Kenjutsu Seminar at Yoshukai Karate Dothan

You are invited to our first Bokken Week-end at the Yoshukai Karate Dojo in Dothan, AL on April 28, 29, 30. (Last week end of this month). During this seminar we will practice Kenjutsu and Jojutsu with partners and only use wooden weapons.

Crossed Bokken ready to attack, or separate...

Some people like to brag about being “naturals” at sword. I'm sure you've heard this before.... This is to say the least unfortunate. There is nothing natural about sword or stick fighting. It takes proper instruction, time and effort. Just as being an expert in Karate Kata or Heavy Breaking does not make you a fighter, practicing beautiful Iaido or Tameshigiri does not make you a swordsman. 

Shimabukuro Hanshi pressures Robin Ramirez

Short of actual fighting, paired practice is the best way to improve your distance and timing. It is also much safer... This is what we'll practice this week-end and will have fun doing it.

Programme : 

• Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Kenjutsu : Tachi Uchi no Kurai and Tsumeai no Kurai
• Kasumi Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu : First set of Kata
• Shindo Muso Ryu Jo Jutsu : Kihon and first four Kata.

Instructor : Frederic Lecut, 3rd Dan MJER, 5th Dan Yoshukai Karate.

Schedule :

Friday, April 28:  6:30 to 8:30 pm

Saturday, April 29 : 10:00 am to 5:00 pm with one hour lunch break

Sunday, April 30 : 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Location : World Yoshukai Karate Dojo : 1791 Ross Clark Circle, Dothan, AL 36301

Cost : 1 Session $10.00, full week-end : $ 20.00

Shimabukuro Hanshi & Carl Long Hanshi

Contact : Frederic Lecut : (334) 798 1639, frederic.lecut@gmail.com

Nothing Lacking, Nothing in Excess

The Shin Jin Mei  (Chinese  信心銘  - Xin Xin Ming or Hsin Hsin Ming), Faith in mind, is a poem attributed to the Third Chinese Chan (Zen) Patriarch Kanchi Sozan (Chinese Jianzhi Sengcan  or Chien-chih Seng-ts'an)

One of the earliest Zen document we have, it is a beautiful and syncretic text, in which Indian Mahayana Buddhism is already deeply influenced by Chinese Taoism.

Multiple translations are available, but one of its stanza has been rendered as :

The Way is perfect like Vast Space, with nothing lacking, and nothing in Excess.

Here is a video of Masayaki Shimabukuro Hanshi, which I believe perfectly illustrate Nothing Lacking, Nothing in Excess...

Enjoy, Be inspired, Practice...

Rivers

Rivers form their course by means of a process of repeated erosion. As rain falls on a hillside, that rain gathers into a rivulet. That rivulet gradually creates a channel for itself, and gradually grows into a stream. Eventually, as the channel of the stream is deepened and widened by repeated flows of water, the stream becomes a river which develops well-defined banks and a definite course. 

In the same way, our actions become habitual. These habits become part of our personality and we take these habits with us from life to life in the form of mental formation or habit energy.

This is otherwise illustrated as “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Your words become actions. Your actions become habit. Your habits become your character. And your character becomes your destiny.”

Our actions in this life are conditioned by the habits which we have formulated in our past during this life, and possibly over the course of previous lives. 

This is what practice is about.

Et oui...

Fighting across a Gate or Door

In his Heiho Okugi Sho translated by Thomas Cleary as  Secrets of the Art of Warfare,  the famous Yamamoto Kansuke (1501-1561) writes : 

In a fight across a doorway, there is an advantage when you are one against many. The advantage is that even though there are many opponents they cannot encircle you to strike. However, if they have time, enemies may come around  by another way, so you should keep yourself covered. 

About 450 years later, in his book Flashing Steel, Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi describes Moniri - a waza used in a particular case of such a situation.

Your enemies are lying in wait at a narrow entry gate ... Two ambushers are waiting on the far side of the gate while a third stalks you from behind. This presents a challenging situation because if you turn to deal with the attacker to your rear, the two in the front will rush through the gate behind you. But, if you attempt to pass through the gate all three will converge on you while you are confined within its framework...

 

The Last Words of Huineng

As I was sharing with Elliston Roshi my sorrow at the passing of Shimabukuro Hanshi, he suggested I checked what Hui Neng had to say about his own passing, about 1200 years ago. I happened to be reading in Heinrich Dumoulin's “Zen Buddhism, a history – India and China.“ the part about Hui Neng, the 6th Patriarch of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, who was an extremely influential figure of the development of Buddhist Zen in China. 

As he knew his death was coming, Hui Neng addressed his disciples in this way :

" Good bye, all of you. I shall depart from you now. After I am gone, do not weep worldly tears, nor accept condolences, money, and silks from people, do not wear mourning garments, If you did so, it would not accord with the sacred Dharma, nor would you be true disciples of mine. Be the same as you would if I were here. And sit all together in meditation. If you are only peacefully calm and quiet, without motion, without stillness, without birth, without destruction, without coming, without going - this then is the great Way. After I have gone, just practice according to the Dharma in the same way that you did on the days that I was with you. Even though I were still to be in this world, if you went against the teachings, there would be no use in my having stayed here. "

The Cherry Blossom is to flowers, 

what the Samurai is to men.

Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi (1948 - 2012)

It is with great sadness that I learned that Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi passed last Saturday September 8. 

Masayuki Hidenobu Shimabukuro Hanshi was born in March 1948 in Osaka, Japan and began his sword training in 1975 under the direct supervision of Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa, Hanshi, 20th generation Grand'Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu.

As International Chairman of the Nippon Kobudo Jikishin-kai under Miura Hanshi, and for the Iai-do and Batto-do divisions of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai,Shimabukuro Sensei was in charge of the dissemination of authentic Eishin-ryu Samurai swordsmanship outside of Japan.

Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi was ranked 8th dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu Iaijutsu, 8th dan Shito-ryu Karate-do, 7th dan in Shindo Muso-Ryu Jojutsu and he held the title of Hanshi - the highest title one can achieve in the Traditional Japanese Martial Arts - in both Iaido and Karate-do.

Demonstration Venezuela 2007

Not all Masters are nice. Shimabukuro Hanshi was a wonderful person. I only met him in 3 occasions, and - beside his technical expertise - I was deeply impressed by his human qualities : kindness, humility and patience. He was also a good cook !

All of us his students will deeply miss him. 

The best way to now honor his memory is to train hard, improve our practice and polish our spirits to continue the transmission of the Art he was teaching us. 

With deepest bows...

 

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...)

Kendo Kata in Japan

A very nice demonstration of Kendo Kata. Prior to 2009.

Pay attention to the way partners separate in Kendo Kata, if I am not mistaken, this is the way one should separate in the Batto-Ho katachi paired exercises described in 

Samurai Swordsmanship: The Batto, Kenjutsu, and Tameshigiri of Eishin-Ryu - the last book by Carl Long Sensei and Masayaki Shimabukuro Hanshi.

 

Pay also attention to the way they walk, the ball of the foot lands first, the toes slightly lifted, and the heel never really supports much weight. 

 

This is important. It is the fastest way to move or change direction. 

When your weight is on your heel, you cannot jump, push with that leg, or change direction as fast as when it is on the ball of your foot.

Always slightly bend your knees to bring your weight to the ball of the foot. Never support your weight with your heels.

Basically, this is when your opponent's weight is on their heels that you want to attack them, specially when they are retreating. For then they are off-balance, and their strikes or cuts cannot be really powerful or accurate. This is true in Kendo, this is true in Karate. 

 

The Devil is in the details...