Entries Tagged 'Budo' ↓

This is a personal review of the Norwegian Aikido Federation (NAF) Vinterleir (winter school), 15 – 18 March in Tromso. Jessica Loeb and myself formed the London contingent – unfortunately Francis and Craig who were due to come too were not able to in the end.

Tromso is a very nice small town in the north of Norway, well inside the arctic circle. At this time of year there is plenty of snow and yet the daylight is a good 12 hours (it is far enough north to range from almost no daylight mid-winter to no real darkness in summer). There is not a vast amount to Tromso, but one of its attractions is that it seems to take about 10 minutes by car to go anywhere, including being out of the town and in some lovely nature.

The Vinterleir is traditionally taught by Bjorn Eirik Olsen (6th dan), Technical Director of the NAF, but this year, in honour of 30 years of aikido in Tromso (which was the first club in Norway at all), they invited Suganuma Sensei (8th dan). He has been 11 times to Norway but always in the south for the summer camp, and I think he very much enjoyed the different surroundings of snow and nature.

This also worked out very well as they have the Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba leading the summer camp in July this year. That promises to be a rather larger affair than usual!

I have actually been half a dozen times to the Vinterleir – there was a period when I went every year, but the last time was 5 years ago – Benedict who is now 4 and a half years old changed life a little!

As ever, the welcome in Norway is always extremely friendly and the atmosphere is a huge part of the success of the camp. Most people stayed with dojo members which was very nice, and in my case, together with Geirr from Oslo, we were kindly looked after by Ingelill.

It was great to see that Suganuma sensei had brought a large party from Fukuoka – nine in all. As was mentioned at one point in the speeches, it was also very nice that the Japanese group were not just fairly senior teachers, but ranged from a 17 year old to a 70 year old, and beginners to a 6th dan.

Suganuma Sensei

The training itself was excellent as usual – very clear and precise. Suganuma sensei’s teaching seems to vary very little from year to year, and is very unflashy on the surface and always seems to be oriented towards the basics in these courses. He is always very clear about techniques and gives lots of smaller pointers to particular things to watch out for ranging from use of atemi to positioning for maximum safety during nikkyo.

There are times when this can almost seem a little boring – and it certainly contrasts with Inaba sensei who spends quite a lot of time talking/lecturing during courses can also give some very interesting food for later thought and reflection (although some people find that very boring!).

Suganuma sensei is very attentive during the practice and frequently helps beginners with great patience, including taking ukemi for them to make sure they have understood.

Over the years it has become an interesting exercise to tease out more from what Suganuma sensei is demonstrating, and I was starting to get a better sense of how he uses his body and energy, and feels the connection with his partner. I still have lots of questions about the “shape” of some of his techniques which I can not replicate without expending a lot more muscle in comparison with other ways of doing the same techniques. Something to work on next time.

One very interesting point for me was when he mentioned how often we tend to provoke a negative response from our partners by inappropriate or hard techniques. This is something I am finding very fruitful for my current practice.

I will certainly be back again, although am interested to know if his teaching varies for example in his home dojo(s), although an interview with him implies that it doesn’t. It was very useful to practice a little with Tokuda sensei (6th dan) and get an alternative feel from someone who has trained with Suganuma sensei for many years. A very clear use of energy and sense of sticking and controlling in some techniques. I would love to arrange a visit on a future trip to Japan. For me a lot of the interest is because of the contrast with Inaba sensei – two very inspiring, but very different, teachers.

My Class

Due to the number of people on the course and the size of the main dojo not being sufficient to accommodate everyone, people were divided up into groups and roughly a third went off for a separate class at various points. I was asked to teach one of these and had some fun doing it.

