Kamu, Kamu, Kamu…


kamu3The last class with Sensei completed the philosophical aspects he began to develop on Sunday.
I opened the class with some taijutsu that he put to another level, insisting on the Mutō dori aspect of everything we do this year. Even though the theme is “Gokōgoshin” (1), the essence of what we do has an intimate relation to the essence of Mutō dori. (2)

Sensei said: “When you think there is something, there is nothing; when you think there is nothing, there is something.” Then added, “this is Kanjin Kaname aka Shinshin Shingan.” (3)(4)

I learned two things during this class:
1) this concept of Kanjin kaname belongs to the Takagi Yōshin Ryū and the Kotō Ryū,
2) The Shinshin Shingan, “eyes and mind of the gods”, belongs to the Togakure Ryū.

Sensei played a lot with those concepts moving from taijutsu to Yari and ninja biken as always. He was manipulating his uke like they were nothing, only with one finger. But he repeated that the finger was simply the extension of body movement. I asked him to do it on me, and it was like hitting a wall. Sensei is relaxed and doesn’t seem to move at all, but you cannot get to him. On the contrary, you fly away without reason. Nothing magic here, it is pure taijutsu.

Often when you watch him doing a technique, you think that his uke is faking it. But when you are experiencing it you understand that nothing is faked. You can collect all the Waza you want, if you do not feel it with him, you cannot know. Sensei’s budō is only about feeling.

To get this feeling you have to train correctly, which means that you have to listen and obey. This is what being a disciple is all about. I wish there would be more disciples in the dōjō.

Funnily, this “being a disciple” echoed what he taught on Sunday. Sensei facing the Shinden during the break spoke about Monju Bosatsu. (5)
As you know, there is a statue of the monk Ganjin in the Shinden, made out of ironwood. (6) Inside the statue, there is a hole where Sensei wants to put a statue of Monju Bosatsu. This Bodhisattva is supposed to be Sariputra, the best disciple of Buddha. (7)

Manjusri (skrt) is the Bodhisattva of calligraphy and represents the archetype of the sincere disciple. Maybe we should become sincere disciples.

The calligraphy introducing this post reads “Kamu, Kamu, Kamu, Shinyû, Shinmyō, Aun” This is what he said during class last Sunday. (8)
Not sure that I heard correctly, I asked him to repeat. He said that he would make a calligraphy for me. This is the calligraphy.

Sensei said that “divine power” guide our movements. We must not do anything during the fight, but let the “divine” inspire our actions. There is no good nor bad solution, only a natural movement popping up.

So if you want to get this “natural movement inspired by the gods” into your taijutsu, then behave like Monju Bosatsu, and become a sincere disciple of Hatsumi Sensei.
_________________________
1. Gokōgoshin / 悟光護心 / read more here
2. Mutō dori / / read more here then here
3. Sensei in his teachings often speaks of Kanjin kaname. And he is using many different meanings depending on what he wants to convey to us.
Kanjin kaname / 肝心要 / main point
Kanjin kaname / 観 神 要 / to see the truth beyond illusion
4. Christian Petrocello wrote “Sôke tells that 心神 心眼, Shinshin
Shingan (mind and God’s eyes) is called Kanjin Kaname” in https://tenryuenglish.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/shinshin-shingan/
On Shinshin Shingan, I wrote in an older post: “the “eyes and spirit of the gods” said sensei during training. But Shingan is also 真贋, (authenticity); and Shinshin being also 心身 (body and mind) we can understand that Tsurugi is the way to becoming fully authentic with our body and mind. Tsurugi is the tool to achieve that. By moving freely in our Taijutsu, we clean ourselves from intention. From an older post (read here)
5. Monju Bosatsu (jap) aka Manjusri (skrt): http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monju.shtml
Bosatsu = Boddhisattva
6. Ganjin: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianzhen
7. Sensei wants to put a small statue of Monju Bosatsu into the hole of the statue of Ganjin. Monju is the representation of Sharishi (skrt) aka Sariputra (jap) who was the best disciple of Buddha. The Hannya Shingyō Sutra is a discussion between Sharishi and the Buddha.
8. The first three signs are bonji for “god” or “divine power” (Kamu is like kami). There is no Kanji.
神佑 / Shinyû is the heavenly protection; the divine help
神妙 Shinmyō is in a sense showing meekness in the help of heaven (comment thanks to Doug Wilson)
阿吽 / A Un is 1: (Usually written using kana alone) Om; Aun; syllable representing the primordial trinity of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma; 2: inspiration and expiration; respiration; alpha and omega. Doug Wilson added: ” the a and un are also the balance and the duality of its there its not etc.”

