.jpg "8dan shiai")
The tale “Neko no Myojutsu” is from an old budo fable written by the samurai Niwa Jurozaemon Tadaaki (pen name Issai Chozanshi, 1659-1741) in 1727. To quote William Scott Wilson: “Little is known about the man.. but he was clearly acquainted with swordsmanship, philosophy, and art, and had made an extensive study of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto, and seems to have been familiar with the works of Musashi and the priest Takuan” (see references).
The story is a staple for those that study kendo/kenjutsu, or budo in general for that matter. I am sure most kenshi247.net readers would have read Yagyu Munenori’s “Heiho Kadensho” and Miyamoto Musashi’s “Go rin no sho,” but I’m not sure if many have studied this.
The narrative features a swordsman called Shōken who is beset by a pesky rat. After the neighborhood cats fail to chase the rat away, the swordsman himself tries his hand at getting rid of the rat. Failing miserably himself, he calls on the help of a cat “widely known for her mysterious virtue as the most able rat-catcher.” This cat catches the rat with ease, and that evening all the cats get together to discuss the days events and the art of fighting rats.
It is not for me to attempt to spell out what the the short narrative seeks to illustrate, nor what lessons lie therein, I simple present it here as is, leaving the reader to make their own mind up. Grab yourself a cup of coffee/tea and enjoy!
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The following is the translation of some notes written by Furuya Fukunosuke hanshi during a kendo lecture at a Yoseikai gasshuku in Nara, 2001*. Furuya hanshi sadly passed away in 2008 but his teachings have been recorded by one of his top students – Uegaki sensei – and published in book format. The book is not on sale to the public but I hope to post other items from it in the future.
I’ll stress that I didn’t attend these lectures. Whats presented here are translations of notes found in the book. As such, I can’t impart any of the verbal teachings behind the words. Apologies in advance.
* 95% of the following is from a gasshuku in 2001, the other 5% are additions from a different gasshuku in 1999 using notes of with a very similar theme.
The reality of seme
* The main components of seme:
- Capture the initiative with your spirit (気)… by doing this you can create openings (隙) allowing you to execute various waza;
- Control the center (中心)… forcing your opponents sword tip from the your center line, break his center and strike;
- Develop your understanding of advantageous spatial distance (Maai 間合い)… by this I mean understanding the spatial distance between you and your opponent and using it to your advantage.
Yushinkan was the dojo of Nakayama Hakudo (1873-1958) in Tokyo. Nakayama had a varied and rich budo life, achieving hanshi in all three arts promoted by the modern ZNKR as well as being a shindo munen-ryu swordsman amongst other things. Its impossible to do a full bio of the man here, so I will leave that for another time, instead concentrating on the content of this article.
Nakayama was highly influential in the Butokukai and therefore the kendo community at large. He practised around the country and many of his students went on to become kendo leaders in their own right. Quite a few of the innovations he came up with at Yushinkan (and promoted by him and his students) are currently taken for granted in the kendo community now, including parts of the reiho we use, and even the method many of us tie our men-himo. This article deals only with one such thing: the origin of the use of white dogi (hakama in particular). I’ve heard a lot of explanations for its use, from the ordinary to the mystical, with people sometimes even arbitrarily defining rules for wearing white. This occurs even in Japan. However, the reason for its initial introduction is as mundane as it can be, despite what connotations people may or may not give it now.
Since Nakayama was hanshi in kendo, iaido, and jodo, and due to his influence in the Butokukai, its obvious that what is said below – although it is aimed at kendo practise – follows on naturally to iaido and jodo as well. The following is what he had to say on the matter.
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Sawaki Kodo (沢木興道, 1880-1965) is considered by some to be the most important Japanese Zen master of the 20th century. His parents died early and he grew up being adopted by a gambler and an ex-prostitute. When he was 16, he ran away from home to become a monk at Eiheiji, one of the two main temples of Soto Zen. At first unsuccessful, he was finally ordained as a monk and began his Zen studies.
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A new side-project from kenshi247 editor George was unleashed on the unsuspecting public today:
kendo365
http://kenshi247.net/photoblog/
The premise of the website is simple: using an iphone, take and upload a creative kendo related picture everyday (if possible) for a year.
The aims of the project are two-fold:
- develop a better eye for creativity whilst taking pictures;
- share images from my daily kendo life with readers of kenshi247.net.
I hope people will enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I do taking them, cheers!!
p.s. the picture in the banner above is am iphone taken and edited pic
The following is a translation of an extremely interesting hand written note given to Jim Gucciardo (NYC kendo club) by Nishino Goro hanshi in 1998.
Nishino Goro hanshi was born in 1923 in Kochi prefecture. After graduating from Tokyo Normal Higher School he became a school teacher in Hokkaido. After the war he returned to his home prefecture and worked as a high school teacher. He has taken part in the Senshuken Taikai (“All Japans”), the kyoshokuin taikai (All Japan teachers championshop), kokutai, etc. He is the honourary kendo teacher of Kochi Prefectures Medical University.
