interest in the Bujinkan Over Time Based on Google Search Stats

2011-11-14T11:13:00.005+10:00

I was having a look at the Google Insights tool as a means of looking at the trend in interest in the Bujinkan from 2004 to the present. The first graph shows the interest over time for Australia.

The graph for Australia looks a little more stable than the interest over time worldwide.

As a comparison I looked at the interest over time in the Bujinkan vs Brazilian Jujutsu (BJJ)

Another comparison on the Bujinkan vs Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I also included the search for Ninjutsu.

As a further comparison I looked at the Bujinkan vs Aikido.

Also to give the change in interest in fighting sports I did a comparison worldwide in searches between MMA and boxing.

Japanese Language and Budo

2011-10-11T10:34:00.004+10:00

I have to admit feeling a bit of guilt over letting my Japanese slide. Although I speak it everyday, I only do so at home so I find my Japanese narrowing and that I seem to be at a stage where I have now forgotten more language than I remember.

When I go back to Japan it feels as if I have dived from a safe pool to a wild ocean. I think this is comparable to training in budo. When we are training in our home dojo for years it is easy to stay safe and never push ourselves beyond our tokui waza (favourite or best techniques). You feel good in practicing and improving your own strengths and look good doing it, but I think this causes us to narrow our budo rather than expand. I see in Japan all the time people at practice not doing what is being shown by the teacher but just going back to how they practice it at home.

I believe even as an instructor it is important to broaden our study all the time, even if it means looking bad by practicing something that may not come naturally to you. Of course it is easy to go too far with this but by maintaining your practice in the fundamentals and your own tokui waza or style while edging out and challenging yourself with something new every day I think you are bound to improve beyond a narrow range.

When you visit a seminar, have a guest visit or travel to Japan to train I recommend going in with the feeling of having the lowest rank and trying what is being shown rather than slipping back to what you usually practice in an effort to look impressive.

I need to apply my own ideas in returning to my Japanese study.

The most important thing I found in learning Japanese is dokyo (courage). You will never learn to speak by waiting until you are good enough to try. Even if you only know a few words of Japanese the best approach is to inhale and speak it nice and clearly in a firm and steady voice. It’s easy to feel a fool but having the courage and confidence to speak is the first step to improvement and if it goes well gives you the feeling of a judoka having successfully thrown someone for the first time.

Structure

2011-07-27T17:43:00.006+10:00

I was watching an interesting analogy recently on structure and the passage of time. The first example given was a pile of sand, the sand in the pile can be rearranged in many billions of ways and still remain “a pile of sand”. In the second example a sand castle is constructed, in this case almost any disturbance to the sand causes the thing to lose its structure.

Both the pile of sand and the sand castle left to the passage of time will decay – but the more structured entity will decay much more quickly.

I look at the current Bujinkan as definitely being like a pile of sand - made of many individual pieces of sand. Some blow away and some are added. There is a lack of any structure beyond a grouping but at the same time it could be argued that the very looseness of the structure has kept it pretty durable over the years.

My advice …..

- Never join into a franchise of someone else’s dojo.

- Never join some state, national or international group. I dislike websites giving lists of “affiliate dojo” etc.

- If someone from your dojo leaves to create their own dojo you should let them run it according to how they see fit and not regard it as a branch of your own.

- It’s good to keep friendly relations with other dojo but at the same time you don’t have to if you are not happy with what they do.

- You don’t need politics and don’t need to involve yourself in politics.

- Remember just because you have a different point of view or approach to another dojo doesn’t make either necessarily “right or wrong”. We can accept differences and allow others to make choices.

- Naturally you will have closer relations with like minded people but you don’t want to shut yourself off from different peoples / dojos ideas.

For myself, it really doesn’t matter if the whole “Bujinkan organisation” collapsed tomorrow. It really wouldn’t affect my own dojo or my own training in Japan. I view my own dojo as a gathering of the like minded for the study of Japanese budo – it’s not about having a big dojo, lots of students or a large political influence on other members.

Shuriken and Focus

2011-05-22T09:59:00.003+10:00

Yesterday we practised shuriken again. In usual practice we just throw at a tatami mat and focus on the action and as usual I see a similar pattern. As we start and on the last round before we finish the throwing is very good but there is always a slump in the middle.

