Tachi Uchi no Kata

La premiere serie de kata dans le programme (1) du KNBK

Tachi uchi no kata (2) est une serie de 7 kata concue par Oe Masamichi, 18eme Soke (grand-maitre) du Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu.

Apres la restauration Meiji en 1868, la classe des Samourai fut abolie au Japon. Il devint important d'enseigner a l'ensemble de la population les techniques martiales des differents clans, afin que celles-ci ne soient pas perdues. Les modes d'enseignements changerent. Des formes simplifiees - non traditionelles - furent crees pour enseigner a de jeunes gens provenant de familles sans tradition militaire.

Les katas de Tachi Uchi no kata etaient a l'origine destines a etre enseignes a des eleves du niveau college. Ils sont bases sur la serie traditionelle Tachi Uchi no Kurai, enseignee plus tard dans la progression de notre ecole. 

Le but de cette serie est l'acquisition de la comprehension et le controle de la DISTANCE entre deux adversaires. Pour cette raison, il n'est pas necessaire d'y demontrer une attitude aggressive. (3)

Les mouvements individuels se nomment : 

Deai

Kobushitori

Zetsumyoken

Dokumyoken

Tsukadome

Ukenagashi

Mappo

Tachi Uchi no kata est ici demontre par Kono Hyakuren Hanshi (1898-1974)

 

 

 

 Notes : 

(1) Pour etre admis a passer le test de Shodan, un eleve doit demontrer une bonne comprehension des deux series Tachi Uchi no Kata et Tachi Uchi no Kurai (programme KNBK 2022)

(2) un autre nom pour la serie Tachi Uchi no kata est "Oe no mono", en reference a Oe Masamichi Hanshi

(3) La deuxieme serie de kata , nommee Tachi Uchi no Kurai, reprends certains des techniques de Tachi Uchi no kata, en leur donnant parfois des noms differents. Dans cette seconde serie, on cherche a developper en plus du sens de la distance, celui du TIMING, et une attitude plus agressive est utilisee.

 

Hello everyone, 

Here is the update on the Miura Hanshi Mosaic. As per this Monday morning, April 24, 2015, the project has collected a total of $1,436.00 of a total goal of $5,500.00. Pledges have been coming mostly from United States and France.

For those of you who did not read my last post, here is what it is all about : 


I launched last week a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to realize a mosaic portrait of Sword Master Takeyuki Hidefusa Miura, Hanshi. Miura Hanshi left this world in 2012. He was the 20th Grand Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, the style of Sword I practice, and I would like to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life of dedication to the transmission of this Art. 

The mosaic model.

The portrait I want to make of Miura Hanshi will be of him practicing "Tameshigiri": the actual cutting of targets with a real katana. Miura Hanshi was well know for his almost supernatural ability to cut rolls of papers with his sword.

Without men like Miura Hanshi, invaluable arts would be lost to humanity, and I want to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life and dedication to transmit to us the Art and Spirit of generations of Samurais before him.  When this mosaic is complete, I will donate it to the Headquarters of the KNBK – the organization that carries on Miura Hanshi's teachings.

Here is the link to the project : The Miura Hanshi Mosaic Portrait.

Miura Hanshi cutting rolled paper

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, this is how it works : 

There is a period of 30 days to raise the money (5,500.00). If you think the project is worthy and want to back it, please pledge some money. This is very easily done on the front page of project's Kickstarter website. You get rewards depending on the amount you pledge. This is also well described on the project's Kickstarter website.

 

When you pledge, the money is kept by Kickstarter in a special account. 

At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if the total amount has been pledged Kickstarter sends me the money and I get to work. If the total amount is not raised, you get fully reimbursed. 

I hope you find this project a valuable one and that you will participate to the cause. 

An other way to help would be to share this post to your facebook page and/or Twitter account, or any other social network you use. 

If you have any questions, please ask them, preferably through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read them, and my answers.

Thank you

When I do not practice Karate, Iaijutsu or other Martial Arts, I am also a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my mosaic work or would like to drop me a line 

please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

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NEWSLETTER

I finally did it !

This morning I completed  a goal I had set about a year ago : Practice each waza of our KNBK curriculum 150 times each.

Well actually, I only practiced the waza I know. Advanced techniques such as Okuden Suwariwaza I never really studied enough to feel comfortable with them.

Also, these are just the solo practice waza : Batto - Ho (12 waza), Shoden seiza (11 waza), Chuden tatehiza (10 waza) and Okuden Tachiwaza (11 waza). Katachi are not included. 

I also had to limit myself to  the standing version of Chuden Waza as my right knee is not ready yet for Tatehiza.

But all together that makes quite a few waza, quite a few Nukitsuke, Kirioroshi, Chiburi and Noto ! With a total of 44 waza, that makes a total of 6600 waza.