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On the 26th of April 1873 a 10 day event occurred in Asakusa, Tokyo, which had a direct influence in the development of modern kendo and possibly without which the fledgling kendo (then called gekkiken or kenjutsu) could have faded into extinction: the first ever Gekkikenkai (撃剣会) – or gekkiken kogyo (撃剣興行) . This was a public gathering of budo experts who fought each other in front of an audience and received money to do so. Many of the combatants of this first gekkikenkai were out of work ex-samurai, but it also included some women and – intriguingly – a couple of non-Japanese kenshi.
Three woodblock prints were commissioned to commemorate the event, the artist being Utagawa Kunitera the 2nd (歌川国輝2代). The above picture is one that many kenshi247.net readers have seen no doubt. What I would like to do here – briefly – is introduce the people in the picture, one of whom was one of the most influential figures in the history of kendo.
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SHOGO (称号) in Japanese translates simply as “title” or “rank,” and the word can be used in many areas, for example formal titles of nobility, military ranks, scholarly ranks, etc, and informally in the sporting world, between friends, etc.
The use of the word that I will look at here is of-course that to do with the budo world, and specifically the usage promoted by the Dai Nippon Butokukai (1895-1946), and that continues today in one of its spiritual heirs, the Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei (All Japan kendo federation). Please note that the Butokukai information presented here relates to Kendo (variously called gekkiken and kenjutsu) but that eventually all arts under the Butokukai ended up using the system (kyudo, jukendo, et al).
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Practise may ingrain bad habits
From “Living with ambiguity” by Sydney J. Harris. Published by Nan’Un-Do
You probably know the chestnut about the stranger in New York, carrying a violin case, who stops an old lady on the street, and asks, “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” With a glance at his violin case, she replies, “Practise, practise, practise!”
One of the oldest maxims in the world is that “Practise makes perfect.” This, however, is a dangerous half-truth that has betrayed many novices in many fields of accomplishimnent.
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It’s a not uncommon sight on sword-related forums these days. An aspiring student of the Japanese sword arts, left-handed, joins the forum and asks about studying ken (be it kendo, iaido, or aiki-ken) with a left-handed grip. He is quickly informed that no, Japanese swordsmanship is a right-handed affair, that all Japanese swordsman were right-handed, saya were worn on the right and saya-ate avoided at all costs, and trying to learn it left-handed would be weird at best, uncouth and disrespectful at worst. Veteran lefties give him “Ganbare! I’ve been there, too!” encouragement. Righties tell him about all the things he’ll find easier because he’s lefty. Sometimes the lefty responds with resignation, and sometimes he rages against the system. The left-handed grip is natural for them! This adherence to right-handed grip only is outmoded, discriminatory, and stupid! This, predictably, turns just about everyone against him, lefty and righty alike.
A men/debanagote attempt at a recent high school championship here in Osaka. The recent rulings on tsubazeria have made things a bit faster, and even more aggressive than before. Victory – in shiai and certainly in gradings – goes to those that take the advantage after all.
This particular shot is published on the request of Ben Sheppard, who was recently in Japan doing a bit of kendo.
Comments welcome, either here or on facebook.
ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION.
全ての写真は版権所有です。使おうと思ったら必ず連絡して下さい。著作権侵害しないように。
Eikenkai – an informal group of friends in the Kansai area of Japan that seek to promote and develop kendo for the foreign community – had its final practise of the year on November 22nd.
We had people join keiko from the U.K. (most importantly Scotland, which all members accepted as the cradle of modern civilisation), America, Canada, Korea, Australia, and of-course Japan. “Local” members came from as far north as Aomori and as south as Nagasaki. Grades of the people involved went from shodan to nanadan.
In other words, it was a keiko with loads of different types of people, with different experiences, and different kendo stories to tell.
Keiko included warmup, suburi, introductions, 50 minutes of kihon, a 7dan taught basics session of 1 hour, and about 50 minutes of jigeiko. After that, there was a 5 hour drinking and eating session in one of the members restaurants (5 mins from the dojo). A lot of fun was had, stuff was learned, new friendships were made and old ones were renewed, and beer and mysterious Japanese “sake” (in unmarked) bottles was consumed in moderate quantities….
Eikenkai is an open keikokai for people coming to Osaka, and especially for non-Japanese kenshi who come to the area. Even if there is no chance to practise with the group itself due to scheduling issues, we can certainly help plug you into the kendo scene in the Kansai area.
For more pictures and information please check out the website: eikenkai.net
It’s kind of odd at times how all of us are connected. We all remember our first time walking into a dojo. The odd sights, the sounds, the feeling. Many of us probably didn’t know exactly how to react to it at first.
Starting kendo in the states was a culture shock several hours a week at a time for me. At first it was fascinating, then later frustrating Then I believe it became the glove which I preferred to wear. My sempai told me once when he was teaching kendo in the states, ‘’I have to teach Japanese common sense. It is the most difficult thing’’. I didn’t really know what he meant by that till I started my own club.