Karada, Yari, Ninjatō


control is attitude
control is attitude

Sunday class was really interesting and Sensei was in a very good mood. We were only 40 students and we had a few breaks due to the heat outside.

This class was one of the best since a long time. Very technical, very high level and very deep in terms of philosophy. In this post I will only address the waza part, the philosophical aspects will be in a future post.

We did Taijutsu, Yari jutsu, and Ninja biken.

Sensei began with some taijutsu with a kind of Sanken delivered to the back of the ear the neck and the throat, after a fake grab by Tori to the chest. Soft, powerful and very painful.
We also trained a progressive control of the attacking hand. We had to absorb the Tsuki with the hand like; he said, “as if receiving a baseball.” It was about wrapping and redirecting the fist, the whole body was not moving much, but it was the body that was absorbing the hit through the wrapping hand.
While training it and having it done to me by Sensei, it felt like the Taihen Jutsu of 1998. Even though the Shinden Fudō ryū is a Daken Taijutsu fighting system, we used it to discover Taihen jutsu.

Then as it is now common, we moved to train with long weapons.

Personal message to the community: “please continue not to come to training as I need to better my long weapon techniques”.

Sunday was Yari day.

Against Tsuki, you deflect the Yari by stepping first, to the left, and second, by using a full rotative body movement to expel the weapon. Uke is totally off balanced by the power of the control (don’t hit the Yari, match the weapons). As I explained in my previous post on Senō sensei’s class, he insisted on tsunagari (connection) and awaseru (match). The speed of the attack is not relevant as long as you first move your legs. This shields you from the attack and position uke in a perfect angle to be countered by a sweeping with the hirumaki (1) or stabbing with the blade.

Sensei also spoke about the kama yari 鎌槍 (2) application. He explained that the sickle part of the Yari was able to hook the wrist or the neck. You could even “miss” the Tsuki to the head, and then catch the neck with the kama by pulling the pole back to you. Every movement was done with the legs, the Yari following the motions of the body. Everything was connected.

Then we did the same technique with the ninja biken. As it was the case last May, Sensei started with a low Seigan no kamae pointing to the knees of the opponent. (3) Then he was stepping forward and to the right and lifting his arms to intercept the cutting blow of uke at the forearm level.

This was not a cut but a simple hit. The reason to do that, he said is that the ninja biken is mijikai 短い, short. Therefore, the natural flow of the blade is modified, and it has to be used more like a metal rod. He insisted many times on the fact that ninja biken is mijikai.
When shielding himself with the blade supported by the body, the blade would be at a 45-degree angle forward, tip down. This first half of the technique is soft as it is uke’s momentum that does it for you. Then Sensei would pivot slightly towards the blade (his hips and the blade are parallel) and hit with excruciating power on uke’s kote (4).

What I got from this profound lesson is that:

1. legs always move first.
2. legs are cutting or hitting.
3. we have to move in a nonlogical manner.
4. we have to match (awaseru) the attack softly
5. we have to create a connection (tsunagari)

He also spoke about “divine power”, Kami sama, and Monju bosatsu. I will detail this in another post.

_________________
1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ishizuki_or_hirumaki.jpg
2. 鎌槍 / sickle + yari / spear with curved cross-blade(s)
3. read this post from May 2015: https://kumafr.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/roppo-kuji-no-biken-again/
4. kote / 小手. The forearm and not the wrist.

Yari downloads HERE

Sanada Yukimura


Last Friday I arrived quite early at the honbu. Yabunaka San and Kamioka San were there already. They gave me a nice wooden keychain representing Sanada Yukimura, a legendary Samurai of the Sengoku period. Yukimura was revered by the Samurai and considered to be the best amongst them.

(the pictures hereunder detail the 4 sides of the wooden block)

Picture 1

Supposedly, he was the master ninja of the famous ninja Sarutobi.

Picture 2

As I didn’t know him before (and I guess I’m not alone), here is the Wikipedia page detailing his life.

Picture 3

Awaseru


image

Nobel Prize writer Toni Morrison said: “Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder.” (1)
I felt this “hardship” during Senō Sensei’s class last Saturday.

