Iaijutsu - Takiotoshi - BUNKAI

2 variations of the same move 

Muso Shinden and Muso jikiden Eishin Ryu practice this move slightly differently. But the spirit is till the same The opponent tries to grab your sword from behind, possibly to prevent you to draw it against an other opponent coming from the front.

TAMESHIGIRI training

Our next  Tameshigiri training session will be held this coming Saturday November 18 at the Mokurai Dojo in Headland, AL.

Please contact me at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

Posture

 

The least amount of leaning or twisting our torso tremendously decreases our stability. Keeping vertical and straight is extremely important no matter what we are doing, meditating, walking or fighting (from a standing position).

A common advice given to help us keep this proper posture is to imagine a golden thread glued to the crown of our head is pulling it upward.

Now it is a beautiful image, but it is not easy for everyone to imagine this kind of things. 

Last November, my Sword Master Carl Long Hanshi told us to make sure to always see our belly or chest in our peripheral vision when looking horizontally. 

I like this much better than the Golden Thread way, and it also works for Martial Arts as well as for Meditation. It is easier for most of us to see things than to imagine them. 

Positive secondary effect : Deeper breathing.

Additionally, while this should be part of our formal Zendo and Dojo practice, it can and therefore should also be practiced in everyday's life. 

This is primordial.

Cross Training

Practice is not just about improving skill in one discipline.

Martial Arts, Zen and Mosaics are the 3 legs of the chair I sit on. If you remove one leg, the 2 remaining legs won't stabilize your ass. If you make one leg stronger, it increases the stability of the whole chair.

That's what Cross Training is about...

Don't get stuck anywhere,  learn in one place to be more efficient somewhere else, Dharma gates are boundless, enter them ! 

 

3 reasons why you should not use a shinken.

In the past 16 month I have seen in 2 occasions some high ranking Karate people cut themselves with their swords. In Public. Fortunately, their cuts were superficial, no tendon or bone were cut. But the blood spilled in front of many people. 

 

This is unfortunate. Cutting yourself with your sword is akin to shooting yourself in the foot with your own gun. Would you trust a gun instructor who'd do that ?

Sharp swords – also called Live Blade or Shinken in Japanese – were designed to kill people swiftly and effortlessly. The only reason to use them is to practice Tameshigiri – actual cutting of targets. This is done in a particular environment, with strict safely guidelines.

They should not be used for Iaido which is normally practiced with Iaito. Iaito have the same geometry and shape than regular katana, they may be slightly lighter to prevent stress injury, and they are dull to avoid accident. They are designed for this purpose of safe practice.

If Japanese masters use them, so should you. 

For the following 3 reasons :

A dangerous fallacy.

I have heard many people say “I like to practice with a sharp sword, because it forces me to be more accurate.” Invariably, those people cut themselves. And it's just a matter of time before someone cuts someone else. So this is a fallacy, and a dangerous one.

A bad image of Yoshukai

Unless you know what you are doing, you will cut yourself, as long as it happens in private, it is your problem, but if it happens in public, you are displaying a poor image of Yoshukai in front of students or parents.

A serious liability

An other aspect of this is that when you bring to a room, a dojo or a beach a sharp sword and leave it unattended on the ground, you are in effect letting a dangerous weapon in the open for anyone to mess with. Would you leave a loaded gun laying on an open table in a picnic area ?

People, and children in particular, are curious and can be sneaky. If anyone would grab your sword and accidentally cut themselves, or wound or kill someone, you would likely be liable, as would probably be whoever organized the event or own the venue where it happened.

So if you don't have a sword, please purchase a Iaito, there are some good ones available at Cheness. If you already have a sharp sword, dull it. Use a grinder and take the sharp edge out of it or ask someone to do it for you. If you want to keep your sharp sword purchase a Iaito.

