Bujinkan Training Videos

Every Bujinkan trip I make to Japan feels like a gift. And I always try to share that with you all with my Japan report. This trip, I decided to video a lot. Like every day. So there will be quite a few of these. The only issue is that it takes me time to edit all of this video, so the Japan reports may spread out into next year.

My Bujinkan Bōjutsu video of the 九字の形 Kuji No Kata, 第二法 Dai Nihō. These kata are found in a 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū 棒術 bōjutsu book by 木葉幸四郎 Kiba Kōshirō published in 1937. Kiba Kōshirō was a student of Takamatsu Sensei.

My Bujinkan video of the kata 霞掛 Kasumi Gake. We warmed up with 半棒打技 hanbō uchi waza. This training was for the uke as well, since I had them use the attack sequence from the aforementioned kata. This allowed us to explore the long, middle, and short range use of the hanbō. This is a common progression in 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū kata.

My Bujinkan Bōjutsu video of the 九字の形 Kuji No Kata, 第一法 Dai Ippō. These kata are found in a 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū 棒術 bōjutsu book by 木葉幸四郎 Kiba Kōshirō published in 1937. Kiba Kōshirō was a student of Takamatsu Sensei.

My Bujinkan video of the kata 吹雪 Fubuki. The opponent grabs to hold you still before he launches his assault. Cover his grab in the manner we recalled from Oguri Sensei in a recent class video.

my Bujinkan video of the kata 夢落 yume otoshi. I began quickly with the form since it is similar to other 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū kata that we have studied. But, to drop the opponent into a dream state as the name suggests, we strike 夕霞 yūgasumi and drop him with 大外掛け ōsotogake.

My Bujinkan video exploring the idea of 雰囲気 Fun'iki. A place can have a mood or an atmosphere, but so can a fight. Hatsumi Sensei advises us to harness these moods to change the outcome of a fight.

My Bujinkan video exploring 天然座りTen'nen Suwari. Our study begins with 坐り型 Suwari-gata from the 地之型 Chi no Kata section of Shinden Fudō Ryū. The attacker sits 正座 seiza and the defender in 安座 anza or 不動座 Fudō-za.

My Bujinkan video exploring 自然の流れ Shizen No Nagare. Hatsumi Sensei described this idea as a natural flow. He said, “You need to be able to live within nature and survive within nature. It doesn’t matter how many techniques you know.”

My Bujinkan video exploring 浮舟の構 Uki bune no kamae. The appearance of this kamae is virtually identical to 一之構 ichi no kamae but with a different emphasis. Instead of shielding, the kamae has an adaptive, floating quality.

My Bujinkan video exploring 小手逆捕り Kote Gyaku Dori from Oguri Sensei. Part of my responsibility as a teacher is to share the lessons of teachers like Oguri Sensei. I was fortunate to have many classes with him, but my students did not. In this class I keep alive some of his teaching for the next generations.

My Bujinkan video exploring the kuden of 自然の勉強 Shizen No Benkyō. I first noticed this phrase from Hatsumi Sensei 17 years ago and it means the study of nature. We used the kata 雪耀 Setsuyaku as a a starting point for our exploration.