The class regrouped only seven people, so it was nearly like a private lesson. Senō Sensei decided to do some basic Bō movement with the feeling of the Gyokko Ryū. At least this was my interpretation as he was always keeping his hand at the mid-section. (2)

Kamae: Senō Sensei was standing in Shizen with the Bō hold at the center and held by the arm under the armpit. The Bō was pointing in front the end nearly touching the ground at a 45-degree angle.

Waza: When uke attacked, Senō sensei simply walked towards him and slightly to the side with baby steps, turning his body to the left. The movement was natural, no speed, no strength, only footwork. Because of the angle of the weapon, the top end of the Bō placed itself naturally to the inside of uke’s right leg. Once there, he turned his body to the right, trapping uke’s body in a sort of Tsuke iri (3). The Bō then moved into a horizontal position between uke’s legs. Then by simple footwork, Senō sensei bending the legs, grabbed the rear end with his left hand and threw uke to the ground. Uke is trapped in a sort of Jūjiron.
We did many movements based on this first technique: continuing to the left and hitting dō uchi, then reversing; using the back to unbalance uke and finishing with taijutsu, etc.).The movement was so natural that uke was trapped before he knew it.
Impressive, simple, and hard to do. But then things got even more complex.

We did the same feeling but this time by extending the distance using leg movements, then lifting the Bō to meet the attacker’s weapon. This one technique was even more impressive. There was no strength at all but required a perfect understanding of distance and timing to do it.

Because the way he met the weapon of the attacker was so soft that it looked like his weapon was landing softly on the attacker’s Bō. Once the two weapons in contact, they were forming a straight line. Then Senō sensei would deflect the attacker’s weapon by doing a micro rotating action and like by magic, uke’s weapon was going away, leaving uke without defense.

The movement follows four consecutive steps:
1) step back to the right distance;
2) lift the Bō to “land” on the attacker’s weapon (hands after legs);
3) deflect with a very small rotation of the weapon;
4) Then, the upper part of the Bō being nearly vertical he then passed behind and choked uke with it.

Then we applied the same with swords. From Tōsui no kamae with the sword, you let uke cut himself by simply lifting your arms. You don’t try yo cut him; you let uke do it for you. Then he entered with his right leg between uke’s, and turning his back to Uke, used the shoulder to throw him like with a Hanbō (Ganseki Garami). Beautiful, and only based upon precise and soft footwork.
With the sword too, we did many variations from this simple technique.

The reason I quoted Morrison is because I had never seen something so subtle and powerful, Whether we were using the Bō or the sword, this “landing” was the Kaname.

This Kaname is Awaseru, 併せる matching the weapons. (4) When done properly, it looks like the weapons are tied together as if by some magnetic field. Everything is “one”: rhythm, speed, distance, power. I didn’t know this concept before and this it was hard to find it after thirty years of permanent training. In fact since then, I see it in any technique done by Hatsumi Sensei.

I felt like I had a veil blinding me until now. Often people asked me why I continue to go to Japan. I go to Japan because there is always a gem hidden somewhere if you want to find it. It is when you stop training that your level is decreasing. Apparently many high ranks are not interested in this unending quest. Only seven students were training Saturday with him, but we were over forty at Sensei’s class. Where were they all on Saturday?

We train for our development, and the path has no end. Maybe it is about time to reckon it and to go to work!

______________________
1. Toni Morrison biography
http://www.biography.com/people/toni-morrison-9415590
2. We studied the Gyokko no Bō in 2005. The theme was Kasumi no hō. To do that we did all the techniques of the Kukishin Bō by changing the position of the hand in the middle of the weapon.
3. Tsuke iri is one of the basic movement of Hanbō jutsu.
4. Awaseru / 併せる
1: to match (rhythm, speed, etc.);
2: to join together; to unite; to combine; to add up;
3: to face; to be opposite (someone);
4: to compare; to check with;
5: to cause to meet (e.g. an unpleasant fate);
6: to place together; to connect; to overlap;
7: to mix; to combine;
8: to put blade to blade; to fight

Download all the bujinkan techniques,  schools,  weapons
http://budomart.eu/index.php?id_category=54&controller=category&id_lang=1 

Tsunagari Through Hanpa


image

I opened the session with two taijutsu techniques trying to put into life the Ishitobashi 石飛ばし concept I had trained since my last trip in May. (1)
After doing a few variations, sensei applied the same concept to sword techniques. As always I am in awe when he takes whatever is demonstrated and bring it to the next level.
These days, Hatsumi Sensei is insisting on Tsunagari (2), the connection between uke and Tori, and the weapons. This connection is the first step to the Enno Kirinai (3). Once Tsunagari is done, you must keep this connection.