I taught a somewhat relaxed and very much feeling based class rather than technique based, mainly because this is what I am finding most interesting in my personal practice at the moment. We started with some breathing exercises, breathing out and sucking the belly in, and then rotating the hips to drop the tanden/belly forward and using this to allow a fast in-breath, but with no hint of force or strain. It is important to feel as if breathing first into the belly and not fill the upper chest, or at least not let stiffness in there. Also there can be a temptation is to “sniff” which tends to stiffen the body – I find it much easier to do with an open mouth. This exercise certainly seemed a little strange at first, but I then built on it to show some simple techniques, e.g. from katatedori, where I find that an out-breath to absorb your partner’s attack/energy, followed by a quick in-breath seems to release some energy upwards which makes it much easier to lift their arm and indeed their energy.

I then focussed on keeping very soft and relaxed arms and shoulders while performing simple koky-ho from ryotedori (2 hand grab) or tenchinage, and allowing the arms to drop in a very relaxed manner without any sense of strain or pushing.

People seemed to enjoy it (after the initial confusion perhaps on the breathing and where I might be going with it!) and I had several appreciative comments afterwards which is always nice. My sources are mainly Inaba sensei’s teaching regarding the breathing, and Peter Ralston’s book “Zen Body-Being” for a fascinating approach to relaxation and effortless power which I am finding very rewarding to study.

Grading

I missed the kyu grading, but watched the dan grading on Saturday with interest: three shodans and two nidans, of whom I knew 4: Vegard, Steinar, Haakon and Kai Hare. The shodan grading took a good 20 minutes or more – any number of techniques being required to be demonstrated. Somewhat unnecessary in my opinion, but then Inaba sensei does rather tend to an alternative approach others find not rigorous enough. Interestingly the nidan gradings were shorter, since the requirement to work through the basic techniques was dropped in favour of a more free style approach. The candidates all did very well and deservedly passed. A nice surprise at the end was when Stein-Are Engstad was called out – he seemed very surprised and didn’t know quite what was going on only to be awarded his yondan.

The Party

As always the party on Saturday night was a great success, and this year was held in Polaria (the Polar Centre) – one of the main tourist attractions in Tromso. The food was delicious and there were some very good speeches around the celebration of 30 years. Birger Sorenson was present who started the club in Tromso as a 4th kyu back in 1977. In that first group were Bjorn Eirik and Kore (both present) so we were treated to a few reminiscences of life back then (including some slightly alternative views of exactly what did go on!), and a little earlier in the evening a slide show of some photos over the years.

Suganuma sensei also spoke, and offered his congratulations. He also mentioned that in the summer camps a few years ago I had asked him the question “What was the most important thing in Aikido?” He answered that it was musubi or connection. A couple of years later, I asked him the same question, not wishing to catch him out, but genuinely interested if he had changed his mind or not. When this was pointed out to him at the time, he saw the funny side, and this year saved me the trouble of asking it again by saying that he still thought musubi the most important thing!

I realised that he had demonstrated the importance of “connections” off the mat as well – it is one of the qualities that make him the very impressive man that he is. You don’t build an organisation of 100 or so dojos over 30 years if you can’t establish and more importantly maintain good connections with people. There are lots of aikido teachers who are technically very capable, but very few who have the personal qualities and lack of ego of Suganuma sensei. I am sure that his many years of study of zen alongside his aikido has had a large influence.

The dancing afterwards was ably lead as ever by Bjorn Eirik and Birger Sorenson! Having been kicked out at 1am those of us who were left walked through the centre of a still buzzing Tromso, and while the main diehards went to the “Fun Pub”, a smaller group of us enjoyed a beer at a slightly quieter local. The morning did however roll around rather early!

Touristy Things

The hosts had arranged a visit on Sunday morning for the Japanese, and Jessica and I tagged along. We took the cable car up the mountain on the mainland (to 420m), and were met by a couple of Sami (Lapp) hosts who gave us a reindeer sleigh ride and some coffee in a “lava” or tepee like tent. It seemed rather touristy and kitsch at first, but thanks to the really friendly and genuine guides turned out to be a lot of fun. The reindeer sleigh rides were only a quick circuit of perhaps 200m, but my ride became a touch more interesting when in response to my question “do you ever race?”, much encouragement was given to the reindeer who promptly got over excited and veered off course heading for his mates down the hill. It turns out that reindeer don’t like to be touched, and aren’t terribly easy to control – starting out consisted of pulling the reindeer forward with them initially resisting, and then turned into a quick sprint and a leap on to the sledge as the reindeer suddenly bounded off!