This time at the end I put up some cans in front of the target and the effect was amazing as the quality of throwing and penetration into the mat was excellent. The focus had gone of the action of throwing and onto the desire to pierce the small target. I found that how such a small thing had changed the exercise so much to be interesting. I wonder how true this is in normal taijutsu training?

Some additional notes on shuriken throwing from my teacher:

- Keep in normal taijutsu kamae with the hand throwing with shuto-ken or boshi-ken as taking a different "throwing stance" gives it away.

- Practice Omote shuto, Ura shuto and sanshin tsuki when throwing. If your shuto is correct then the blade will fly well, you can use shuriken to train / coach your taijutsu technique.

- Use different sizes and types of blades, don't just get familiar with one type. Practice from kamae, from a natural posture, from seiza, etc

- Foot, spine, hand

From Hatsumi-sensei

- Standing in front of a tatami throwing shuriken isn't real training. You need to work your throwing into taijutsu using timing, distancing and deception to launch the blade within an exchange. He has given plenty of examples of this over the years.

From another teacher

- If you have ten shuriken it doesn't matter if the ten don't stick. What is important is that the first one sticks. (there is more to this idea than what it seems at first glance)

- Make the throwing movements small and compact. Taking a big throwing gives the opponent the chance to evade.

From my own ideas

- Shuriken should be thrown simply. Jumping, spinning, rolling throws, long distance throws and other other various trick throws aren't budo. Simple and direct is best.

- Focus on each shuriken as if it is the only once you have. Only train as long as you can keep focus.

- Shuriken trains your mind. If you fall into a slump the mind tries harder and you fail more. Settling and refocus is the key. This can then be replicated in normal taijutsu practice.

Personal Development

2011-05-20T09:48:00.002+10:00

There is an effect of personal development in anything you dedicate yourself to. The younger you are the greater effect your extra curricular activities have of your personality. I think the effect of training is generally positive but at this stage in my life work, relationships and other activities excerpt far more influence on who I am as a person than the few hours of my life I devote to my dojo and training each week.

You can bang on about “spiritual development” but cutting out the BS and it’s just a self indulgent hobby that you enjoy doing. There are positives and negatives. I just view it as people having to justify what they do but making it out to be more noble and pious than it actually is – while the rest of the world sees it as playing ninja.

There is the same variety of personalities and personality flaws in the upper levels of the Bujinkan as there are in anything else in life. Hatsumi-sensei is not some great sage or religious figure – I think I know him fairly well and I just see him as an interesting and intelligent but normal Japanese man with the same sorts of flaws as the rest of us.

You can try to sell what you are doing as some sort of “noble pursuit” but I don’t see it – it is just part of the patchwork that makes up who I am as a normal flawed human being. I have a life, training is an enjoyable part of that life but the Bujinkan is not my life.

90% of Budo is Just Showing Up

2011-05-15T17:48:00.003+10:00

When training is the dojo in Kashiwa I always was interested in the small group of old guys practicing Aikido in the dojo space we shared with them. What interested me was not so much what they were practicing but rather the way they approached it, they had apparently been training together since they were in Junior High School and every week they just showed up and got on with it. No "goals", no desire to adapt or mix it with other things, no desire to rise up and become a bigger wheel in Aikido ... just turning up on their training night every week and getting on with it as years turn to decades.

I remember talking to Seno-sensei once and him recalling when he started at age 14 he had no real thought that he would be going this long, he just joined with his friend from school in a casual manner and decades later he is still training. He said when he started he looked at Hatsumi-sensei and thought how cool it would be to move that well, he then said when he thinks back he passed Hatsumi-sensei's level back then himself years ago but because Hatsumi-sensei has always been keeping one step ahead he has never caught up. He then talked about how when Hatsumi-sensei had wielded a bokken the night before it reminded him of Takamatsu-sensei - in that you would swear the bokken was a real blade. Seno-sensei then glanced at the sky and said how nice it would be to move as well as Hatsumi-sensei. I then said "but sensei I would be happy just to move as well as you" to which he looked genuinely surprised and said "really" as if he was really surprised someone would think he was skillful.

I can think of many other examples but one thing I notice that separates the Japanese from most other countries is the ability to keep going along with no apparent goal or ambition. In fact I would go as far to say that removing personal goals and ambition and just turning up and going through the training year after year is the real secret.

A lot of people I see are very keen when they start training but eventually other pressures force them from training. Once the initial novelty has worn off it is easy to sit at home and think "I'll give it a miss tonight". One night missed becomes a month missed and soon the person slips away.

