Do or Don’t
Late last year, just before the year -end break, Noguchi Shihan approached me at training and said, “before, training was different, we used to really hit each other and Soke used us as experiments for what he learned from Takamatsu sensei”. I stood there, with an obvious smile on my face, and asked him, “can I ask why you are telling me this?” and his response was “I don’t know, I just thought that you might want to know”. Funny how things work, but the days of being surprised are long over-Banpen Fugyo.
He continued to explain that in the early days of training, the Shihan tested everything that was taught, and Soke did the same by beating them silly, using them as experiments for what had been taught.
Soke once weighed close to 100 Kg and was very strong. There was a time when he was giving the Godan test and his Sakki was so strong that he flipped the circuit breaker and the room went black.
Noguchi Shihan explained to me that those days training was different and therefore the kihon happo is even more important. I asked him, “So how must we get this type of training?” and he replied “it is up to you to get this training, Soke is not teaching this way anymore.”
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
So look at the timeline of the Bujinkan and see where you fit in the continuum. If you missed something, it is your responsibility to fill the gaps. Some of us have been there and some of us have not, but don’t make the mistake of assuming who has been there and who has not.
Soke ofter states that the biggest sign of immaturity in Budo is to jump to conclusions.
If you are here to train, then do so, if not then step aside because there is no other way up the mountain. (Merci Arnaud!)
January 17, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I do think that you must know the hard way to understand the soft way of doing things. Same way around, you can’t understand the hard way if all you do is train soft. What I learned from my training is that when you are practicing hard you are realy doing it with intention because it is very difficult to train with intention in the beginning. After a while you can apply the same intention to the same movement but while doing it softer.
Also if you keep training softly, and you come in a real situation you don’t realy know how the technique will turn out.
this is my understanding now, but I haven’t been practicing that long if you look in the total picture. So it’s probably my view on this will change in time. If there are any other shihan reading this, it would always be welcome to explain your view on this.
January 17, 2008 at 7:37 pm
The idea that Soke is “training soft” is a fallacy, in my opinion.
One thing that all practitioners must understand is that one cannot use BBT in a real situation until one has internalized the “Bujinkan Full-Body Delivery System.” It involves a complex combination of spine, hips, knees and footwork that must come together correctly to be Bujinkan movement. Anything else is not Bujinkan movement….
Use your time in the dojo to explore how each of these things works independently. (What happens when one just drops the knees, for example? How does that change things? Does it make things “better” or “worse”? Why?)
Then use your time figuring out how each of these things works interdependently with the others. (What happens when one drops the knees and bends the spine?)
Everything necessary to understand Soke’s movement, and thus the Bujinkan Full-Body Delivery System, is there in the movements that you see on the videos and at Hombu Dojo.
One just has to figure out how everything fits together.
-ben
January 17, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Doug!
Thanks for the Spanish translating
You are being read in Colombia
Thanks for your Work!
See you in February!
David
January 17, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I don’t look at it as a matter of “hard” versus “soft” either; but more is necessary for complete or balanced training than people will usually get from most classes in Japan today. I believe there is a need for (occasional) randori in some forms. (I’m not talking about competitive sparring here.) I also believe there is a need for (occasional) speed and intensity.
Soke’s and the shihan’s classes are essentially like “Ph.D. seminars for budoka”. I think many people make the mistake of thinking that the way Soke and the shihan are *teaching* and the way the students are moving while *learning* in their classes is the way everyone in the Bujinkan is always supposed to be *training*.
January 18, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Out of curiousity, what type of training then, should a 27 year old shodan be doing? My feeling is that since the BBT is not widespread where i live, i’m ’stuck’ training in the way my teacher presents… it is hard to find someone who wants to also train ‘hard.’ Any Suggestions?
Thank you!
January 19, 2008 at 4:20 am
I think that there are times to train “hard” and times to train “soft”. You can also train “soft” but also be hard at the same time. You can train hard, such as a form of randori, and also train soft to show proper forms or to find what works when small things are changed. An example of training soft but also hard at the same time when one does a technique soft and slow to get the right distance, have the right balance, feel what needs to be felt, hit the right spots (again, if you hit the right spot softly, it still hurts a lot) just hard enough to hurt but not do permanent damage to your training partner. A good training partner will not hit these spots hard to damage another training partner, which is also what soke teaches as well. Play and have fun!
January 20, 2008 at 4:13 am
Thankyou Doug, I’ve always enjoyed your translations.
I often feel I came into the Bujinkan late and have to “catch up” but whenever a new person joins our training group, I see they feel the same way. I know they need to catch up or they will fall away so equally I know I need to do the same. I think it’s important to have teachers as well as have our own students as it gives us a stability somewhere in the middle from where we can understand what needs to be done.
Teacher’s past experience, our present, and our students future.
I relate to Dale’s post about how people in the Bujinkan are perceived to be training. I think good teaching inspires us to do more training where we’re lacking.
Best wishes everyone for the new year!
