This kamae (posture) is achieved by taking a natural, relaxed standing position. The feet are shoulder width apart, both supporting an equal amount of weight. The arms hang at the sides, the shoulders are relaxed. It really is basically just standing there in an unassuming way.
Shizen no kamae is by far my favorite because of it's appearance, practicality, and resourcefulness. By appearance I mean that this posture doesn't let on that you know anything about martial arts. Whether you are just standing there and attacked, or you take up the posture in knowledge of the situation you always look like you're just standing there (which you basically are). This is good for you as your opponent assumes nothing about your fighting ability, beacause there is nothing to base any assumptions on. However, if you were to jump back into a "flashier" posture your opponent would attack more carefully as now he assumes you are trained in a martial art. By practicality I mean that you are naturally in this posture already most of the time. Whether standing in a lunch line at school or standing on your front porch. So, if you train yourself to react from shizen no kamae, you are in a sense always ready. By resourcefulness I mean that you can assume any position from shizen no kamae. It's kind of like the "swiss army knife" of kamae.
I could not find any reliable information as to what school Shizen no Kamae is from. The information I was able to gather would suggest that it is from multiple schools (and due to it's nature I would assume it is found quite often in many martial arts, perhaps under a different name). The word shizen in Japanese means "nature" or "natural". Which makes perfect sense that a natural standing posture would be named "natural". (please note that my translation came from sources that I cannot verify as being 100% correct, as I only speak some basic Japanese. I did however cross reference the information with several other sources before putting it in this article, if you know more about it, please leave a comment)
Have fun and keep training! My advice is that you work with shizen no kamae often in your training, as it really is worth it.
I saw your comment on "Shizen no Kamae", and tho i am not yet a practicioner of Ninjutsu, i hope one day to represent the Bujinkan schools that have thus far taught me this posture. I don't know if this is what you mean by "school", but the Bujinkan dojo has taught me this posture through Master Richard Von Dank.
ReplyDeletePeace in Christ