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- What is the Bujinkan?
The Bujinkan or "Divine Warrior House" is an
international training organization based in Chiba
Prefecture, Japan. It is headed by Dr. Masaaki
Hatsumi, the current generation head of nine
different ko-ryu
or feudal-era traditions passed to him by his
teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. The name
Bujinkan itself is also intended to honor
Takamatsu-sensei.
- What are the 9 schools called?
Please see my Lineage page.
- What is the basis of the training?
That requires a complex answer, divided into
at least three areas: moral foundation, historical
perspective, and physical training.
- Why is a moral foundation necessary?
It provides a framework for appropriate
application of the skills we develop. Hatsumi sensei
often says that "The purpose of martial art is to
live". This can be taken on different levels:
staying alive through physical danger, or as a path
through which one can have a vital and satisfying
existence. The Bujinkan approaches the study of
actual feudal battle skills (bujutsu) as a spiritual
life path (budo).
In the Bujinkan Rakunin
Dojo we begin
with the premise that the most basic value is life,
without which nothing else is possible. This value
manifests biologically in the natural drive to
protect oneself (and one's family, etc.) from harm.
This in turn means that actions one takes to
preserve one's own (or another's) life in the face
of something directly and immediately threatening it
are among the most fundamentally moral human acts.
It is this
"dual life (protection of self and
others) value," rooted in natural law, which
sanctions and sanctifies the warrior's training.
- Why is historical perspective important to
your school?
In the broadest sense, it is necessary to
understand the pressures and influences which led to
the creation of these arts in order to understand
the arts themselves and how they might be used
today. The arts of the Bujinkan were developed and
refined through centuries of political upheaval,
social repression, and internecine warfare. Some
were used by Japan's hereditary professional
military class, the samurai. Others were used by
clans and families of intelligence and
unconventional warfare experts, the ninja. There is
not as distinct a division between the two as some
would have you believe: It was not uncommon during
some periods for samurai to learn some ninja tricks
and skills - if only to develop countermeasures! -
and a number of ninja families originated with
samurai forced to flee their han or clan holdings
after a military defeat.
In a narrower sense, historical perspective helps to
understand technical distinctions between the
different ryu of the Bujinkan. Differences in social
status and in mission requirements dictated
different ideas about combat effectiveness among the
different ryu. Such factors as whether or not armor
was typically worn, whether the norm was "open"
battlefield combat or the need to escape and report
vital intelligence, etc., all influenced tactics and
characteristic ways of moving in combat among the
different systems.
- Well, what kinds of things are included in
the physical training?
The program is based on taijutsu or "body
arts", including a broad range of physical skills:
evasions, rolls and break-falls, strikes, kicks,
locks, throws, chokes, etc. The weapon arts are a
natural extension of the taijutsu.
Training is conducted in a supportive, "family"
atmosphere. Since these arts do not rely on
upper-body strength, they can be learned as easily
by women as by men.
- Does the training include kata or forms, as
in karate?
Not quite like those. In the old arts such as
ours, kata are generally performed by two (or more)
partners and are quite brief, reflecting the reality
of combat encounters. They teach an art's basic
concepts: typical attacks and common ways of dealing
with them. Kata may also refer to a class or set of
waza (techniques), especially groupings which embody
a particular principle or group of related
principles. Kata are the starting point for learning
the arts.
- How is it that the kata are the "starting
point"?
It seems that in most arts, the formal
techniques and kata either are considered to BE the
art or, alternatively, are considered to be a way of
putting various techniques together without much
relevance to actual combat. Do you mean "starting
point" in this latter sense?
In the first case above, the approach is not
so much that of traditional arts at the time they
were being developed and used, as it is of the end
of feudalism when kata became highly formalized and
rigid as a way of preserving some semblance of an
art in the face of pressures pushing it into disuse.
. .not unlike (if you will pardon the imagery!) a
virus going dormant and awaiting an opportunity to
become active again. The second case seems to derive
from the first, where the fighting methods used bear
little or no relationship to the forms. Both
indicate that the understanding of the kata has
died.
