Blog: 2002 Japan Training Trip
From March 15 - 25, 2002, a group of Dayton Bujinkan Dojo members visited Japan for training and sightseeing. We didn’t take many photos, but trained a bunch and ate too much. Below are blog notes from the trip.
(The following post is a condensed version of Jeff’s full, detailed trip journal.)
We had an opportunity to train 26 hours over the course of eight days with Hatsumi Soke, Noguchi Shihan, Nagato Shihan, Shiraishi Shihan, & Oguri Shihan. We also attended class with Pete Reynolds and Darren Horvath.
Soke showed techniques in which he was rolling around on the ground creating chokes through sutemi (sacrifice throws) and ne waza (ground movement).
This year’s theme of Hon Tai Takagi Yoshin Ryu was the emphasis in most of Hatsumi Sensei’s classes. Many of his students wore hakama during class.
Soke showed techniques that incorporated using the clothing (hakama, kimono, etc.) of both the uke and himself to trap or wrap up the attacker. At one point he successfully tied an uke’s own hakama leg pants together to immobilize him, then drew his sword to end the conflict.
Soke spoke about the understanding of going past what you normally believe a human can achieve. Put in context, the example he gave was that in sports the winner usually has to earn 100 points or give 100% to win. This is not the case in military conflicts. Often times in order to stay alive, you have to "look outside the box" toward concepts higher than 100 points; rising to 1000, 10,000, or 1,000,000. If you can understand the ability and need of this type of human spirit, then you will understand what it takes to survive.
Hatsumi Soke stressed the importance of only training those with good hearts. Many of the techniques he showed involved dangerous techniques. If someone with a bad heart were to train in this type of movement, they could use their knowledge for the wrong reasons.
The concepts of only using enough energy to destroy the attacker’s will to fight was emphasized. Why cut a man six or seven times when one will do?
In the Takagi Yoshin Ryu, one of the many concepts is to control the attacker using three or four points of contact. When disbalancing the uke, they lose the ability to move and can only fall. Hatsumi Soke showed many chokes and strikes, working from the outside of the uke’s reach and moving inside.
At one point, Soke said "Shime waza (choking techniques) does not mean shime waza (to choke someone). It means to restrict their movement." Soke would attack and wait for the uke to respond, closing the gap in distance between himself and his uke. “This is why only those with a good heart are able to last with me."
Nagato Sensei used Shidoshi Dan Klug as uke, and showed multiple henka of Dan’s uchimata and gyaku nage/ude ori during two separate classes.
Noguchi Shihan recently turned 60 years old. Most of his classes began with a waza or kata from the Takagi Yoshin densho, then he would explore and expand on its concepts.