To do so, he said that we must not finish the movements (Hanpa). (4) Hanpa is not new to us; we studied it a few years ago with Chūto Hanpa 中途半端, the half cooked techniques. (5)

Hanpa allows the Tsunagari and we keep the connection with Enno Kirinai. There is no intention; we are “zero” and simply surfing on uke’s movements. Keeping the connection, we can “cut with the leg movement”, Ashi Kiri 足切, and move like a skipping stone. As the sword is a shield and cutting not being the main point, we move the sword with footwork and not with the arms. Sensei said (again) to use no strength Chikara Janai 力じゃない, but only the body movements Karada 体 (body) not Chikara 力 (strength).
To reach this non-action state, he added that mastering Kihon Happō and Sanshin are the prerequisites. He insisted again on the importance of building a strong foundation to our taijutsu. The quality of your taijutsu foundations is the path to understanding what Sensei is doing these days. When you master the basics, they are ingrained, you don’t think about doing a movement. This the “ri” of “Shuhari”. (6)

At the “ri” level, you can now focus on the intention. As Sensei said during class, you have to be Honto 本当 real in your actions, to influence uke’s reactions. (7)
Paradoxically this forces you to alternate the “no intention” with “full intention”. He added that that this is part of human nature “ningensei” 人間性 to feel danger or to expect danger (whether it is real or not). By alternating those two states, you create openings in uke’s atavic reactions and overcome his intentions. This animal reaction is inyō 陰陽, better known as the yin yang.

Strangely, Ashi Kiri 足切 can be written Ashi Kiri 足霧, where “Kiri” means fog. So we can say that bu cutting with the legs, we are also creating a metsubushi like movement that capture uke’s mind and make him react wrong to our non-actions.

________________
1. Ishitobashi 石飛ばし
Skipping stone principle. See previous blog entry “Ishitobashi.”
2. Tsunagari / 繋がり
connection; link; relationship
3. Enno kirinai / 縁の切ない
Do not sever the connection
4. Hanpa / 半端
remnant; fragment; incomplete set; fraction; odd sum; incompleteness
5. Chūto Hanpa 中途半端
For more on this, see blog post https://kumafr.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/consciously-unconscious/
6. Shuhari / 守破離
Shuhari; three stages of learning mastery: the fundamentals, breaking with tradition, parting with traditional wisdom
7. Honto / 本当
Truth, reality

Karada Gaeshi


weaponsThe first class with Sensei felt like the continuation of my last trip two months ago. As it is now common, when there are not so many participants, we do a lot of weapon techniques during the class (yari and sword).

The main point is to use Karada gaeshi 体返し. The body is deflecting the attack through the weapon. The yari or the sword become the natural extension of your body movements. There is no intention in your weapon, uke attacks, and you walk with your sword in front. The weapon is a shield, stabbing or cutting are not the objectives.

You don’t do a technique you simply protect yourself. You do not have to apply a technique because you control uke’s movements, and the distance by using your body. The trick here is to be close enough to prevent us from attacking again, and also to have enough space to use the yari or the sword. The correct distance is important.
In May, Sensei spoke of Kasumi no kaeru 霞の反る, or to put uke in a “fog like” situation. As you don’t try to escape and stay close to uke, he cannot grab the correct distance to maximize the use of his weapon.

On the sword techniques, Sensei also insisted on not cutting but using the air pockets of the ishitobashi* (see previous posts). When you use a sword, you have to understand its potential. You don’t need to cut because uke is using the Yoroi as a protection**.
When he is not wearing the Yoroi, then you have to know that the sword cuts by itself because it is its nature. I remember what my Musō Shinden teacher used to say. It was exactly the same. “The nature of the katana is to cut; the hardest part is to know how to stop it” (i.e. not to create a suki, an opening after the cutting motion). As Nagato sensei said, it is always necessary to keep our body protected. This need to be protected is why Sensei keeps repeating that we have to use the sword as a shield in the Bujinkan.

The sword of 2015 is the evolution of the sword of 1996. In 1996, we learned the forms, today we are learning strategy. If you are not good at doing the techniques (omote), then this pure feeling (ura) might escape you. The biken waza from Kukishin Ryû and Togakure Ryû are the foundation of what sensei is teaching these days.