Our hosts were young guys whose family apparently has some thousands of reindeer in their herd who spend the summer around Tromso (from April onwards), but they winter about 100km further south and inland where the climate is drier and the snow easier to dig for lichen/moss in. They were very friendly and enthusiastic with their explanations on details of dress and life, and it was very enjoyable. The only problem was that our time was a little limited and it would have been great to have a walk after lunch given the great weather up there.

Conclusion

A great course, leaving me feeling rather well exercised, and with some more happy memories to add to the store associated with Norway. Thanks to Bjorn Eirik and all the other members of Reimeikan.

This is a personal review of the week in Wales with Inaba sensei and other teachers organised by Tetsushinkan dojo. It is not a blow by blow account of everything that took place, but a personal summary with various highlights of things that were important for me.

First a quick overview:

• An advanced guard of the Japanese contingent arrived on Thursday (not including Inaba sensei)
• Udegawa san taught the normal Friday evening class at Tetsushinkan
• Saturday everyone decamped the 4-6 hours to Wales (this included Inaba sensei and Endo san who only arrived that day from Poland where they had been teaching the previous week). Various other overseas visitors flew in that day and also drove down.
• Sunday was the official opening and first practice
• Standard schedule during the week
  • Morning practice 9.30 – 12.30
  • Afternoon activities in groups ranging from canoeing to horse riding to cliff walks
  • A couple of Instructor’s sessions 6-7.30pm for invited people (others free to watch)
  • A couple of meetings with instructors to review links with Shiseikan, including future courses
• On Tuesday evening we greeted Toyama guji (the Chief Priest of the Meji Jingu shrine who was “on tour” in Europe) with his entourage to Wales. He came to watch practice on Wednesday and kindly hosted a meal on the Wednesday evening for an invited group.
• Final practice on Friday, with an excellent party that evening in a restaurant in Newport
• Return to London on Saturday
• Japanese all left Sunday

Summary

It was a truly excellent week. I came away with masses of food for thought and further reflection regarding both life and budo studies. It was a great pleasure to renew old friendships and to make some new friends. I also feel a renewed personal challenge to do more with these insights!

The teaching started with a formal opening ceremony conducted by Mori san, a priest from the Meiji Jungu shrine and included prayers and harai tachi – cleansing of the dojo and the spirits of those present. Inaba sensei talked about his wish to demonstrate the importance of this aspect as part of his teaching. Shinto is a relatively recent name for practices which go back thousands of years. The gods and spirits come and sit in the branches of the himorogi, part of the small shrine set up during practice. He does not view this as a religious practice and certainly has no wish to convert everyone to Shintoism! However, he wished to demonstrate the importance of setting the tone for the week – in a way a sort of misogi for all those present.

Those of you who have seen Inaba sensei will know that talking and lecturing form quite a part of his teaching. This can be a bit frustrating at first for those used to other styles of teaching where much more emphasis is placed on practice. Many of Inaba sensei’s messages keep recurring over the years, but as often happens, various things made more sense to me this time – maybe I have changed in the meantime and so now hear them differently!

Why Are you Practicing?

As with the initial ceremony, this was something Inaba sensei returned to at several points. We should understand why we are practising – what do we wish to protect or defend? What are we prepared to do in the face of attack, for example on our loved ones? Answers to this question inform all the rest of our studies, and thus really are fundamental. Study and thought will be well repaid.

Relationship with Kunii Sensei

Inaba sensei gave some more details on his relationship with Kunii Sensei (the 18th generation Headmaster of the Kashima Shinryu school). This relationship was fairly short – 17 months I believe as a direct student before his death in 1966. Inaba sensei started studying aikido in the early 1960s at Hombu (and with Yamaguchi sensei). Being allowed to study with Kunii sensei was not easy, but was enabled by an introduction from Ashizu sensei, a Shinto philosopher that Inaba sensei was also studying with (and indeed that association went on for nearly 30 years). The relationship with Kunii sensei was obviously very close and Inaba sensei mentioned being asked by Kunii sensei to pass what he learnt through direct transmission and also the results of his own independent study. Inaba sensei obviously feels a very strong obligation as a result.

