The seminar was on Saturday and Sunday but he was also teaching at a local dojo on Friday and Monday. I attended the Friday class with some friends. The class was in a small space with a lot of bodies so some of the movement we did wasn’t to completion as shown by Duncan. The movement was focused on utilizing the elbows which was great because it wasn’t something I’ve seen much of. I had never met Duncan before but I was quite impressed with his abilities and demeanor. He used me as uke for a few techniques and I have no doubt he could destroy me. The movements we did were too free form to take notes on or to try and remember. The best I could do is try and remember his distancing and elbow usage. After class we had a group photo and a shot of whiskey before sitting around and listening to his thoughts on Japanese culture. After that we left and got some really good Indian food before crashing for the night.

Saturday was a bit different. This session focused almost entirely on how Duncan trains the basics. A lot of the exercises were solo drills and Duncan joked that we would be doing karate all day. I really enjoy seeing different exercises that are easy to practice and teach. We did exercises for jumonji no kamae, ichimonji no kamae, hicho no kamae, jodan uke, omote shuto, ura shuto, gedan uke and zenpou keri. Then we practiced the kihon kosshi sanpo followed by the kihon torite goho, the tenchijin version I believe, with muso dori instead of ganseki nage and omote gyaku tsuki instead of oni kudaki. All of that was followed with various dakentaijutsu exercises. And that was followed with lots of bruises. Bigger ones for Duncan’s uke I’m sure. Training was followed by drinks and karaoke. Little known fact, Duncan is very skilled with the tamburin.

Sunday started off appropriately easy; completely opposite of Saturday. We worked on some light movements and exercises focusing on distancing: how to gauge it and maintain it throughout your movement. This was extremely helpful in starting to understand how he was able to move the way he does. Simple, repeatable exercises are great. This session was too free-form to take notes on and at one point I was getting well lost. Duncan also showed some basic naginata kata that were basically bo kata and sword kata combined, which makes sense. I think that was pretty much it. After the seminar he talked about training although I can’t remember much of anything he said. I think someone asked about how to acquire the spirit for training correctly but I’m not sure.

That was pretty much it. A fantastic weekend overall with great training. Duncan is a very skilled martial artist, a good instructor and funny guy. I’d definitely like to study with him in the future. Thanks to Duncan Stewart for sharing, Chris Chen for hosting and Kate, Lauren and Dave for some good times!

がんばってください！

I didn’t really know much about Paul Masse. I subscribe to his blog but to be honest haven’t read the past few posts. All I knew was he is a long time resident of Japan, is into art and photography, and also into street performing. It’s astonishing how varied people who study the Bujinkan are. Some martial arts attractive a specific type of personality but the Bujinkan attracts a very, very wide variety of people. The attendees of this seminar was pretty varied too. I got to see some friends I hadn’t seen in a while and I met a few new people whom I promptly punched, kicked or strangled with a rope. There were more women at this seminar than I recall seeing at any other.

Like other seminars Paul had someone first demonstrate something, anything, it didn’t matter, and then would add a number of extra bits to it. In the past I would take notes furiously during seminars but lately I haven’t because usually things are happening too quickly but more importantly because the steps of the movement are not important. What is important is the bigger picture of the movement, i.e. the feeling. I can write down details later but I’ll miss the feeling if I pause to take notes. I’m also far enough along in my training to be able to identify and reproduce most of the mechanical steps. The hidden techniques are what I need to focus on.

Paul showed many hidden movements with subtle and not so subtle strikes. He repeatedly mentioned demonstrating the “ferociousness” of the Bujinkan with multiple strikes to the same targets, smashing blows to the head and limbs, painful attacks with just the fingertips, and skillful control of the opponent by manipulating their fingers with his hands and feet. Needless to say he was very good at what he does and was quite inspiring to me. The handful of times he applied techniques to me I was astonished by how painful his fingers were and how easily he controlled me with light touches. He often mentioned controlling the opponent with air and he did a good job of conveying that feeling. Some other points he mentioned were: maintaining a connection with the opponent; not being in the fight; being within a hair’s breadth of an attack; letting things come to you by using misdirection or natural body responses; using light touches. I’m sure I’ve left some things out but that’s all that stood out.