The weapon being a shield then Karada gaeshi is the only logical answer.
___________________________
*石飛ばし
**Reminder: the Yoroi was designed to protect the Samurai from the Yari.

Sayonara Nihon


image

This was an excellent trip full of new insights, discoveries, and friendship.

I trained for the first time in the new honbu dōjō. I like it.
I met old friends and exchanged a lot.
Sensei’s classes are brilliant as usual and full of subtle points and concepts: Karada gaeshi, ishitobashi, sanbon, Nuki gaeshi.
I enjoyed training with the Dai Shihan:  Senō, Nagato, and Noguchi and revisit the denshō with their eyes.

But above all I enjoyed the privilege of spending some time with our Sōke in  Saitama, and in Noda.

Thank you for the bears.
I’ll be back at the end of July after the Paris Taikai. (1)

Sayonara
_________________
1. Paris Taikai 2015: 3 days of training with Pedro, Peter, Sven, and Arnaud. Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th , and Monday 13th of July.
Registration: http://www.budomart.eu

Mitsuguma


image

Friday class was good for me, not only because I learned many things, but because it was “Kuma night”.

As you know Sensei gave me the dragon name of “Yûryû” (勇竜), brave and courageous dragon in the 90s’. But he always call me “Shiro Kuma” (白熊) polar bear. To explain why here would take too long.

image

So yesterday Sensei arrived in the dōjō called me and gave me a statue of a bear.
On the soles of the four feet he wrote:

忍び足 Shinobi ashi / stealthy steps; soft steps

不動心 Fudōshin / imperturbability; steadfastness | cool head in an emergency; keeping one’s calm (e.g. during a fight)

勘忍成就 Kannin Jyōju:
勘忍 Kannin / pardon; patient endurance; forbearance; forgiveness
成就 Jyōju / fulfillment; fulfilment; realization; realisation; completion

白竜 Haku ryû / white dragon (1)

image

I must say that I was really touched by the gift, but I was moved by the words he wrote on the bear. This is for those extraordinary moments that I love training in the bujinkan.

I thanked Sensei a lot for his gift.

Then my friend Paul Masse joined us with another bear and have it to me!

What is the probability in this universe that someone is given two bears at the same moment? None! But it happened.

image

On this second bear,  painted in white, Paul had written “Kûma” (instead of “Kuma”). This Kûma is the other pronunciation of Kûkan, (空間 space; room; airspace).

image

When Paul gave me the bear, Sensei commented “this is a very mysterious moment”.

That was a fantastic lesson for all of us to be witnessing the manifestation of what sensei keeps teaching. In Budō, things are natural as Kami Sama influences our actions from the invisible world.

Like in a fight, there is nothing to do, but simply to let things happen.

Thank you Sensei, and Paul for this nice lesson.

The Mitsuguma is happy. (2)

___________________
1. This is Hatsumi Sensei name
2. 三つ熊 / mitsuguma / mother bear with two Cubs :mrgreen:

Collateral damages:

image

Yabunaka San and the two bears. 😕

image

Family picture :mrgreen:

image

No comment 😁

Bujinkan Is History


yoroi class

Yesterday I had dinner with Yuji Kogure, Quest Videos CEO, and we spoke about the importance of History to understand what is the Bujinkan.

The Tsurugi was a major step in our training as it linked the ancient past to the modern world. Since Sensei explained that the Tsurugi was the origin of the Sanshin no kata, we were able to link the evolution of sword warfare: Tsurugi, Tachi, Katana.

The Tachi created during the Heian period (end of 10th century) was “en vogue” during the warring states period. The use of the Tachi lasted, more or less until unification was completed by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600).

Then the katana took over when wearing a Yoroi was not so common (peace time = no need for Yoroi). Before that, during the warring states periods: Kamakura jidai, Muromachi jidai, and Azuchi Momoyama jidai, (roughly 1185-1600), the Yoroi was needed. The Bujinkan techniques were developed during these four centuries of nearly permanent warfare. (2)

In those times, a young Samurai was considered an adult at fifteen (元服), so his training had to begin at an early age. (3)
Symbolically we have 15 Dan ranks in the Bujinkan for the same reason. (4)
So the Japanese Samurai of that time had to solve the following problem:
“how to teach battlefield techniques to young kids?”
And they came up with a simple answer: they invented taijutsu!