The approach to kata training in taijutsu as taught
by Hatsumi sensei is very different and reflects the
Protean fluidity and dynamism needed in real,
life-protective combat. First, the basic
"transmission" form as recorded in the densho scroll
is shown, and the student will have some time to
simply work on the mechanics of the movements and
the aspects of timing, distance and positioning,
balance-taking, etc. which the base form presents.
From that point, various "problems" will be
introduced for exploration. Some examples would be:
How might the kata change when a different distance
is used? When you can't move to a "required"
position within the form because of some obstacle?
When the form is done with a particular weapon or
weapons instead of unarmed? When you have a weapon
and want to use it, but it isn't in your hand? When
the opponent has the weapon and you need to keep him
from using it, or want to use it against him
yourself? When multiple opponents, or multiple
opponents armed with a variety of different weapons
(all with their own unique characteristics), enter
the picture?
Part of the object here is to require the student to
take continually more complex sets of relationships
into account, while still maintaining the essence
and "feeling" of the transmission form. In this way
the student grows to truly understand and
incorporate the principles of the form and can
freely adapt them in actual combat as needed,
instead of being hampered by a "fixed" sequence of
movements -- or feeling that form is useless,
irrelevant, and should be abandoned.
In a sense, one eventually learns to "transcend"
forms by incorporating (literally "bringing into the
body") their underlying concepts and principles.
This is the difference between learning a particular
system (which is what most people do) and becoming
the art in one's own person.
- What really distinguishes Bujinkan budo from
other martial arts?
One thing is that as a comprehensive or
“total” life-protection system, it does not
“specialize” in particular kinds of applications as
many arts do. That is, it does not “emphasize”
primarily grappling and throwing as in judo;
striking and kicking as in karate; or any particular
weapon as in kendo. Everything is used freely,
including unconventional weapons; unconventional
applications of common weapons; and concealed
weapons. This is one aspect of the Bujinkan’s happo
bikenjutsu or “secret sword” methods.
Much more significant, however, is the fact that the
physical training is approached via a completely
different conceptual paradigm from that of other
martial arts. In other systems the focus is on
learning particular techniques and applying them
against an opponent. In Bujinkan budo as Hatsumi
sensei is teaching it, there is a very different way
of viewing one’s relationship with the opponent.
Just as in a Japanese Zen garden the shapes of the
spaces between objects are every bit as important as
the nature and positions of the objects themselves
in the overall composition, so in our martial art
perceiving and controlling the shape of the space
between yourself and the opponent is critical to
mastery.
One way of thinking about this is that if you try to
deal with an opponent’s weapon (fist, knife, gun,
etc.) the person himself may still kill you. It is
more effective to try to control the opponent
himself, because then you control the weapon also;
but in that case you still will have a fight on your
hands and the outcome is still in doubt. If you
control the space your opponent wishes to use,
however, he is totally neutralized and all his
efforts are ineffective. Senior U.S. Bujinkan
instructor and former Marine officer
Jack Hoban, has expressed this idea eloquently
in military terms: Your unit can try to outshoot an
enemy force, but it can be a grueling ordeal with
heavy casualties on both sides. . . and you may be
defeated. But if you control the terrain around the
enemy so that you can reach him easily, while he
cannot fire on you and cannot maneuver without
exposing himself to your own fire, his defeat is
inevitable. . .and you may save lives on the “enemy”
side as well as your own. Whether the opponent lives
or dies thus becomes, in a very profound sense, his
own decision.
Another way of expressing the concept is that where
other arts tend to operate from left-brain
hemisphere processes (linear, logical, focused on
performance of technique), Bujinkan budo draws more
on right-brain hemisphere intuition and perception
of shape, pattern, and the total context of the
situation.
- How long does it take to learn these arts?
How long do you have? You begin learning
effective life-protection principles and skills from
the first class, but there is no end to the process.