Developing the Body

This has long been a key concern – developing our bodies as a foundation for studies in budo. This time around there were copies of Inaba sensei’s book on the subject (English and Japanese in the one volume). The English title is “Researching Japanese Budo”. It originated in a series of articles for a Japanese magazine in the early ’90s, and I was involved in helping revise the translation – I hasten to add that this meant reviewing the resulting English and offering some suggestions for clarifying unclear points or reworking phrases which appeared a little clumsy. The real work was done by Endo san and Annika Hansen. The original translation was done by Yamada sensei and Diane Zingale, of which a number of people received photo copies nearly 10 years ago.

Anyway, pressure of time meant that it still isn’t quite where it might be in the English translation, but certainly full of very useful and interesting information – perhaps will review separately. I suggest contacting Shiseikan directly if you wish to get a copy.

Energy Inherited from your Ancestors

This was a new concept for me, and something I did not find easy to get a handle on in a physical sense. Intellectually to me it makes sense to talk about what we inherit from our direct ancestors and also the energy of the place we are in, but how to do anything physical with such energy was not clear. The exercise demonstrated was basically kokyu-ho (e.g. both hands grasped and lifting your hands and thus your partner in front of you). The difference as shown between this and normal ki energy was not clear to me in any practical way, so very much one for further research.

Kenjutsu Kata

I was very interested to see demonstrated some more dynamic ways of studying kenjutsu. Inaba sensei discussed the various kata and went through the details of the Uradachi (second set of 10 techniques) in some detail. However, as well as the classic form of the kata with uke and nage, we were also shown more dynamic forms, for example where uke more or less attacked in a kendo style and the response need to be much more freeform than in the set version of the kata. I was particularly interested as I had been thinking prior to the course that my own kenjutsu risked being a little formulaic – falling into the pattern of anticipating the technique and only being able to respond in the fixed form – even getting annoyed when the attack wasn’t “just right”! Some teaching of the ukemi side were also very useful for me and others who are in positions to teach. It is important to ensure that you are applying appropriate pressure to your partner to draw their best out from them.

He did mention the requirements to study each set of kata (Kihon, Ura, Aishin, Jissen, Kassen) properly before moving on to the next, but also to place them in a context of being able to react flexibly.

Inaba sensei went through the Uradachi in some detail as part of one of the instructor’s courses. Particular points of note included the requirement for both sides to treat the shinai as a real sword and thus heavy contact by uke is not appropriate – you can’t lean on the blade of a katana! Normally nage leads by taking the first step, although it may appear that both people start together. It is uke’s responsibility to respond to nage.

Kesa Giri Footwork

I don’t think anyone present will forget the outdoors practice of kesa giri – the location was at Clydey Cottages – a place with a great lawn and stunning view over the valley. Inaba sensei really demonstrated the difference between short, restricted, inhibited kesa giri and the more expansive cuts which really started to connect with the nature all around us. The difference that this made in everyone’s kesa giri was very marked, partiularly the following day back inside – you could see the expansiveness still present.

This moved on also to the use of the feet. For practical reasons of the ground being perhaps unstable, or uneven, or on a slope, he emphasized the need to step with the feet fully before completing the cut. It is easy in the clean confines of the dojo to get used to cutting with the landing of the foot and the focus point of the sword cut occurring at the same point. Outdoors however, this doesn’t work – as soon as you step you risk slipping and sliding, so it is important to have fairly firm footing before completing the cut.

Battojutsu (Sword drawing)

This was another memorable day outside (though slightly more rainy) focussing on the drawing of the sword. We were all using bokuto (wooden swords) for practice but he did discuss the use of katana (live blades). He does not recommend practice with iaito (metal swords with blunt blades), as these tend to give one a false sense of security. A katana will “teach” you if you let it. It requires much more focus and attention which is good for practice and concentration. In a way, you should not use a katana too much since familiarity may breed contempt and thus lack of focus.