Peter
January 20, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Those who only practice the soft way will fail at the very first encounter in the real life, even at a meeting on a training with a “hard style” budoka. Building up strength, some muscles, stamina and hardness is essential. Knowing the hard way is as important as knowing the soft way. Remember, in a real fight, or even in a sparring with a budoka from a different style, the opponent will not cooperate with us, so those who got used to the soft movement and “easy feeling” and fluidity will almost certanly fail within seconds. Applying techniques on a real opponent is hard. Those who train with absolute beginners know that. It is a nightmare, the techniques just fail, because WE don’t know how to do them on an opponent who doesn’t cooperate. It is not the waza, it is us! Also training hard brings us a little bit closer to the warrior mindset, as we give and receive pain. It is not a bad idea to get used to receiving punches, otherwise we may collapse after the first punch. Being able to give correct punches is important, too, as we are talking about fight and a living martial art.
Nagato sensei said to my shidoshi in last August that this is not his problem if the students cannot punch correctly (cannot do a proper fudo-ken, which is very common), they have no strength, they never fought, etc. etc. It is not his task and responsibility to take the hand of every single ninka and protech them if it is necessary. They will need to fight their own fights, not somebody else.
January 20, 2008 at 6:57 pm
[quote]
“So how must we get this type of training?” and he replied “it is up to you to get this training”.
[/quote]
[quote]
So look at the timeline of the Bujinkan and see where you fit in the continuum. If you missed something, it is your responsibility to fill the gaps.
[/quote]
The value in these two statements is profound and I think often overlooked. So often people walk just the last few steps of what should be a very long path, and in doing so they miss the scenery, experience and sometime grueling but incredibly important lessons learned from starting at the beginning. Only by starting at the beginning can truly you know what your made of in the end.
Thanks for sharing Doug.
Best Regards
Anthony
Bufu Ikkan
January 21, 2008 at 11:48 am
This is a really cool page, thanks for the updates, Doug.
Some catch a beat down in the dojo, others out of it. But I think for most, the one out of it is almost a definite.
Happy rat, ninja year! May we all use our smoke bombs wisely.
January 22, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I am new the the Bujinkan, been training for a little more than a year, and I must say that it is VERY hard to even know what you are missing in training when you are as new as I am.
The level of training I get from my teachers (whom go to Japan 5 times a year) is so sophisticated………they are both fairly high level, 8th Dan and 15th Dan…and they ARE REALLY GOOD.
They teach class in a way that helps them to train as well, but at times, they seem to leave the youngins like me in the dust.
January 24, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Many people may know this, but Doug has a unique position in the Bujinkan. For those of us who are still trying to unravel the mystery of “how should I train?” Doug is a great resource.
Training in Japan these days takes the tone and tempo of our Soke. Of Course. But, it wasn’t always the way it is now. As a teenager, Doug was exposed to the training when it was pretty rough. Why? Because he trained with young, physical guys who were going back and forth to Japan where they, in turn, were being used as training dummies by the Japanese Shidoshi (now Shihan).
As the years passed, Doug grew up seeing the Bujinkan expand considerably and watching Sensei change his own training approach to fit his age and interests. This was a natural evolution, of course, but it may be difficult for people who have entered the art more recently to understand the training progression.
As a result, there may be some folks who wake up one day in their training and realize that they are “missing something,” or feel that they have “skipped a step.” What Doug is saying in his blog, I think, is that it is up to you to fill in the those blanks. But what he doesn’t say is what I believe. And that is, that he can help you. Don’t just read his blog, find a way to train with him.
I know — if you take the time and spend the money to go to Japan you want to train with Hatsumi Sensei and the Japanese teachers. That makes sense. But remember: their age and interests may put them in a different place in their training than you. It may be invaluable for you to train with someone who is closer to your age and interests, yet has the breadth and depth of experience to help you “bridge the gap.” That’s Doug.
January 25, 2008 at 6:03 pm
As Ben said, Sensei is not teaching “soft.” Sensei teaches “Zero,” and he always has. From the beginning, that has never changed. The truth of Budo has never changed. Sensei has been explicit about this and even told us that students should be taught the Feeling first and the waza later.
If there is an “official” progression in budo training, that’s it.
February 6, 2008 at 5:51 am
I personally think that a lot of people who started in the Bujinkan after 1995 or so don’t train Hard enough! Yes soft training is good for honing technique but what is the point in having good form if you can’t stand pain! Or run away because it hurts.
When young train hard I say, because that is when you recover the quickest and you have time to build up your pain threshold and become a warrior not a LARPER,
I see too many in the Bujinkan these days who look like they never trained hard, It is a Martial art not a Knitting club, I started When I was 19, I’m now 47 and I still train Hard/soft 50/50 when I was young I trained hard 80/20 and did this until I was 40! But I have served my time! How many do that these days?
I teach hard /soft 50/50 (hard goes harder and is built up over three years or so I may add) and my students can fight and take the hits without comment, I had a student (he moved to Canada From the UK) who was mugged on the way home from a night club, He laughed at them when they hit him! He said to me “You hit me Harder in training!” I said that’s why I hit you hard. There is no excuse to train soft just to take the easy way out, if you train soft all the time that is what you will be…soft
Trevor Robinson. Shidoshi