Training is hard and perception increases at a much greater rate than ability so it often feels like you are going nowhere, or worse still, going backwards. Sometimes the real way forward is just turning up and pushing through.

So, in my opinion, once you throw away your goals, remove any ambition and train in budo for budo's own sake then you move more directly towards the "gokui" or essence of budo.

90% of Budo is really just showing up.

The Most Direct Path

2011-04-19T21:16:00.002+10:00

I believe the quickest path is the most direct path. The most direct path in kobudo is nothing more than practising the basic movements.

First learn the basic movements either from a good teacher or a good reference (although you may have to learn Japanese for this). Understand the basic mechanics of movement in balance, distance, timing, flow and physiology. Practice with a partner slowly at first concentrating on the flow - not moving from one point to another stopping in between. Repeat many times not fixing on the form but keeping and adapting the flow. Once you and your partner flow together nicely as tori and uke practice some more ... then move onto the next basic movement and repeat the process for at least five years.

This is all you need to do and is the most direct path to what would be recognised as a good performance of budo.

You don't need to ...
- memorise technique or kata
- study henka beyond natural henka that occur as part of the flow.
- study applications
- study a movements use in self defence
- study the historical context of a movement
- add any human movement theories over the top.
- spar or drill against a resisting opponent.
- add any clothing, armour or equipment to the movement.
- break down and drill any components as basics.
- add any additional martial arts experience to it.
- add fitness drills
- study any overriding principles of budo or budo movement
- or anything else

Of course you can do any of the above, and you probably will, as it will make it your training more interesting for you and support your other goals. But I think it is important to remember and understand that anything you do add beyond practising the flow of the basic movements only slows down and/or diverts you from the most direct path to good budo performance.

Walking with Sensei

2011-04-05T10:56:00.003+10:00

I’ve been feeling pretty broken down of late from training and in need of starting at the beginning again – so I went for a long walk last night.

Walking is the most basic physical preparation for budo as our budo starts from the feet. It is a low impact exercise but strengthens the small muscles of the joints around the ankle, knee and spine in a way that no other exercise can. In many reference works soke states that a budoka need to walk two to three hours each day.

The most important thing is pace. Soke talks about walking with his own teacher and struggling to keep up. Those that walk with soke say the same thing and I know from my own experience walking with Shiraishi-sensei that this is something passed down – pace is the key. It is over ten years ago now that I had the experience of walking with Shirashi-sensei many times, he always pushed me hard and had many useful pieces of advice which I hold to this day. These days he still walks every morning – walking up and down the stairwell of his apartment block tower when the weather is bad.

Some advice on walking from sensei included:

Keep your knees a tiny bit bent, your weight a little bit on the balls of your feet and your steps small.

Use your muscular system to move you and carry your weight rather than your skeletal structure.

When walking with dogs follow their erratic movement patterns of moving quickly, stopping and turning.

Keep your agility allowing yourself to make sidesteps and turns as necessary.

When no-one is looking add a strike or kick into your movement without breaking your step.

When going up stairs you can use a yoko aruki style of movement (we went up and down the stairs of an observation tower to practice this)

Try picking a time to complete the walk in and see how close you can get to matching it.

Try bending the knees a tiny bit more when you want to condition the legs.

I remember doing a long walk along the beach with Shiraishi-sensei and my dogs. I decide to test him by ducking behind to check his footprints in the wet sand. Each footprints toe dug in with almost no heel mark – it looked like the footprint of a sprinter.

I know again that I need to learn to walk the budo no michi rather than trying to run it.

Never make demands of your students and never let students make demands of you.

2011-02-21T14:35:00.004+10:00

When you start teaching or running a dojo one of the first mistakes that is easy to make is to try to involve yourself in each students training and / or lives. It never works out.

It's not your job to make demands of students in terms of attendance, fitness, practice, start assigning them homework or required reading. If a student only turns up once every couple of months or doesn't do any practice or doesn't try to improve his or her poor level of fitness it is not your problem - it is theirs. Doing this brings stress onto yourself and usually works against you.

For example when you confront someone regarding their poor attendance you pretty much guarantee that you will see no attendance from that person in the future. You don't always know what was keeping them away but if you allow them to feel as welcome whenever they show up then you may find that their attendance improves in the future and that they feel that even if life takes them away from training for a while they can always return.

