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.
Showing posts with label Ninjutsu 101 Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ninjutsu 101 Series. Show all posts
9/8/09
9/3/09
Ninjutsu 101 : Being a Good Uke
Uke is the japanese term for the person who receives the attack during training. So it's basically your training partner. Learning to be a good uke is essential for reducing the chance of injury during training. This article will cover some of the basic skills that, in my opinion, a good uke should possess.
Don't offer too much resistance to your partner's techniques. By this I don't mean that you should crumple to the ground at the slightest touch or soft application of a technique. You need to offer some resistance but finding the proper amount of resistance is key. Offer just enough to give your training partner a good feel for the technique, if you are unsure whether or not you're giving them enough resistance, you can always ask them. If you offer too much resistance you run the risk of your training partner potentially injuring you. This is because the more resistance you offer, the more force they have to put into the technique for it to work. The reason we don't apply full pressure on say, a wrist lock, is because it could potentially damage or break the wrist. Too much resistance on your part means that your training partner would have to get closer and closer to full pressure for the wrist lock to work, which is closer and closer to possibly hurting you.
If it hurts, tap out. In Budo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) we use a system of tapping on the ground or tapping on your leg, etc if the application of a technique becomes too intense. Don't try to be tough. If it hurts, tap out. This reduces injury and could save you the down time and money of a broken wrist or torn ligament. If someone you train with purposely doesn't let you go when you tap, I would stop training with them.
Practice your breakfalls and rolls. Budo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) teaches us ways of falling (breakfalls) that will help to reduce the chance of personal injury when falling from different angles. When being taken down you should utilize these breakfalls both to protect yourself during training and to generally train yourself to use them if the real need ever arises. Rolling can be useful as well but usually more so when being thrown rather than simply being taken down. Rolls can take the energy (kinetic energy) from the throw and transfer it through the roll rather than the abrupt, hard hit of the ground. This is because rolling keeps the energy moving throughout the roll allowing us to end up in a safer, better position.
Go with the flow. A good uke also tries to go along with whatever technique is being applied to them. This kind of goes back to the whole resistance thing but it is a bit different. Resistance (the way I use the word) refers mostly to joint locks, etc. Going with the flow or making yourself "soft" refers to receiving techniques such as a kick or a weapon strike. For example, if your training partner kicks you the best thing to do is move with it rather than trying to stand firm. This is perhaps better explained using yet another example. If you were to kick a board, the board would break because it is hard. If you were to kick a pillow, the pillow would just bend and absorb the kick because it is soft. Be the pillow. This can be used in a real situation as well and the merits should be obvious (if not leave a comment and I'll try to explain better).
Well, that just about sums up this article. Have fun and remember to be mindful of how good an Uke you are, both for your safety and your training partners.
Note: This article is written for uke during drills. Actual randori (sparring), if your school uses it, will be different and intensity should increase as your skill level does (atleast in my opinion).
Don't offer too much resistance to your partner's techniques. By this I don't mean that you should crumple to the ground at the slightest touch or soft application of a technique. You need to offer some resistance but finding the proper amount of resistance is key. Offer just enough to give your training partner a good feel for the technique, if you are unsure whether or not you're giving them enough resistance, you can always ask them. If you offer too much resistance you run the risk of your training partner potentially injuring you. This is because the more resistance you offer, the more force they have to put into the technique for it to work. The reason we don't apply full pressure on say, a wrist lock, is because it could potentially damage or break the wrist. Too much resistance on your part means that your training partner would have to get closer and closer to full pressure for the wrist lock to work, which is closer and closer to possibly hurting you.
If it hurts, tap out. In Budo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) we use a system of tapping on the ground or tapping on your leg, etc if the application of a technique becomes too intense. Don't try to be tough. If it hurts, tap out. This reduces injury and could save you the down time and money of a broken wrist or torn ligament. If someone you train with purposely doesn't let you go when you tap, I would stop training with them.
Practice your breakfalls and rolls. Budo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) teaches us ways of falling (breakfalls) that will help to reduce the chance of personal injury when falling from different angles. When being taken down you should utilize these breakfalls both to protect yourself during training and to generally train yourself to use them if the real need ever arises. Rolling can be useful as well but usually more so when being thrown rather than simply being taken down. Rolls can take the energy (kinetic energy) from the throw and transfer it through the roll rather than the abrupt, hard hit of the ground. This is because rolling keeps the energy moving throughout the roll allowing us to end up in a safer, better position.
Go with the flow. A good uke also tries to go along with whatever technique is being applied to them. This kind of goes back to the whole resistance thing but it is a bit different. Resistance (the way I use the word) refers mostly to joint locks, etc. Going with the flow or making yourself "soft" refers to receiving techniques such as a kick or a weapon strike. For example, if your training partner kicks you the best thing to do is move with it rather than trying to stand firm. This is perhaps better explained using yet another example. If you were to kick a board, the board would break because it is hard. If you were to kick a pillow, the pillow would just bend and absorb the kick because it is soft. Be the pillow. This can be used in a real situation as well and the merits should be obvious (if not leave a comment and I'll try to explain better).