If you have questions about sword purchasing, please contact me at Frederic.lecut@gmail.com

The Monk and the Samurai

There are several version of this tale. Sometimes, Hakuin is the hero. A Zen monk was once visited by a samurai warrior. “I want to know about heaven and hell,” said the samurai. “Do they really exist?” he asked the monk.   The Monk looked at the samurai and asked, “Who are you?”   “I am a samurai,” announced the proud warrior.   “A samurai, really?” exclaimed the monk.  “Look at yourself ! You're unkempt, dumb and dirty. Indeed you're a disgrace and an embarrassment to the whole samurai class ! What makes you think you could understand such insightful things? Go away and do not waste my time with your foolish questions,” the monk said, waving his hand to drive away the samurai.   The enraged samurai drew his sword to slice the monk's head off, and the monk calmly retorted,  “THIS,  is Hell.” The samurai was taken aback. His face softened. Humbled by the wisdom of the monk, he put away his sword and bowed to him. “And THIS, is heaven,”  stated the monk just as calmly. Most people think this story is about the compassion and courage of the Monk who does not hesitate to put his life in danger to teach the Samurai. They are missing the point. No matter how admirable compassion is, it does not help people break the chains of suffering. The problem is not Hell or Heaven, the problem is Liking or Disliking. By insulting the Samurai the monk sets in motion the whole chain of dependent origination. On hearing the words "unkempt, dumb and dirty", rage - suffering - dukkha -  instantly raises in the samurai.  His proud ego  - He - is born anew.  And as soon as he hears "This is Hell", he realizes what has been happening. This same ego  - He - dies. The monk in fact skilfully demonstrated to him the mechanisms of Dependent Origination: how our ego constantly dies and is reborn in us.  In our ignorance of the dharma we are addicted to the world and ego we have built. Until we figure out how we can use the same mechanisms that have been enslaving us to free ourselves, we will suffer, just like the samurai suffered when the monk insulted him. The Buddha himself taught that Dependent Origination was a complicated and subtle thing to realize. It is so confusing that  it has been interpreted in very different ways by numerous Buddhist sects. In Zen, we do not put much emphasis in studying it, relying on the Heart Sutra's  negation of it : "There is neither Ignorance, nor extinction of Ignorance, neither Old Age and Death nor extinction of Old Age and Death".  But for a slow and thick headed learner as me, studying the basics : 4 Noble Truth, 8 fold path, and Dependent Origination is very helpful. I do not take them as Dogma or Theories, but as Efficient Tools to be used toward a Practical Goal.  Take Dogen's "Dropping body and Mind". People who are much more advanced than me wrote fascinating and abstruse stuff about it. But if you study Dependent Origination, it appears very likely that Dogen was simply  referring to the 4th link of Dependent Origination : Body/Mind - Nama/Rupa and that there is no need to  think of anything more complicated than that.  Before you run, learn how to walk, always practice basics... The great way is not difficult,  For those who have no preference...

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.

 

Raising from Seiza

A friend of mine had a Math teacher, a long time ago, who would individually comment on the test results of each student. The guy was a great motivator, one of his classical saying was :

"Mr Smith,  there were to ways to solve this problem: The right way, ... and yours"

As we get older, it becomes increasingly important to save our energy and optimize its use.

Basically: apply the littlest effort to achieve the maximum effect.

Last February I hurt (again) my right knee: I was performing a classical Jujitsu move when my knee unexpectedly collapsed at an unusual and painful angle. 

Since then, I have avoided walking as much as as I used to (and I used to walk a lot). This considerably weakened the quadriceps of both my legs, and the my right calf. I am presently trying to slowly rebuild them by gently practicing my Iai from Seiza and Tatehiza positions. And here is a little trick I practice, which you might want to try.

At the end of each waza, you stand up from a half kneeling position : one knee is up with its foot flat on the ground, the other knee is on the floor.

Your position in this stance is important, you can do it the hard way or the smart way.

If instead of using a short stance to lift your torso vertically using mostly your quadriceps, you adopt a slightly longer stance and push forward with your back foot, you will be surprised how easier it becomes. You will raise almost effortlessly with more stability.

To do this, I take a stance about 6" longer than usual. You need to figure out what is good for you. 

Of course, if you are tough, you still can do it the hard way !

