vendredi 11 mai 2012

Don't mess with Fox Faeries

In a certain hermitage on Mount Heng in Southwestern China, there lived a young Taoist adept whose name was Purple Pine. He diligently cultivated his Ch'i and gradually mastered the mysterious arts. From time to time, he had to descend the mountain to purchase provisions for his master. One day, while passing by the pagoda of a fox faery, he suddenly felt the urge to pee, so he stopped near the pagoda to relieve his bladder and inadvertently let some urine seep into the base of the pagoda. This provoked the fox faery who inhabited the pagoda to complain furiously. 

The young Taoist felt offended by the scolding the fox faery had howled at him, and so he said with a laugh, "Your own rank odor, old fox, is so foul that I can hardly even breathe, and compared to that smell, my urine could be regarded as quite fragrant!"

The fox faery grew enraged and vowed, "Insulting a fox faery is an unforgivable mortal offense. Only by drinking your blood shall my anger be pacified! Mark my words: within three months, I shall have my revenge on you!"

Purple Pine could not suppress a shudder of fear and left in silence, greatly distressed. That evening, while he was returning to the hermitage from the city, just as he reached the foot of the mountain a dense fog suddenly descended, completely enshrouding the entire area. 



 


Losing his way, he took the wrong fork in the trail, and after a long while, he finally saw a ray of light shining near the side of the path, so he quickly walked toward it. At last he came upon an ancient temple so densely veiled in mist that even the large characters inscribed on the tablet over the gate were too obscured to read. All he could see was that the front gate stood ajar, and feeling calmer now, he heaved a sigh of relief and went inside. There a young boy waved at him, so Purple Pine followed him inside and across a courtyard, stopping before the door of a small cottage. The little lantern hanging over the door cast a few dim rays of light into the night. But the light flowing from the window seemed to beckon him with a warm welcome.

The Taoist had an intuitive feeling that this place was rather fishy, and that it might hold some sort of danger for him, but he had no other choice, so he went inside. Right then, the young boy suddenly disappeared, and he heard the soothing sound of a harp, which so entranced him that he lost all sense of fear. Knocking on the door as he stepped inside, he saw two people sitting there completely enraptured by the music from the harp, and they both ignored him. The harp player was a stunningly beautiful girl with a face like a peach blossom, blooming with the ripe spirit of youth. Sitting to her side was an old man wearing a short vest over a long gown, very well groomed and dignified, with a long beard; but his demeanor was cold and reserved, and though he seemed to be intently listening to the music, he definitely noticed the Taoist standing there. Purple Pine paid no further attention to the old man, nor did he pause to consider that he might be stepping into a trap.

He just stood there dumbfounded, as though he'd lost his soul, and stared fixedly at that beautiful girl's jade-like face, just like a little bird mesmerized by the eyes of a snake. Soon the harp music gradually faded away, and the young beauty stood up with a sweet smile and bowed, saying to the old man, "Father, we have a guest." The old man glanced at the Taoist and said coldly, "Please have a seat. Perhaps you have already guessed that our surname is Hu." The old man was no doubt the fox faery who lived in that pagoda.


A moment later, the old man said, "You came at just the right time. We were just about to have dinner when the family next door sent someone over to report that their old grandfather is critically ill, so I must go over there and visit them. Please stay and accompany my daughter for a cup of wine and a few bites of our simple food:" When he finished speaking, he stood up and abruptly left without the courtesy of saying farewell, as though he didn't feel the slightest regard for his guest.

As they ate, Miss Hu served him with the utmost attention, and conversed with him without the slightest inhibition, and soon the two of them were as close as though they'd known each other forever. After a servant came to clear away the dishes and left them alone, the young girl flashed him a bewitching smile that silently revealed her intentions, and in this manner she extended him the invitation that could not be spoken aloud. The two of them immediately fell into a passionate embrace and went to bed together, and they didn't part until dawn.

After returning to his hermitage on the mountain, the young Taoist lived in seclusion as before and did not again descend the mountain and enter the city, nor did he ever again go out for strolls to enjoy the scenery. Why did Purple Pine cut himself off from the world and live like this? Was it because he wished to avoid another encounter with the fox faery? Not at all! Regardless of who the man might be, all it took was one illicit coupling with a fox faery, and his fate was thereby sealed. Thenceforth it was impossible to escape from the net, and even though he clearly knew from the start that this witch would suck his spirit dry, he would nevertheless have preferred to die in her arms than to forfeit the opportunity to enjoy the incomparable pleasure of copulating with her.


According to others who lived at the hermitage, a female fox was often seen darting back and forth around the walls of the hermitage, and this fox's fur grew shinier and more resplendent day by day, while Purple Pine's vital life force gradually withered away, and he became ever weaker and more exhausted.

His master must have known the cause of his disciple's ailment, and he must certainly have had a magic spell he could cast to help rid him of this calamity, but in order for the spell to work, Purple Pine would have to resolve himself to killing his beloved fox faery—otherwise the spell would have no effect. The old Taoist master took "noninterference" as his guiding principle, for how could he possibly force another person to make such a choice?

Three months after his first copulating with the fox faery, Purple Pine suddenly disappeared. Soon thereafter, someone came up the mountain to report to the master of the hermitage. He said that on that day at a dilapidated old temple at the foot of the mountain, he saw a corpse sprawled out in the courtyard and recognized it as the Taoist Purple Pine, his skin pale as a ghost, his entire body drained of blood. All around him were paw prints of a fox, as though left there by a large pack of foxes. From this it was clear that the old fox faery in the pagoda had fulfilled his vow of revenge.