Various exercises and cutting to different sides (front, back and both sides) were demonstrated and practiced. In practice you shouldn’t just get into the habit of thinking “OK, now I will pretend someone is attacking from behind, so let’s react”. It should be a much more instinctual response – wait and be alert, and the right moment will arise. Remember also flexible footwork – react off either foot.

Stepping off the Line

This was another exercise completed outside. It is one I have seen and practiced several times over the years, and yet realised this time around that I really need to focus much more on it for my own practice.

You start a couple of paces away from uke, and then step in so as to “invite” an attach (standard punch to the stomach). As the punch comes in you need to step off the line so that you end up in a triangle with feet pointing at your opponents centre. If uke attacks right hand (and foot), then it is quite normal to initially half step with the right foot to “invite”, and then step off the line with the left foot closest to uke. See Figure 1.

The alternative which we practised involves “inviting” with a half step forward of the left foot. The result is similar, but left and right feet are reversed.

This appears quite simple but is difficult to do well, and in particular getting the timing correct and being able to move your body appropriately is key. Watching Inaba sensei, he doesn’t necessarily appear to move particularly fast, but it is at just the right moment and with appropriate speed.

Further developments of this exercise shorten the distance to one step, then half a step, then no steps (with uke’s hand on your belly). Challenging stuff!

The Grading

This happened at the end of the week during the last session ranging from shodan to yondan (errrr that would be me…). Most people were from Tetsushinkan but some others from London and Greece, and everyone generally did very well. Results are on the Tetsushinkan events page.

As is typical with Inaba sensei’s gradings they were relatively short. In each case various attacks were specified and the actual technique was not specified – indeed it was perfectly acceptable to perform the same technique several times in a row to the same attack. The important factors are spirit, body movement and effectiveness, rather than necessarily technical beauty. People also demonstrated some of the Kashima Shinryu kenjutsu kata according to the knowledge and experience of the person being graded (e.g. Kihondachi or Uradachi). This approach is certainly different to what is normally done within many standard aikikai  dojos. I did discuss this afterwards over a beer with a couple of people – “but how do you know they know all the appropriate techniques?” was one question. I obviously can’t speak for Inaba sensei but I think that it is usually clear from a demonstration the sort of level a person has reached, and it is perfectly in tune with his general approach of studying relatively few techniques but in great depth. In addition, I think that this sort of approach works well in smaller organisations where the people being graded are known to the examiners – I think there might be more problems with larger scale organisations.

Instructor’s Meeting – The Future

There were a couple of interesting discussions with vairous instructors and countries present, e.g. Bjorn Eirik Olsen and others from Norway, Pascal Durchon and Joel Roche from France, Anita Kohler from Germany and various others from UK etc. As with all good discussions, some heat and light at times was eventually turned into some good results and conclusions.

Inaba sensei was keen to get an understanding of how he could best support those present, and what sort of future courses and training was both sought and might be possible. He did mention that his preferred method is to teach a small group of people at the Shiseikan where he could give a lot of time and attention to them, and he made a generous offer for those prepared to arrange visits. Pascal and Anita in particular expressed a desire to give more people the opportunity to get to know Inaba sensei and experience his teaching. The rough plan for 2007 is for a seminar in France to be organised primarily by Pascal, followed by Norway in 2008 and Germany in 2009. Visits to Shiseikan are left to individual groups to arrange. I think the intention for Paris is to perhaps offer open sessions where anyone can attend, but also a more restricted session for those with previous experience and who have already made contact with Inaba sensei and are already studying his methods. This would allow for more advanced training, in particular for kenjutsu. I think it will be very interesting to see how this works, and certainly look forward to Paris next summer!

Figure 1 – Stepping off the line. Step1 in is the “invitation” (or sassoi) – a half step. Then you step 2 to move left foot around an finally step 3 moves the right foot again. Note that both feet are now off the line but the focus (shown by heavy dashed arrow) is on a line pointing at uke’s centre which forms a triangle with the initial focus line.