Well, that just about sums up this article. Have fun and remember to be mindful of how good an Uke you are, both for your safety and your training partners.
Note: This article is written for uke during drills. Actual randori (sparring), if your school uses it, will be different and intensity should increase as your skill level does (atleast in my opinion).
8/30/09
Ninjutsu 101 : Training Tools
Welcome to this installment of Ninjutsu 101! In this article I would like to explain the various training tools used during Ninjutsu training and how someone can obtain or simply make them as cheaply as possible. This article is by no means a complete and authoritative list. Many different people train in many different ways. If something you train with isn't listed here feel free to leave a comment and tell us what it is and the merits it brings to the training. (I will include links to sites that offer good deals on each item beneath their entries)
I hope this article helped you in some way! Please leave comments with your thoughts or other training tools you think are relevant. I have posted links below each item in the list to sites which I found to have good prices. Except for www.martialartssupplies.com I have not ordered from these sites and I do not know if they are reliable or not.
To quote Soke Hatsumi, "An unclothed man in an empty room can practice Ninjutsu"
- Uniform - The uniforms used by the Bujinkan are a black gi (karate uniform) and tabi boots. Depending upon the brand and weight of the uniform you purchase the cost can vary greatly. The weight of the uniform refers to the thickness of the material the uniform is made from. Higher weight usually means it will wear out slower and can take more of a beating. Tabi boots can also vary greatly in price depending on the brand you choose. I chose the cheapest I could find for my first pair and funnily enough they are still in good shape! I did the same with my first uniform and went with a middle weight. It was inexpensive and is still in good condition. Green belts are used by the Bujinkan to show all ranks from myukyu (meaning "no rank" which is represented by a white belt, which nearly always come with uniforms) all the way to Shodan (which is the first black belt degree). Sizing uniforms can be a little tricky at first, but nearly all websites that sell martial arts uniforms have a sizing chart you can use to determine what size you need. If you are in doubt for any reason it is better to email them and ask first rather than buy something that won't fit properly (trust me...I know first hand!) Ninjutsu Uniforms Ninjutsu Tabi
- Hanbo - The three foot staff. I have always used dowel rods purchased from a hardware store (lowes, homedepot, etc). They last a long time and are pretty cheap. Best of all you can usually find them pre-cut at lengths of three feet and six feet (Rokushaku Bo). You can also purchase a small can of wood stain and a spray can of clear coat to really make a nice training weapon for around a third of the cost of retail versions.
- Rokushaku Bo - The six foot staff. (See Above)
- Bokken - The wooden sword. You can get these in many different colors and wood types. Most come with a plastic tsuba fixed to the sword with a band of rubber (making the tsubas removeable). They can get quite expensive but you can purchase them for as little as ten dollars. The bokken I use personally was purchased from a local martial arts supply store for around twelve dollars. I took off the tsuba and stripped/restained the wood. Then I fired up my wood burning tool and burned the Bujinkan kanji as well as the Nin kanji onto the handle. For less than twenty dollars I had a nice custom bokken that has lasted through years of rigorous training. Bokken
- Kusari Fundo - This weapon is simply a length of chain with a weight on either end. For training you should use a length of rope 18-30 inches long with a knot tied in both ends. You can get rope in various colors, thickness, and material at nearly any hardware store. Lots of the bigger stores charge by the foot (they'll cut it for you) so you can get it pretty cheap depending on where you go. Most people already have some rope laying around anyways, or you could always just use the belt for your uniform. Kusari Fundo
- Knife - The knife or tanto can be any knife you happen to come across. Knives are knives in my opinion and the techniques of Ninjutsu will apply to any of them. From the small pocket knife to the large bowie knife. However, traditional Japanese tanto were single edged and fixed bladed, so some of the techniques may not take into consideration that you are using a double edged or folding blade knife in your training. Thus a few techniques may require extra attention on your part to ensure your safety. Wooden or rubber knives are used during training and both can be found all over the web for relatively cheap (usually shipping costs more than they do!). Wooden Knife
- Shuko - Shuko or handclaws are also easy to find and cheap to aquire. Live versions (real) of these can be purchased from numerous websites for as low as ten dollars per pair. Rubber training versions of shuko however can cost quite a bit more than the real thing. While more costly they are worth the price to avoid any unfortunate training accidents. Shuko
- Shoge - Basically the shoge is a dagger with a sickle blade attached to the side of it. It also has a long length of thin chain or rope attached to it's pommel (cap at end of handle) ending in a weighted ring. These can also be purchased relatively cheap or made yourself. You could cut one out of wood, attach a rope to the handle, then take a peice of hose and fashion it into the ring for the end of the rope. Shoge
- Shuriken - These come in two basic flavors. Bo shuriken, which are throwing spikes, and Hira shuriken which are the flat, pointed metal discs we are all familiar with. There are many types of hira shuriken, the type used by the Bujinkan come from the Togakure ryu and are called Senban shuriken. It can be tricky to find good shuriken but if you look hard enough you can find good deals out there on high quality shuriken. You can attempt to make them yourself but it would take skill in metal working which is not a skill I possess and so I cannot in good faith give advice for it. Shuriken
- Katana - This is something that I will get into in much detail in a later article in the Ninjutsu 101 series simply because it will take an article in itself to explain the katana fully and to offer advice on aquiring a quality sword.