Zen at War

A few years ago, 2 distressing books entitled "Zen at War" and "Zen War Stories" were published by Brian Victoria about the attitude of the Zen Establishment right before and during World War II in Japan. During this difficult period, a number of Zen Masters gave their support to the Japanese Imperial Army. This was very unfortunate, but they were very likely unaware of the atrocities committed in Korea, China and other Asian countries by the Japanese forces. (Are we really aware of what is going on in Pakistan or Afghanistan ?)

Apparently and according to various authors, Victoria tried to strengthen his case by distorting the words of a number of prominent Zen teachers. Among those are Kodo Sawaki, teacher of Taisen Desshimaru and Gudo Nishijima - and D.T. Suzuki who first translated in English the Lankavatara Sutra - among others - Excusez-moi du peu ! Quotations from these masters were mistranslated and taken out of contest to make them seem like war-mongers when this was quite the opposite.

I suggest you read this article and decide for yourself. 

I don’t know Japanese so I can’t judge of the validity of the arguments on the translations. However, I have been practising Japanese Martial Arts for a few years and I would like to add some wood to the fire of discussion. So here we go :

Zen does not preach the gospel of mercy, in fact Zen does not preach anything at all. Zen is practice.

The connection between Zen and Martial Arts dates from the beginnings of Zen in Japan – i.e. the 13th century when the Mongols of Kubilai Khan twice tried to invade (in 1274 and 1281). These were difficult times for Japanese society.
 

If you want to understand more about the connection between Zen and Martial Arts, I suggest you read Trevor Legett’s "Zen and the Ways” and “The Warriors Koans”, Taisen Desshimaru (another disciple of Kodo Sawaki Roshi) – “Zen and Martial Arts”, Yamaoka Tesshu’s “The sword of no-sword”, or Omory Sogen’s “Introduction to Zen training”. These are all books by men of great accomplishment in Zen and/or Traditional Japanese Martial or other Arts. 

The same sword and swordsman kills and gives life – no distinction. This is not a deep philosophical thing. If you see someone ready to hurt some innocent person, you slice them, your sword killed one person, and gave life to the other person. It is that simple. If you believe otherwise, you are mistaken. You might not be able to do it, but do not blame Buddhism or Zen for that. It is just that you were not able to do it.

There is no shame if you did nothing because you did not know how to handle a sword. No need to be killed yourself. However, if you are fluent in Martial Arts and are not able to use them when necessary, or if you use them too easily when you should not, you have a problem, and society has a problem. 

This is where Zen can help.

 

Yagyu Munenori was chief martial art instructor to the first and second Tokugawa shogun. (Early 17th century). Only once in his life did he draw his sword when a small group of rebels tried to assassinate the Shogun. Munenori, who was himself a disciple of Takuan Soho - sliced them down.
 

In his book “Heiho Kandesho” translated by Scott Wilson as “the Life-giving sword” Munenori clearly explains the identity of the life giving and the killing sword.

Things are not complicated. To become fluent at anything, you need to practice. It is true of Zen, it is true of Martial Arts. You need to practice Zazen, you need to practice Kendo or Calligraphy. If you don’t practice, you are wasting your time. 

And here I am, writing...

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...

 

It sometimes takes a punch in the nose...

How many times have I told beginners in Karate to keep their hands up when sparring - and their hands go down. Always, it never fails.

And the one day they get popped on the nose - sometimes it breaks it, sometimes it bleeds - they remember and all of a sudden their hands stay up. Some of them even tell me I was right...  Well guess what ?

By the way, the same thing happened to me a long time ago. Since then I have consistently kept my hands up...

"When you are ready, the teacher will show up".

Actually, the teacher might have shown up earlier, but you did not pay attention. It is the same with teachings. You may have been told how to do it, maybe times and times, but until you really needed to learn, you just did not listen. 

Last June I had the honor to demonstrate Tameshigiri in front of Soke Katsuoh Yamamoto and a vast crowd assembled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his founding Yoshukai Karate. 

I had planned to demonstrate Rokudan Giri - a classical 6 cuts exercise. 

