The kata 自然 Shizen is a natural response to an opponent's choke. Bujinkan gokui says 豹変して必ず勝つ hyohen-shite kanarazu katsu, "Sudden change will always prevail."
This morning I went into Tokyo to visit the 黒門 kuromon, or black gate. This was one of the few structures from 寛永寺 Kan'ei-ji that survived the battle of Ueno
the kata 雲雀 Hibari, a type of skylark. The evasion is 潜型 moguri gata. Then you “flush” up with a sudden strike to catch a hold and drop him like a rock.
I got up early to catch the train into Tokyo. I was headed to 下谷神社 Shitaya Jinja to fill in my 集印帳 shūin-chō stamp book. But I also wanted to purchase some 御守 Omamori as gifts for my students back home.
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 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.
exploring the kata 月肝 Gekkan. We began class with a review of 神傳不動流 Shinden Fudō Ryū kamae and the fundamentals of striking. Hatsumi Sensei shared a wordplay changing 構え Kamae to 化 前 Ka mae. He said this to suggest kamae was “the moment before change.” I think that is a great way to understand the idea of kamae.
We explore the Bujinkan Kuden of 以心伝心 Ishin Denshin. This is a holiday week in the U.S. But we are still training! I begin with a class on the night of the rocket launch for Nasa’s DART mission.