People without any sort of Japanese cultural influence can be in for a surprise when they first get into a dojo. As an instructor at that point, I had to try to teach that Japanese common sense and then explain it at times. Why is there no talking during class? Why must you run everywhere? Why does the equipment need to be in a line when we line up? Why must I hear a reply when I speak? What is with the pseudo-military attitude?
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The following rule changes will probably not impact your kendo training any time soon nor in the near future. However, implementation of them in competition for young Japanese kenshi ensures that there will be a stylistic change in the kendo leaders of the future and it is also strongly hints at what the kendo leaders of today see as bad style.
The changes have been in discussion and trial over quite a while here in Japan (implementation was decided in May 2009, and I have personally seen the rules been applied in shiai), but it is only from this month (October 2009) where competitiors will get a hansoku rather than a warning, i.e. the rules go into full implementation.
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An uchikomi-dai in my dojo, or at least the men of one. We hit these guys a lot, day in and day out, yet we never tend to give them much though. Faceless and nameless helpers.
Comments welcome, either here or on facebook.
ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION.
全ての写真は版権所有です。使おうと思ったら必ず連絡して下さい。著作権侵害しないように。
“Motomereba Mugendai” (求めれば無限大) is my favorite Kendo book. It is a small, easily readable book composed of 100 short essays on Kendo training and leadership topics. One of the things I like about it (in addition to the uncomplicated, straightforward word choice and sentence structure) is the way the author has divided the book in to chapters based on the themes of the essays. The first two chapters are devoted to the practitioner’s personal technical and spiritual development. The third chapter is focused on advice for the kenshi as an instructor. The last chapter is for parents, both those with children already practicing Kendo, and those considering encouraging their children to start.
Some of the advice is highly Japan-centric (such as one vignette in which the author posits that people with dyed hair shouldn’t be put in leadership positions). But anyone doing Kendo should enjoy this book. I re-read a page or two every few days. The book is beneficial to me because I am wrestling with my own challenges as a student and junior instructor, and hope soon to be a Kendo parent as well. I don’t believe that a translation exists yet, so I have included some of my own translations of my favorite passages below.
From chapter 1, which is entitled “When you start practicing Kendo, so that your efforts will yield results”
Essay 5: If you want to become strong, develop two rivals
One’s approach to keiko is very different depending one whether or not one has a rival. This is particularly true if there is a person to whom one does not want to lose. When your rival is from your own dojo, and is always in sight, you never let you can’t get lax. When your rival is in another dojo, since you can’t see what he is up to, you can’t get lax because you are always concerned that he or she might be working harder than you. So it makes sense to have a rival both inside and outside of your dojo.
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Hundreds of teams take part in a shiai over 2 days in Osaka, Japan. Prior to the opening ceremony the teams grab what floor space they can and do about 20 minutes warm-up.
This picture captures a pause in the warm up, with the kenshi looking towards the camera. His team is one of the strongest in the Osaka area.
Comments welcome, either here or on facebook.
ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION.
全ての写真は版権所有です。使おうと思ったら必ず連絡して下さい。著作権侵害しないように。
Tsukahara Bokuden (1489/90-1571) is a renowned and well-known kenshi inside and outside of Japan, and is up there with the likes of Matsumoto bizen-no-kami, Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami, and Iisaza Chiosai in relation to his impact on systemising Japanese swordsmanship into the ryu-ha format.
He was born around 1489-1490 as the 2nd son of Urabe Akikata, one of the four retainers of Kashima shrine. As a young boy and teenager, Bokuden was taught the swordsmanship arts passed down within the shrine itself (Kashima Chuko-ryu) by his father, and later learned Tenshin Katori Shinto-ryu from his foster father (who was said to have studied under Iizasa Chiosai himself). It is also said that he learned Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami’s Shinkage-ryu as well, but whether that was from his foster father, or directly by himself is unknown. What is known, however, is that he fought his first duel with a live blade, and went on to fight many more during the duration of his three musha shugyo’s (around the ages of 20, 40, and 60). In total it was said that Bokuden took part in 39 battles and 19 duels with a live blade, never once being injured.
Bokuden lived a long life, and was a successful career swordsman, becoming a retainer of the then Ashikaga Shogunate. Although it is said he never gave a name to his own style (his students would go on to name it Kashima Shinto-ryu) he did pass on his full teachings to three students.
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The Musashi-kai are a group of experienced kenshi based in Japan that seek to promote the systematic training of nito in modern kendo. Up until their creation nito practitioners often had to invent their own methods of fighting using two shinai, often resulting in haphazard, random, or just plain bad technique. They have changed this.
This is the 3rd year that Musashi-kai have taken a delegation abroad (all 3 times to the US) and attendance is guaranteed to be invaluable to people seeking to further their study of nito kendo.
All the information here is subject to change, so please be sure to bookmark the official event page on facebook to ensure up to date and accurate information.
Dates: from Thursday 29th April 2010 until Wednesday 5th May 2010
Location: Boise, Idaho, USA
Host: Idaho kendo club(facebook)
For information about last years seminar please check out: the article on kenshi247.net, the videos on youtube, and the great pictures by Adrian Jones
