at the bookstore for some inspiration from Hatsumi Sensei’s painting. Through the pages, my eyes settled on a painting of 毘沙門天 Bishamonten riding a tiger.
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.
Bujinkan kuden exploring: ゆとり Yutori. About 10 years ago, on a cold rainy day, I was training with Hatsumi Sensei and he was putting on a clinic. Many of us were cold and tired, but his flow was endless. He described this as yutori, or having the room to play.
my Bujinkan video exploring Bujinkan 杖術 jōjutsu and 貫く tsurunuku. We warmed up with 杖術 jojutsu kote uchi. Start from 講変の構 ihen no kamae, then as the opponent cuts we evade behind our jo. After the kote uchi, we use a 撚り型 yorigata to strike 横面 yokomen. We finished the warmup by using the jo...
my Bujinkan video exploring the kata 岩砕 Iwa Kudaki. We warmed up with multiple attacker strategy. First I used jūmonji to parry the incoming attacks. Then using kurai dori I can counter strike when the position in the space is safe. Next, I used omote and ura gyaku to draw my opponents together into a...
my Bujinkan video exploring the kata, 方波 katanami. Control over distance and and angle are always important in 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū. But in this kata, the use of kurai dori locks the opponent into a one sided attack that ultimately creates his fall. The throw we use to defeat our opponent is 拂腰 harai goshi...
Thursday 10/10/13 Warmed up with the 基本八法型 Kihon Happo Gata flow drill. Continuing from last time, we did 骨指基本三法 Koshi Kihon Sanpo with tobi footwork and the 捕手基本型五法 Torite Kihon Gata Goho with a punching attacker. This year in Japan, Soke has been exploring a variety of themes. For those of you who have followed...
Sunday 6/16/13 Los Angeles group training: This is our 3rd group seminar this year. This is the spirit Hatsumi Sensei has encouraged us to develop with the Bujinkan. Students, teachers and dojos coming together to support each other and share. Adrian Kaehler started us out with tremendous detail on 調潜型 Shirabe Moguri Gata from 九鬼神流...
Sunday 2/10/13 We had another Los Angeles group training day with David Greenberg, Adrian Kaehler, and myself sharing our own personal studies with each other and students from all over L.A. I’m very glad we are making this a regular event. I think it is so important for everyone in the Bujinkan to come together....