I hope this article helped you in some way! Please leave comments with your thoughts or other training tools you think are relevant. I have posted links below each item in the list to sites which I found to have good prices. Except for www.martialartssupplies.com I have not ordered from these sites and I do not know if they are reliable or not.
To quote Soke Hatsumi, "An unclothed man in an empty room can practice Ninjutsu"
Ninjutsu 101 : A Primer for Beginners and the Curious
Welcome to the primer of the Ninjutsu 101 series. The purpose of this article is to give a basic understanding of Ninjutsu to the beginning practitioner or to those who are simply seeking more information on the subject for whatever reason.
I would like to start by clarifying that this site, this series, and the author are of the Bujinkan way of being. This means that the way of Ninjutsu depicted and explained here comes from the Bujinkan dojo as taught by Soke Masaaki Hatsumi 34th Soke of 9 Ninjutsu traditions.
I suppose it would also be a firm place to start by introducing Soke Hatsumi and giving information on the Bujinkan and it's formation.
Born on December 2, 1931 Masaaki Hatsumi is the founder and soke of the Bujinkan. He teaches out of his hometown of Noda City Japan (Chiba prefecture). From an early age he studied and trained in several martial arts, even training American soldiers stationed in Japan. In 1957 he began taking regular 15 hour train trips to Kashiwabara, in Nara to train with his new teacher Toshitsugu Takamatsu. He did so for 15 years until the death of Toshitsugu Takamatsu in 1972.
From Toshitsugu Takamatsu he inherited 9 ryus or schools of martial arts. These schools collectively make up the Bujinkan teachings and are as follows:
The above picture shows Soke Masaaki Hatsumi on the left and Toshitsugu Takamatsu on the right with the Bujinkan kanji between them.
For more information please visit the following links:
- Soke's Hombu Site
- Shihan Van Donk's Site (Also the International Bujinkan Dojo)
- Lots of Good Ninjutsu Information
- Lots of History on the Nine Schools of Ninjutsu
I hope this article has helped you to better understand the art of Ninjutsu and the Bujinkan. For some this article may have been brief, but it was my intention to only give a firm but basic understanding. More will be covered as the Ninjutsu 101 series continues!
I would like to start by clarifying that this site, this series, and the author are of the Bujinkan way of being. This means that the way of Ninjutsu depicted and explained here comes from the Bujinkan dojo as taught by Soke Masaaki Hatsumi 34th Soke of 9 Ninjutsu traditions.
I suppose it would also be a firm place to start by introducing Soke Hatsumi and giving information on the Bujinkan and it's formation.
Born on December 2, 1931 Masaaki Hatsumi is the founder and soke of the Bujinkan. He teaches out of his hometown of Noda City Japan (Chiba prefecture). From an early age he studied and trained in several martial arts, even training American soldiers stationed in Japan. In 1957 he began taking regular 15 hour train trips to Kashiwabara, in Nara to train with his new teacher Toshitsugu Takamatsu. He did so for 15 years until the death of Toshitsugu Takamatsu in 1972.
From Toshitsugu Takamatsu he inherited 9 ryus or schools of martial arts. These schools collectively make up the Bujinkan teachings and are as follows:
- Togakure-ryū Ninpō Taijutsu (戸隠流忍法体術)
- Gyokko-ryū Kosshijutsu (玉虎流骨指術)
- Kuki Shinden Happō Bikenjutsu (九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術)
- Kotō-ryū Koppōjutsu (虎倒流骨法術)
- Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentaijutsu (神伝不動流打拳体術)
- Takagi Yōshin-ryū Jūtaijutsu (高木揚心流柔体術)
- Gikan-ryū Koppōjutsu (義鑑流骨法術)
- Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō (玉心流忍法)
- Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō (雲隠流忍法)
The above picture shows Soke Masaaki Hatsumi on the left and Toshitsugu Takamatsu on the right with the Bujinkan kanji between them.
For more information please visit the following links:
- Soke's Hombu Site
- Shihan Van Donk's Site (Also the International Bujinkan Dojo)
- Lots of Good Ninjutsu Information
- Lots of History on the Nine Schools of Ninjutsu
I hope this article has helped you to better understand the art of Ninjutsu and the Bujinkan. For some this article may have been brief, but it was my intention to only give a firm but basic understanding. More will be covered as the Ninjutsu 101 series continues!
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