If you turn up for a class and there is only one or two people, never complain. There is nothing worse in my opinion than when you have made the effort to go to a class, the instructor just complains about how "no-one has shown up" and then gives a half-hearted lesson then wants to leave early. Worse still he goes home because the class is too small. If only one person shows up then you have one person to train with. In the same manner as a large class, present the material to the best of your ability and go home.

To run a dojo stress free organise the day and time you want to train. Only hire a facility you can afford to run even if no-one attends from your own pocket, otherwise train at a park or public space. Don't run on a syllabus or lesson plan - base your class on the members in attendance each session. If no-one shows up practice by yourself, if only two people show up treat the class as if that is all you intended. If twenty people show up pace the class a bit more slowly and make sure you divide your time between all. Present the material and give everyone time to practice and go home. If they got it they got it if not it's not your problem. Never complain about a students attendance, lack of progress, fitness, etc to either the student themselves or to other students. Never make demands of them or assign them homework. You can suggest but never demand.

At the same time don't let students make demands of you. If they can't make the time you set due to work or other commitments and they want to train on a different day, it's not your problem. If they want to grade more quickly, do more basics, a particular weapon it's not up to you to cater for them. Once you start adjusting your dojo to suit individuals you are only involving yourself in their training and their lives.

When you don't make demands of your students and you don't let your students make demands of you it is very liberating because you now only have to concern yourself with what you are doing and not the lives or training of others.

The Dojo isn't the Place to Practice Technique

2011-02-15T15:39:00.003+10:00

“I’ve put out a lot of books and video, through these you can learn technique. When you come to my dojo we can just work on important things.”

When training in budo I think 90% of training should concentrate on practice and revision. If this is done in the dojo it wastes a lot of time so most of it can be done as homework. The dojo isn’t the place to practice but the place to polish your budo. Because we typically don’t line up and practice hundreds of punches and kicks in the air and against bags doesn’t mean that this work doesn’t need to be done but it doesn’t need to be done in the dojo.

I believe, as with the piano student, that daily practice from the scales to musical scores means that the piano teacher is focussed on listening, guiding and polishing the performance of the student.

Dojo Advice From My Teacher

2011-02-08T13:03:00.004+10:00

The following is some advice I received from a Japanese shihan on running a dojo. I thought it might be of some help / interest to others too ……

“Do ukemi every class, use it to warm people up and get them focussed. It is also the time as an instructor to observe the level and mood of the class, the direction of that night can often be determined by observation of ukemi."
(Hatsumi-sensei’s advice to me was that the most important training until first dan is ukemi.)

“Spend at least a year doing nothing else but Kihon Happo.”

“Try to relate kihon to goshinjutsu (self defence).
You can introduce a technique to a new student as “This is Omote Gyaku” and demonstrate it but better is to say “Here is what I can do if I am grabbed like this” demonstrate it and later say “This is Omote Gyaku”. New technique is related to application rather than a Japanese name.”

“Even once you have done Kihon Happo for a year still spend at least half of each class on it.”

“When introducing the kata and henka of kata from the ryuha only at a rate of one a week.”

“Only explain 20% to 30% of what you are teaching, the rest should be observed only by your demonstration.”

“In the old days instruction was never given in a class situation as today, even in a group training was conducted person to person. Today we teach in a class but you shouldn’t demonstrate and stand to the side, you should move amongst the student and spend time working with each person one at a time. Make changes to your original demonstration to suit each body type and style.”

“Keep the image in your mind of each class as being Josei Goshinjutsu (Women’s Self Defence). If it can’t be done by a smaller, weaker person effectively against a larger stronger opponent then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

“Many teachers spend their time training in the forms of old kata that no-one cares about anymore, or people go back to talk about how training was in the old days. Hatsumi-sensei said “I don’t even remember how I used to teach things now..”. You can ignore how training used to be conducted because it used wasted motion and power. When you study don’t look back, always look forward.”

The Fundamentals

2011-02-04T10:49:00.001+10:00

In previous ages there was a shortage of food and material possessions so people could take whatever was available. Today these things are in abundance and what has become important is to restrain yourself in only taking what you need to sustain yourself comfortably.

Similarly in our kobudo, now we are in the information age, I see us consuming techniques, kata, weapons and ideas from everywhere. The nutritional value of budo becomes that of junk food. I feel success can be found not in taking or adding on all that is available but having the discipline to restrain ourselves and concentrate on the fundamentals.