Notes : 

  • Fox faeries are mythical beings who are said to have attained spiritual immortality while human, then transformed themselves into fox spirits. From time to time, they returned to human form as irresistibly beautiful women in order to mate with virile young men and steal their energy by draining them of their sexual fluids, as a means of boosting their own power.
  • The surname"Hu" is a homonym for the word "fox."
  • Wu wei, "noninterference," is a fundamental guiding principle by which Taoists live, always letting nature take its course without interfering.
  • This tale was recorded by John Blofeld in the Szechuan province of China. It illustrate the Taoist belief – shared with other Traditions - that ones life energy and longevity are deeply connected to sexual fluids (Semen and eggs). This belief is at the origin of various practices aimed at the actual preservation of these fluids.

mardi 8 mai 2012

Iai Jutsu Seminar


I had the honor and pleasure to teach a Iai Jutsu Seminar on May 4 and 5, 2012, for Yoshukai Karate Black Belts of the Oxford - Anniston area. Altogether about 20 people attended the event. 

I had planned 3 parts to this event : 

  • Basics of Iai Jutsu : How to draw the Sword - Nukitsuke, the classic vertical cut Kirioroshi and how to put the sword back into the sheath - Noto.
  • Yoshukai Iai. practice and Bunkai
  • Eishin Ryu Iai. practice of a few waza wastly different from Yoshukai Iai.

But the time went so quickly Friday evening that I was not able to present what I had originally planned. We just could go through 4 of the Yoahukai Ia waza, , and the Tsuredachi and Somakuri waza of the Okuden Tachiwaza set of the Eishin Ryu school.



During Saturday morning session we reviewed some of the moves practiced Friday, and practiced a few others. 

Overall, everybody was very pleased. I am very thankfull to all those who made this event possible for their help and hospitality. Being able to share what I have been taught by gifted instuctors is a rewarding and meaningful thing.

We will organize a longer lasting event after our Yoshukai Summer Camp to be held on June 15. 

Keep in touch !

dimanche 6 mai 2012

In this remarquable video, Masayaki Shimabukuro Hanshi and Carl Long Kyoshi demonstrate the details of the 2 waza Tsukikage and Suigetsuto. These kenjutsu waza are performed with a boken - a wooden sword. They are part of Tahiuchi no kurai set of the Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu school of Japanese Swordsmanship.



Carl Long Sensei  goes a very long way to explain all the details of these 2 techniques, how it's done, and why it's done that way. This is very important, too often, in Iaido, Karate or other Budo, you see people perform techniques in a way that may be at times elegant, but is also wrong, because they were never told (or they forgot) what these techniques really were about. When you get to that point, you don't do Martial Arts anymore, but a sort of aerobics... If you can remember the details exposed here, and try to practice keeping them in mind, you should improve your own technique.

This segment is part of a set of 3 DVD available on line.




Buy them, train with them

(don't just leave them on a shelf...)


vendredi 4 mai 2012

Okuden Tachiwaza - Bangai no Bu


In this amazing video, Iwata Norikasu Hanshi demonstrates the Okuden Tachiwaza and Bangai no Bu sets of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu school of Iaijutsu.

All waza are  demonstrated from several angles, and bunkai are provided for each one of them, seen from different angles, even from above when necessary..





Although  the comments are in Japanese, this is so well done that you pretty much understand everything.


Enjoy, train harder...



You can read a great Interview of Iwata Norikazu Sensei (also called Iwata Kenichi), who left us on January 1st, 2011. He was 97 years old.

mardi 1 mai 2012

Arnica Montana

Last night, one student rushing to sweep me with o soto gari (this is the sweep used in Yoshukai Karate Ippon Kumite # 4), swept me sideways instead of backwards.

Needless to say, my knee did not appreciate this sideways bending. It popped, generating a rather sharp pain, I rolled to the ground holding my knee and immediately thought: "Well, there won't be any Karate or Sword for a loooong time...".

We quickly applied a cold pad on the joint, I was able to walk, and went to my bag where I had a tube of Arnica Gel. I rubbed it on my knee. The rubbing happened at hte lastest 5 minutes after the accident. AFter I came home, I applied more Arnica to my knee.

In the morning, there was no swelling of the knee, but I could not fully extend it, neither could I bend it more than 45 degrees without discomfort. At least, I could walk ! I took an extra serving of Glucosamine and Hyaluronic acid potion.

In the evening, I was able to teach a Iaido class, I practiced all waza standing up, no seiza or tatehiza today ! I was extremely suprised that I did not feel more discomfort.

It is possible that the injury was not very serious. However, I clearly felt the knee popping out of alignment, and could feel several times some parts move inside it, which did not use to.

I really believe this amazing healing is due to the very early use of this Arnica gel.

A few years ago, someone broke a Bo (1 3/4" Diamter) on my right ankle. ( I forgot to jump...) I thought it was broken. I immediately rubbed it with Arnica gel, there was no bruise the next day.





WHen you use this medicine, the main thing is to apply it very quickly after the injury. The faster you use it, the more efficient it is.

I usually bring my gel from Europe. However, you can get it now in the US at reasonable prices (under $10.00). Considering how efficient this is, I suggest you keep a tube of it in your bag.