1. Left to right Diagonal downward cut
2. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
3. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
4. Left to right Diagonal upward cut
5. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
6. Left to right Diagonal upward cut

I was cutting through a roll made of two tatami mats

It all went well for the first three cuts, then on the fourth one, the target got airborne and fell from the stand. Only 2 layers of straw had not been cut.

I stopped there as if this was exactly what I intended to do, and everybody - but me - was satisfied and impressed with my demonstration !

Two weeks later as I discussed the event with Patty Heath Sensei my instructor from the Big Green Drum Dojo in Pensacola, she asked me if I had lined my back hip with the target. I told her I had not, for nobody had ever told me to do so. To which she suggested that probably it had been told to me, but I had not remembered it. And very likely this is what happened. 

The next morning, I installed a double mat on the stand, aligned my back hip on the target, and performed a nice and clean rokudan giri ! 

I was so pleased and impressed that I cut a second target, with the same success !

Morals of this story :

• If you want to cut, line up your back hip with your target...
• Always listen to Sensei.
• If you are the Sensei, sometimes it may be better to let a student struggle with a problem before you tell him how to solve it.

Train hard

Education of a Young Samurai

Below is an other excerpt from the Book “My Narrow Isle” by Sumie Seo Mishima. She was born at the beginning of the 20th century on a Samurai family. Although at this period Samurai had lost their privileges, their spirit was still very much alive. After the death of her father the author was still in third grade, and she went to live with one of her maternal aunt in Tokyo. Here she explains a little more about her Uncle, and the education he received as a young samurai.

Uncle had a very serious face. He seldom smiled and almost never laughed or got angry. His movement was slow and ceremonious. Whenever I showed any sign of haste or feeling, he told me that it was most unbecoming to a samurai woman. 

Once I was struck in the street by a signboard blown off by the wind. He said it was most careless of me to be struck by such a thing as a signboard. One should train oneself to have self control enough to dodge any unexpected attack.

When he was young, he ans his two brothers were disciplined by their father under a rule that anyone in the family might strike any other person at any time of the day and night even when the victim was asleep, provided in the latter case the attack was made with a sufficiently loud cry preceding the blow. The one struck was not to make any complaint, however severe the blow might be. 

In this way the young samurai were trained to self composure coming from supremely trained watchfulness, which Uncle said had proved useful in saving him from various possible accidents even after samurai sword-fighting had been made illegal.

His swords had long been put aside, but anyone could tell he was a samurai by his lordly carriage. 

 

If you think this was harsh, consider the attitude these young men were able to develop. This kind of upbringing makes you become totally responsible for yourself. Something happens to you, you have nobody else to blame but yourself. 

We are surrounded by sorry people - of all political horizons - who keep blaming society for how unfair life is to them. Not much can be done for them. If you try to ease their pains, they will find something else to feel sorry about. If they had received this kind of education, they would probably not have this kind of attitude. 

And let us be clear about this. We are all responsible for this, not just their own parents...

 

Beside that, I  am also a firm believer in letting kids fights at school – open hand fights – no knives or guns of course. Fights allow testosterone and resentment to be vented before they accumulate so much that you feel the need to kill someone with a gun. 

Before we ask teachers to carry guns, we should let kids settle their disputes with their fists.

But this is another story...

The sound of a wet towel

"My Narrow Isle: The Story of a Modern Woman in Japan"  is the first part of the autobiography of Sumie Seo Mishima. She was born in Japan at the beginning of the XXth century in a Samurai Family, and received a western type of education in the US after World War I.

The end of the XIXth and the beginning of the XXth centuries were times of great changes in Japan. The society basically switched from a feudal to a westernized capitalistic structure in a matter of 2 generations.

At the beginning of her book, the author remembers how her younger sister's old nurse - whose husband had died in the wars of the Meiji Revolution - used to say: 

"Don't ever, ever flap a wet towel to dry it when you take a bath. It gives out a sound exactly like the sound of a human head struck off!"

The old lady and many of her generation had seen many human heads cut off and be displayed by the roadside...

The old woman was trying to remind young generations of the horrors of what had happened. Unfortunately this was not enough, and the same terrible things happened again a few decades later during the invasion of China by the Japanese troops. 