Conclusion

The course was excellent – lovely surroundings and a great atmosphere. Serious study and yet not in a heavy atmosphere. The number of seniors around (from Japan and elsewhere) made for some excellent training.

Inaba sensei is a fascinating and inspiring teacher on many levels, and it is worth taking any opportunity to get around him and learn from him. Some of his methods are a little extreme perhaps, and I am not clear in my own mind how easy it is to combine what he teaches with classic aikikai aikido. The differences go to quite deep levels. This is fine for those of us who primarily follow his teaching. Others who think it might be nice to spice up their traditional methods may find it distinctly more challenging. How much integration is possible and how much is it two separate approaches – I suspect it is going to take me at least quite a few more years to decide. In the meantime he is planning for the future. He is not going to go on for ever – seek him out and take advantage of him!

I have been meaning to blog on my budo (martial arts) practice (Aikido and Kashima Shinryu Kenjutsu), and thought I’d start with the topic of gravity. I am working my way to potential links between budo and subjects like software development and configuration management, but don’t want to get too airy fairy and draw invalid analogies, so for now will just keep the topics separate and perhaps see what emerges.

It took me a while to realise that when he “discovered” gravity old Isaac Newton was helping out budo practitioners! Gravity is our friend in budo, and I find it particularly true of kenjutsu (sword work).

Try holding your sword out with one hand and then just dropping it. If you’re on the same planet as me then it will drop to the ground pretty reliably and consistently After having dropped it a few times, try holding on while you “drop” it. This means that you drop your whole body and hand together with the sword, in such a way that the sword falls at the same speed as if you had just let it go. In my experience people find this surprisingly difficult at first. You have to relax your knees and hips in particular and just drop. Best practiced on a mat to protect those knees a bit. Most people can’t let go of their leg muscles and get in the way of gravity – they interfere with the sword dropping. Once you are really getting the feeling for it you can start ever so gently making a cut whilst dropping the sword. This I find is very useful when working out the cut for Kihondachi number 2 (Ashibaraiukefune)..

A variation is to kneel in seiza and just hold your sword out in front of you balanced vertically upright. Let it overbalance and just fall to the mat. Try that a few times, and then do the same thing while holding on to it. Make sure you are just letting it fall. Relax and just drop the sword and your hand together.

Another interesting exercise from standing is kesa giri (diagonal cut). I find this helps to get a much smoother cut than just giving people a bokuto (wooden sword) and showing them how to cut. In that case it tends to be all arms and shoulders. With left foot forward slightly hold the bokuto in your right hand only and just swing it gently up and rest it on your left shoulder. From that position just “pull” it down in a very natural manner so that it just falls to the ground in an arc (you keep holding the sword so the tip strikes the ground – again mats help here to protect the sword). An alternative is to have a partner just hold a bokuto low down and across the path of yours so that you naturally strike it (in a way they catch your sword). Once you are comfortable with doing this in a totally natural and relaxed manner, letting gravity do all the work, you can then try holding it with both hands in the normal way and doing the same thing. This is usually substantially more difficult – people mess up the perfectly natural stroke with muscle!

Of course gravity also relates to balance, particularly of swords – finding and being in contact with the balance of your sword at all times while moving it. Another key related factor is relaxation which I will talk more about another time. Also the relationship between power, relaxation, speed and control.

Cheng Hsin. I recently got a copy of his DVD which is well worth watching. Also, read his book Effortless Power.

Karel Koskuba, who teaches Yiquan, also puts it interestingly when he discusses mobiliser muscles and stabiliser muscless. The stabilisers are the ones that allow us to stand up against gravity and are tremendously powerful. If we learn to use them more we can then access much greater strength than just through the more conscious muscles of the arms say.

So let gravity do as much as possible and really learn how to harness it, particularly in sword work. Requires quite a bit of sensitiviy and slow practice to really be aware of how your sword is moving, how it wants to move and what is happening in your body.