Bujinkan South London Dojo

…we did a thing with Paul at Kasumi An Study Center 霞庵スタディセンター: Pls comment, Share, like 🤩🤩🤩🫣🫣🫣

How unseen "Invisible Architecture" is key for the martial artist. Dirk Fisher joins us for a great discussion of what he calls the Invisible Architecture which forms the basis for students of Ninjutsu.If you would like to s...

Hey Peeps, we are changing our training location to Warren Street, moving into the Japanese Jiu Jitsu in London Centre. Come visit us and check out our new location:

Facilities | The Jiu Jitsu Centre

"Attain enlightenment from being cut."
~ Itto Ittosai

“Grasp that losing,being thrown,getting punched,having a reversal applied, being beaten hollow, is to know that makeru ( to lose ) is the koppou of ma-keru ( kicking the demon ).
From there, self confidence will be born.”
宗家Masaaki Hatsumi

Seen it! From the people who I trained with many years ago, only a handful have remained. But those who have remained have become amazing human beings, accomplished martial artists and, most importantly, good friends 🤩😇

There used to be an old saying around the martial arts community that I think is quite true.

If one hundred people start in martial arts today, half of them will drop out in the first week (50 left). Half of the remaining will drop out before three months (25 left) and half of the rest before six months (12 left). Half of them will be gone before one year (6 left) and half of them will quit training before 1st degree (3 left). At best, three will get to black belt and of those, two will quit before 2nd degree.

The martial arts is accessible to all, but not all have the nature and conviction to be martial artists.

"In budo, too, there are three important essentials:
first, seeing and knowing oneself, one's own strengths and limitations; second, the sword of discrimination, of decisiveness, for eliminating faults, weaknesses, and the unnecessary;
and last, the sincerity, feeling, devotion, insight, and understanding of the heart."

宗家Hatsumi

This is critical advice: Protect your Uke

At the same time, also stay safe yourself!

Sometimes Uke needs to be told to slow down if they are rushing or to chill out if they are forcing things or are just generally careless.

Avoiding injury is important.

Some years ago, Soke reminded us at the old hombu during an August training class to train slow and avoid injuries when it's hot, protect your uke, and if tired take a rest between training sets. Here in Dayton, it may be 90+ degrees out with a heat index above 100 but stay cool as a 'stone daruma' (thanks Paul!) and train slow with good intent. The dojo's air conditioning is working great - see you training!

Word.

It’s harder than you think. Nagato Sensei often says “copy me”. He actually means it. Thanks for writing this Duncan

DOJO NO KOKORO
道場の心 - The Dojo Heart
( written in 2018 )

Ive never once wanted to test my teachers. They are all in their 70s. Sôke is in his late 80s. Why would you want to test these men?
If you do, I think you have rocks in your head.
The role of uke for the Japanese Shihan and Sôke is about keeping them happy, healthy and training for as long as possible so we may enjoy and learn as much from them as we can.
Nagato Sensei relayed a story about a recently ranked judoka to 10th Dan. He said that they are old and therefore would choose their best students because they knew how to practice and take Ukemi. They could therefore remain safe, enjoy training and transmit lessons well. If they took others, there could be a problem. He said this as a hint for those chosen to be uke for himself or Sôke.
Take that to heart please 🙏
When asked to punch, you punch. When asked to attempt a type of throw, you do just that. This is your job. It’s simple. If you wish to resist, try to stop the teacher, or keep attacking them, you are stupid.

Firstly, you are there as an assistant of the teacher, and not a combatant. You are there to help the teacher transmit what they are trying to instruct by giving them what they want, not what your ego wants. It’s not about you, your ego’s agenda, or your motivations for training. That’s quite clear in my experience. You do what you are told. Not what you want. The dojo is not a democracy.
When practicing, you should be working through what was shown and helping your partner. Nagato Sensei says it’s like an “agreement”. When learning something new, you must work together and not try to counter everything your partner is doing. If you do, your partner has to continually perform variations. As a result, you may never give them a chance to practice what was originally shown. These people very quickly become known as ones to avoid training with. Why? Because you cannot train with them! People don’t want to travel thousands of kilometres, and pay thousands of dollars to get stuck training with someone with their own egotistical agenda. I’ve seen this, as I’m sure many others reading this have as well. I’ve had a few people over the years like this that I’ve had to unfortunately endure with in class. Some had to learn how to practice. Lol. Nagato Sensei was obviously there for these times too and spoke about these experiences with me afterwards.
Good training 😉

There is a three stage process called Shu Ha Ri. When in a Shihan’s class, you are studying the Shu level. That is, the form, structure and principles of the technique. This requires each to practice and mimic as best as possible what was demonstrated. Did you notice that I said ‘each’? Yes, there is a way for both uke and tori that must be firstly learned. Just like there is a Kihon Happô for uke and tori. How many know this? If you cannot mimic, you cannot learn this first stage. So many people try to skip this stage and go straight to henka. Many think after one or two attempts of d**g what was shown, that they can do it and then proceed to train as they wish. Shu level training is where you learn the form of the technique. Do you know how many years the Japanese drilled the forms?!! Once you know the form, you can start testing it, but, do you really think you’ll master it after a few weeks in Japan!? This is one aspect of the Ha level.

Nagato Sensei has had to stop the class many times because people were not getting what he had shown. You could see many thinking or hoping he wasn’t talking to them. What you think you are doing is often actually very different to what you are really doing.
Unless you are told otherwise, your job is to mimic and train slowly and correctly. Nagato Sensei often tells everyone to “move,stop and think.” He says this is logical if you are truly trying to learn. I’ve trained long enough with him to be quite certain of this. Good luck if you disagree. Training in Japan is not fighting, it is studying and rehabilitation. It’s obvious that at anytime, both training partners can step away from each other or resist the other. I could’ve done this with any of my training partners over the years, but I never did. Why? Because I was allowing them to study and give them the time ( some need longer than others ) to try and get it. They would then reciprocate for my training.
There were times however when I’d resist to protect myself if someone had no control, but this was thankfully a rarity.
When both people understand the manner of practice, then both will help each other get the best possible out of each class to take home and truly train, eventually moving into the Ha level of progression. If you are there for a few weeks, learn to train smart, or you will have wasted your time and money. As some know from being in honbu with me, I’ve had people misunderstand this. For the most part, I’d try to explain these things to them and hope they get it. Some just stared back like Neanderthal thugs in black suits, while others understood and thanked me later for helping them get more from their lessons. There were times over the years that I was also given from Sôke and Nagato Sensei the role of ‘welcoming’ people visiting the dojo for the first time, often from other arts. This was good training too 😉

Please visit Japan knowing that you should leave your attitude at the door and become a child like sponge. This sponge is not just about technical skill, but learning to better ones character and truly take on the heart and feeling of your teachers’ transmissions.
Budo is about heart washing.
Good luck in your training.
南虎