Aside from straight taijutsu we used sword, knife and rope for some techniques. With the sword techniques the opponent was just wearing the weapon and in typical fashion it was used against the opponent without unsheathing it. With the knife we either drew it from our belt or took it from the opponent’s belt as part of the natural flow of the technique. With the rope though it was pretty straight forward to “tie” up the opponent and/or strangle him/her.

Before the seminar started Paul showed some of his artwork and artwork of Hatsumi sensei. After the seminar he did some calligraphy for everyone that wanted one. For me he drew the kanji 寿 (ことぶき – long life, longevity). (I’ll have to double check if that is the exact kanji he used.)

Thanks Paul for the artwork and the training. I would definitely attend another training session with him.

がんばってください！

がんばってくだし！

The weather could not have been more perfect and I look forward to next weekend.

がんばってくだし！

First we did a few exercises that reinforced moving in the Koto Ryu fashion (i.e. shallow angles with relation to the attack; inline or at right angles with opponent). One was just ura gyaku from a grab and I believe another was just practicing uke nagashi. We also did one where the uke attacked with two punches and the tori received the first on to the inside and then stepped back with hoko no kamae for the second attack. Then the tori shifted and kicked the groin followed by an ura shutoken. Another technique had the uke doing a lapel grab and punch to the face. The tori covered and stepped back into kamae maintaining the correct line and struck the attacking arm upward and away toward the uke‘s weak line. We also did one Koto Ryu kata, Yokotoh, as follows. The uke does a double lapel grab. The tori strikes the uke‘s head away to the left or right, depending on which hand is used, while kicking the groin with the same side foot. To maintain the Koto Ryu feel the  tori pivots while doing this. Maintain pressure on the uke‘s spine with the hand you used to strike as you step forward with the other foot and then strike upward at a 45 degree angle as you assume kamae.

I think that was it for the techinques we did before Jim showed a little bit of what to expect in the future. He then talked about the importance of creating your own densho and talked about how he approaches writing in his notebook. He emphasized capturing the feeling in your notes moreso than the physical steps involved in the techniques. That is something I should adopt in my writing.

がんばってくだし！

The first thing we worked on was facing off with the opponent and getting the distance correct. We gave an opening and when the opponent punched we just adjusted our kamae back to the starting position. This slight movement was enough to deflect the attack while consuming the space with our lead hand. We continued this by moving back and to the inside placing our lead hand against the forearm of the attacking arm while lowering our kamae. If done correctly we would be pulling the opponent slightly over their lead foot. The angles here were important. You had to keep the opponent on the line of his natural direction and you had to move into a position that was clear of any additional attacks. After working on that for a bit the follow up was a yoko aruki with an omote shutoken to the neck/face.

Next, we worked on a similar technique. The opponent does a lapel grab and a punch. As usual, first we practiced letting the opponent grab then we adjusted our distance as they grabbed. When the punch comes drop back inline with the opponent’s feet putting their weight onto the front foot, receive the attack by knocking it away then shift outward putting the opponent’s weight onto both feet. When you shift apply pressure against the elbow with your forearm or hand. You want to move such that the opponent’s spine is perpendicular to their feet and their weight is even and leaning forward. From there it didn’t matter.

After that we worked on some muto dori the same way as before. This time the focus was on placing your hand on the opponent’s lead hand and pushing it down and forward slightly. Once the opponent moved to cut again his kamae could be broken.

I believe that was it.