The tension brewing today between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is - at least partially - fuelled by the remembrance of these atrocities. 

If we cannot learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes...

Iai in Auburn

Travis Page Sensei invited me to teach a MJER Iai class at his Auburn Yoshukai  Karate Dojo yesterday, February 12, 2013.

Altogether 9 Yoshukai Karate students attended the class. Some of them had already trained with Patty Heath Sensei at the Dothan Dojo. Some of them were new to the Way of the Sword. 

We spent 2 hours together. First wie practised basics :  Nukitsuke & Kirioroshi, Chiburi & Noto; then the first 2 moves of the Batto-ho : Junto sono Ichi and Ni. 

Later on we switched to Kenjutsu with the first 2 Katachi waza : Deai and Tsukekomi.

When teaching to beginners, I concentrate on the big picture - I want the student to try to memorize the overall "form" of the waza. I am not pushing for perfection for I believe it is counterproductive at this level. I want the student to get an idea of what the whole move is about - so he can picture  himself in the action, and enjoy it !  I believe it is more important than boring them to death asking them to perform a perfect cut.

Cane Fighting : Tanjojutsu.

Here is a short footage of a demonstration of Tanjojutsu by Donn F. Draeger - I don't know the name of his opponent. 

The Tanjo (短棒) - or Tambo - is a short hardwood staff - different styles use different length. 

Very sharp, to the point. The way things should be.

ENJOY

Donn Draeger (1922 – 1982) was an internationally-known teacher and practitioner of Japanese martial arts. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1943 to 1956. He was the author of several important books on Asian martialarts, and was a pioneer of international judo in the United States and Japan. 

Terminology : Katana, Tō, Tsurugi and Ken

 

         The complexity of Japanese terminology is a constant source of aggravation and wonders... The same Character can very often be pronounced in very different ways (Also 2 different characters may have the same pronounciation...)  When it comes to sword, 2 words come back very often "To" and "Ken". 
They are found for example in Junto sono ichi (First waza of the Batto-ho set of MJER) and in Shinmyoken (9th waza of the Tachiuchi no Kurai set of MJER).
However, to make things even more complicated for us poor Gaijin, other words such as Katana and Tachi come up on a regular basis...

Let's try to clarify some of this :

The Character 刀 reads Katana in Japanese and Tō in Chinese. It is found in the Japanese words :

• Bokutō (木刀) : wooden Sword.
• Iaitō (居合刀) : sword to practice iaidō
• Nihontō (日本刀) : Japanese swords
• Battō-jutsu (抜刀術) : art of sword drawing

The Character 剣 reads Tsurugi in Japanese and Ken in Chinese. It is found in the Japanese words :

• Bokken ( 木剣) : wooden sword.
• Shinken (真⁠剣) : live (sharp) sword.
• Kendō (剣道) : way of the sword.
• Kenshi (剣士) : swordsman.

Originally 剣 (Chinese Ken; Japanese Tsurugi ) was used to designate a double-edged Sword, and 刀 (Chinese Tō; Japanese Katana ) a single-edged one. 

 

Character	Chinese	Japanese	Type of Sword
剣	Ken	Tsurugi	Double-edged
刀	Tō	Katana	Single-edged

 

 

Naginata - Tsurugi - Tanto - Uchi Katana- Tachi

Although the single-edged curved blade has been used in Japan for over a millennium, the usage of 刀 (Chinese tō ; Japanese katana - single edge sword), is much less common in pre-modern Japan (before the 1868 Meiji Restoration)  than the usage of 剣 (Chinese ken ; Japanese tsurugi - Double edged straight sword). Thus, in pre-modern Japan, swordsmanship was more often referred to as kenjutsu, kendō, kengi, gekken, and other terms rather than tōjutsu, tōhō, etc.

After the Meiji Restoration, the modernized variants of Japanese swordsmanship have been referred to exclusively with the character 剣 (ken ).

The Tsurugi  is the Japanese version of the Chinese Jian Sword - It was originally used in Japan until the Single-edged saber (Katana) was introduced around the 11th century.