Does it make me an expert ? certainly not, but it has helped me improve. I strongly believe that only the consecutive repetition of the same waza, times and times, allows you to become acutely aware of body positions, the muscles you actually use, the way you bend your joints... Develop muscle memory - And is the only way to get better by researching and fine-tuning your moves. In my personal case, I think I have to practice a move at least 12 times in a row to be able to really feel the details of how my body relates to it.

Most of us have heard the saying that every move should be repeated 10,000 times to be perfected executed. Where does this number actually comes from ? Is it accurate ?

Well, it comes from Chinese Taoism and it is not to be taken literally. In Taoism the "ten thousand things" means the Complete Universe, all that exists. So when you are told to practice each waza 10,000 times, what you are told really, is to keep practicing them for ever...

Nevertheless, I believe in progressing step by step, and in recording your progress. Every time I practice one waza 10 times, I draw a little line on a recording sheet. It is easy to do, and I invite you to follow me.

If all goes well, I will visit my friends Francis and Jean Luc, also my Kendo and Ju Jitsu Instructors in France next week. More to learn and enjoy. 

For those of you who cannot practice from Seiza or Tatehiza positions, the standing versions of the Shoden and Chuden waza are beautifully described in the Advanced Samurai Swordsmanship set of DVD by Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi and Carl Long Kyoshi.

In a next post I will elaborate on the healing aspect of this kind of practice on the joints.

 

Yukizure - Bunkai

Yukizure is the first waza of the Okuden Tachi waza set of the MJER Curriculum...

The Bunkai of Yukizure is that you are being escorted ("escorted" is the literal meaning of "Yukizure") to a place you don't really want to go by two guys you don't really like.  They may not be really bright, because they have left you with your sword.

One of them is on your right, the other one on your left.

While walking with them, you take a smaller step to be behind them, bump onto your left escort from behind, draw and cut the right escort's neck or left shoulder. This cut is one handed, it is Nukitsuke.  Immediately follow up by cutting the other escort with a two handed kirioroshi.

In this video taped on February 1st, 2014, at the Shindai Aikikai of Orlando, FL, Carl Long Kyoshi demonstrates the Bunkai of Yukizure.

If you are interested in learning Traditional Japanese Swordsmanship, the KNBK website provides valuable information about various aspects of the Art, as well as addresses of schools (dojo) licensed to teach Iaijutu in the USA and other countries.

The words below are a paraphrase of Carl Long Sensei's closing statement at the end of our KNBK Instructor's seminar in November 2013. They perfectly express my deep feelings about Budo : 

"This is a good group, the technique is good, it will get better, and this is important. 

This being said, what is more important is that during these 3 days we spent together, each one of you gave something and learned something. So several of us became better persons, because of what they learned, because of what they taught, because of the interaction within the group. 

Budo is not just about you, about becoming better at it. Budo is about making the world a better place. If only one person becomes a better person, the world becomes a better place for everyone else. "

SHIN - GYO - SO

During the October 2013 KNBK seminar in Pensacola, Carl Long Sensei introduced us to the the Shin-Gyo-So practice forms of the Ono-Ha Itto Ryu Kiriotoshi

The words 'shin, gyo, so' come from the three ways of writing in Shodo (Calligraphy), 'kaisho (equivalent to shin), gyosho and sosho'. Shin is a formal non cursive form, Gyo a semi-cursive one, and So is the cursive form.

" 無 " - MU - Nothing - brushed in the 3 styles

In the Itto Ryu practice, the distance between opponents (Mai) and the target of the cut are different for each one of the 3 different ways: Shin (真), Gyo (行) , So (草).

	SHIN (真)	GYO ( 行 )	SO ( 草 )
MAI	Long	Medium	Short
TARGET	Solar plexus, Suigetsu (水月 )	Throat, Nodo ( 喉 )	Head, Men ( 面 )

Practice intensely and repeatedly...

 

The new KNBK Website is live

This is to announce the New Website of the Kokusai Nippon Budo Kyokai.

 

The KNBK – Kokusai Nippon Budo Kyokai is an international organization dedicated to the preservation and continuation of the teachings of traditional Japanese koryu and gendai martial arts. Our primary focus is the preservation of the teachings of Masaoka Kazumi of Seito Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iai Heiho through it’s direct transmission over 21 generations.

The KNBK also preserves the teachings of Shindo Muso Ryu Jojutsu and the associated sogo bujutsu, Ono Ha Itto Ryu Kenjutsu and other modern forms of Japanese and Okinawan martial arts.

The organization was established in 2007 by Hanshi Masayuki Shimabukuro at the request of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai and Hanshi Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa.

KNBK Founding Chairman Emeritus & Soshihan – Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa

KNBK First Chairman & Soshihan – Shimabukuro Masayuki Hidenobu

KNBK Current Chairman & Soshihan – Carl E. Long

Visit the KNBK site and learn more about our history and activities.