がんばってくだし！

We started out with ukemi and warm up exercises on our own.  After that we practiced some muto dori with the points that Jim had discussed last week. Richard wasn’t comfortable with the idea of leaning forward. I don’t know if it was because he’s so much taller than me (6′ 3″　vs 5′ 10″) or something else. Whatever it was he wasn’t into baiting the opponent by leaning forward the way I showed. When he found his sweet spot he was still within range of the kissaki (tip of katana) after straighting his spine upwards. When Jim showed it he was just barely out of range. Perhaps I was showing it incorrectly. After that we worked on some more muto dori but with free attacks and responses. Next, we worked on the last omote gyaku that Jim showed. First it was nice and slow then nice and free. After that was my personal favorite, randori.

がんばってくだし！

If I remember correctly, that something else was oni kudaki, musha dori, omote gyaku and ura gyaku. I believe Jim had Doug demonstrate each before going into the lesson. The way Jim showed oni kudaki and musha dori was the way I usually do it and the ura gyaku was slightly different. For that reason I won’t go into much detail about them. The ura gyaku he showed had a large sweeping motion that I don’t usually do. As you peel the hand away, step and raise the hand up in a semi-circle. Keep the arm straight and between you and the uke, forming a perpendicular line. You can place your hand against the back of the elbow for further control. A slight variation on ura gyaku, which I believe he described as the Gyokko Ryu way, was to treat the lock as omote gyaku. What I mean by that is once you’ve got the uke‘s wrist treat it like omote gyaku. This is how you get a “throw” with ura gyaku. That is the way I remember Joe Rae doing it.

The new thing for me was the way omote gyaku was shown. To me, this way of performing omote gyaku was the ura version of last week’s omote gyaku. As before, when the opponent begins to attack you should be moving. So, as the grab is coming begin to move in a cirular motion to the inside. This will load the uke‘s weight onto their lead foot and begin to turn them, if they track you. From there, grab omote gyaku and rotate around the wrist as you twist. Pretty straight forward actually. Note though, you need to have the uke‘s weight shifted evenly between his feet. That means your position needs to be directly opposite the uke‘s with his arm extended between you. When you apply the lock the rotation travels from the hand through the wrist up the arm and into the spine. As usual in taijutsu, the spine is the goal.

がんばってください！

We arrived about 15 minutes behind and Jim was in the middle of the opening shizen muto dori exercise. Doug and I cycled in with Andrew, Johnathan and Marcus while Michelle was getting ready. With this sword evasion exercise Jim spoke about setting up the proper distance by feeling were the sweet spot was. We did this by moving between standing too close and standing too far and eventually settling into a spot where the sword would come down just in front of you. This spot was actually just out of range of the sword. Now, what makes that spot sweet is you angle your torso forward just enough so the sword would split your head open. The weight on the feet is even and just slightly forward on the toes with your torso bent at the hips and angled toward the opponent (back straight of course). The opponent is doing daijodan shomengiri and at the moment he commits the cut step forward and to the left turing your body slightly and covering the lead hand of the opponent with your lead hand. Your body should end up fairly close to the tsuba of the sword. After that Michelle came into the dojo and Jim sat us down to discuss the night’s focus.

I don’t remember everything that he said but focus has shifted a bit from distance and timing and onto proper kamae; its role in controlling space; its role in creating openings for the opponent to attack or to prevent attack; its role in safely positioning yourself and probably some other things. He outlined what makes the kamae proper: even weight distribution between the feet, knees over toes, hips in, back straight, head up, and relaxed. This applies to pretty much all kamae for Gyokko Ryu. He also spoke about the spiral movement of this ryu. He also talked about the goshin no kata and its practice to develop proper kamae, attacks and movement in general. Then we demonstrated what we would be practicing.

The technique was just a lapel grab with a punch to the face. The response was to cover, receive to the inside with uke nagashi, omote shutoken to the temple as you move forward and to the outside then apply omote gyaku.