On the battlefield, a soldier always has weapons, unarmed combat (even in today’s armies) is therefore very rare. What they did was stripping the battlefield techniques of the Yoroi and weapons, and teach them as Taijutsu to the future samurai.

This is understandable for many reasons:
1. Yoroi is expensive and heavy
2. Weapons are expensive and heavy
3. And if kids had a Yoroi fitting their body, they would not be able to learn the forms because of the weight.

So what we call taijutsu today was in fact battlefield techniques mimicking the movements you have when wearing the Yoroi and the weapons. I’m sure that many of you wondered once why some of the waza do not seem “logical”? They don’t seem logical because they are missing the Yoroi and the weapons.

Since last year, I have revisited many waza with Yoroi and weapons (sword in the right hand and Yari in the left), and I understood a lot. The apparent lack of logic in them vanishes when you are wearing the full equipment. In my dōjō, we always have one or two students training with Yoroi, and the benefits are amazing, even to the observers. If you have a Yoroi, please use it, don’t let it rust in a corner. Use it and you will be surprised to see how the Yoroi can teach you correct taijutsu and proper footwork.

This bears three conclusions:
1. Densho are made of sets of simple techniques because they are designed for kids.
2. Waza are fighting techniques simplified to prepare the young samurai to enter the battlefield.
3. Taijutsu was invented for that purpose.

During the Edo Jidai (1603-1868), there were no more battles (nearly), peace was established and the waza evolved into techniques to be used in duels and unarmed Taijutsu. This is also when they began to cut with the sword. Before peacetime, it was impossible because of the yoroi. (5)

What we do in the dōjō reflects this evolution. But if you want to improve your skills, you have to study what I consider to be the foundation of our art: those four centuries of warfare that created our techniques. This reason is why I consider History to be so important. Teachers, please teach Japanese history during your classes. It will help your student improve their skills and also understand why the Bujinkan is not a sport.

__________________
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura_period
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muromachi_period
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuchi%E2%80%93Momoyama_period
3. 元服 げんぷく ceremony of attaining manhood
4. “In the Shinto faith, boys were taken to the shrine of their patron deity at approximately 14 years old. They were then given adult clothes and a new haircut. This was called Genpuku.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_age#Shinto
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period

Zentai: The Holistic Budō


hs ajc

In a recent class sensei defined his movements as being zentai. (1)
Zentai (全体) is a full body movement where everything moves naturally. Zentai is a holistic approach of taijutsu. As Nagato put it in his last training, “taijutsu is not limited only to body movement, it also includes the weapons.”
Holistic taijutsu encompasses everything: body, weapons, troops, surroundings. There might be a pun here between taijutsu (体術) “body technique” (2) and taijutsu (隊術) “technique done by a group of warriors” (3). This second taijutsu refers evidently to the battlefield. Another Zentai (全隊) explains it. (4)
So, as a consequence, limiting our training to the sole Waza without incorporating the rest (troops, terrain, surroundings) would be a significant misunderstanding of sensei’s vision of Budō. And Zentai would never be achieved.

Zentai is the only correct way to move because it deals with every aspect of reality at the same time. To achieve this state of oneness, we have to be relaxed. A full relaxation of the body and the mind will reveal our ability to survive effortlessly and to adapt. We get why we have to be physically relaxed as the yoroi is protecting us, but it’s hard to be mentally relaxed. The more we try not to think (i.e. to not bother about the outcome), and the more we are trapped by our thoughts.

In the Tenchijin, there is a concept that is fundamental, it is called “Shizen gyō un ryû sui”. At the Shizen level (自然) our movements become spontaneous and always suit the situation. (5) Our movements flow naturally in a relaxed manner.

In a previous post I explained about being creative and spontaneous: this is Zentai. I see today, that Zentai can be the next step on the Warrior’s path to evolution. It’s holistic nature might be the hardest thing to achieve, but once we have it, the world will be an easy place to live. And you’d better work to get Zentai now because once you have it on the mats, it will positively impact your life outside of the dōjō.

Omote and Ura are one!
________________
1. 全体/zentai/whole; entirety; whatever (is the matter)
2. 体術/taijutsu/classical form of martial art
3. 隊/tai/party; group; crew; team; body|company (of troops); corps; unit; squad
4. 全隊 zentai the entire force (of soldiers)
5. 自然 /shizen/nature; spontaneity|naturally; spontaneously