The first time through we allowed the uke to go ahead and grab before moving. When the attack comes drop back into kamae and uke nagashi. Jim detailed exactly where you should be positioned so the uke cannot easily follow up with another attack, regardless of whether they stepped forward with the punch or not. He emphasized loading the opponent’s weight onto their feet depending on how the attack was performed. He also emphasized elongating the arm when the shutoken is performed properly. At this stage the lock is already in place and is just a matter of moving with the spiral in mind. Also at this stage the distance between the opponent’s wrist and spine needs to be maintained. If it is then there will be no slack in the lock and the whole arm will be bound up. He talked about the lock being an attack of the spin and not the wrist and if done properly you’ll see the effect in the opponent’s back. He did it to me several times and it was an omote gyaku that I hadn’t felt before or at least in a long time. He would drop me directly on my left or right lung, depending on which wrist he had. I have pretty good ukemi and I could do nothing but absorb the impact of the ground. He also showed some way to move if the opponent’s arm does not stretch out but rather bends. For that you can pivot around to the back of the opponent while continuing with the wrist lock. Throughout the night he kept referring to moving in three dimentional space and that’s where the sprial movement comes in. So, not only are you moving around the opponent’s spine you’re bending it with the rotation of the wrist and downward movement of the wrist. All of this may seem like elementary omote gyaku but it’s been a while for me so it’s like relearning it.

The second time around we were moving just as the opponent was grabbing. Everything else was pretty much the same with the uke nagashi now being optional or being applied to the head instead of the arm. This initial movement set up the rest of the technique.

We finished class off with a short look at the ura gyaku version. We didn’t get to practice this much but all the same rules applied. The only change was forgoing the uke nagashi to the arm and going straight for the head then a shot to the spleen or ribs, depending on which side of the body you were attacking, followed by the lock.

He wrapped up the night by reiterating the points of the evening before bowing out. Good stuff.

がんばってください！

Edit:

Something else we did that I forgot was the same technique with a sword. With the sword held in your belt and your hand on the end of the handle, strike the incoming arm and step as before. Strike the side of the head as before with your hand still holding the end of the handle or use the tsuka. Apply the gyaku and draw the sword as they are falling.

So, what did we cover? The focus of the night was timing and distancing: feeling the timing and controlling the timing; and controlling the distance with kamae. Making the attacker attack on your terms and then controlling the rhythm of the confrontation were the main points I remember. This material, for me, is difficult to learn without proper practice and guidance from an instructor. The uke and tori must be honest with one another too in terms of moving, attacking and defending dynamically. Among other things, Jim talked about how important it is for each of us to communicate when training.

Some of the exercises we did to explore this topic follows. The first few exercises were receiving a single punch from the inside. With both people in kamae the tori was supposed to initiate the attack by giving the uke an opening. Since I’m not very good my opening was quite obvious but if you could make it subtle then you were on the right track. The tori would then respond at the moment the attack was committed and therefore disrupt the rhythm. If you respond too soon the attack may not actually come or may change. If you respond too late then you may not be able to move into a safe place. Jim talked about moving into a safe place as being your first priority. This goes back to establishing proper distance at the begining with your kamae.

Next, we put this timing concept into a simple technique. Uke throws a punch to the face and the tori receives to the inside with uke nagashi then moving in with an urate shutoken to the face or neck with the same hand. From there it really didn’t matter and would sometimes depend on how the uke responded. The point was to be one or two steps ahead of the uke by controlling the rhythm and the way the uke attacks. Later we expaned on this with two punch attacks and responding with ichimonji and jumonji movements, and from a lapel grab.

In between the taijutsu we did a short bit of sword work. The uke attacks with daijodan shomengiri. The tori starts in chuudan no kamae and raises the tip of the sword up to the uke’s face at just the right moment while moving off the line of attack. Needless to say the principle of timing applied here.

I believe that was it. Jim made a lot of points about what to practice and how to practice and I believe I got the main one or two here.

がんばってください！