- What about belt ranks - kyu and dan grades?
These are a recent development in Japanese
arts. The old arts have shoden, chuden, and okuden
(low, middle, and advanced) levels, with the hiden
or secret oral teachings passed only to a select
few. Bujinkan students do not receive kyu or dan
ranks in any of the nine systems, but Hatsumi sensei
has instituted such grades for the Bujinkan
"umbrella" organization. The current rank structure
is “modern”, in the sense that kyu and dan grades
are used; yet it also harks back to the ancient
shoden/chuden/okuden form in that there are three
general levels of training and understanding.
There are nine kyu grades (beginning with 9th and
advancing through first), signified by a green belt
worn by the practitioner. These are followed by
fifteen dan grades, signified by a black belt. The
kyu ranks, essentially, are “preparation to become a
student” of Bujinkan budo; and one is considered to
be ready to really begin learning at first dan or
first-degree black belt.
The dan ranks or black belt grades are divided into
three general levels: Ten, Chi, Jin or Heaven,
Earth, and Man, as follows:
1st through 5th dan: Heaven
6th through 10th dan: Earth
11th through 15th dan: Man
These correspond roughly to the old shoden, chuden,
and okuden levels of training.
Since Hatsumi sensei is the soke or inheritor of the
nine systems, he can reorganize the training
material and the rank structure of the Bujinkan as
he sees fit: All ranks emanate from him. The
approach to ranking in the Bujinkan is vastly
different from that of other arts. In most martial
arts the rank structure denotes specific skill sets
for standardized grades, and also establishes a
hierarchical authority structure - what in the
military would be called a chain of command. In the
Bujinkan, rank does neither. People in other martial
arts inevitably find this confusing; but then, so do
Bujinkan members.
Hatsumi sensei has for many years staunchly resisted
pleas from Bujinkan members to establish specific
measurable criteria for ranks, explaining that such
an approach tends to "kill" a real martial art
because people tend to focus on what they need to
pass a rank test rather than on the essential
principles which will allow them to respond freely
and appropriately in actual life protection. He has
instead encouraged instructors to establish their
own standards for their own training groups.
At the same time, he has followed no easily
discernible criteria for his own award of ranks
above 5th dan. Dan ranks are not certain indicators
of an instructor's technical proficiency or teaching
ability, and they do not confer any specific
authority over others of a lower grade.
The only meaningful conclusion which can be drawn
about Bujinkan ranking is that its meaning is a
personal thing between the teacher who awards it and
the student who receives it. Each rank awarded to
each person is, in reality, as unique as any actual
combat encounter.
- Who is the main instructor for the Bujinkan
Rakunin Dojo, and what are his qualifications?
Kris Quinn, 2nd dan is a shidoshi-ho, under the authority of Shihan
Ed "Papa-San" Martin, 15th dan.
He began training in the Bujinkan under Bobby &
Kerry Broe in Tarpon Springs, FL in autumn 1988 and
has had the good fortune to train with people from
around the world.
- What does Rakunin Dojo mean?
The japanese kanji Raku (楽) can be translated
as comfort, enjoyment or ease. Nin (忍)
can be translated as either perseverance, patience,
endurance or to hide or sneak. Dojo (道場,
dōjō?)
is a
Japanese term which literally means "place of
the Tao". Initially, dōjō were adjunct to
temples. The term can refer to a formal training
place for any of the Japanese do arts but
typically it is considered the formal gathering
place for students of any martial arts style to
conduct training, examinations and other related
encounters. Simply put, Rakunin Dojo
translates as the "Place of Easy Perseverance
Training".
- How can I join the Bujinkan?
First, understand that the dojo program is not
like most contemporary schools where one attends
regularly, gets some physical exercise, and has a
pretty good understanding of everything within a
couple of years. It is more like a fraternal
association promoting a life development process.
Regarding the San Francisco dojo, anyone of good
character may join, but people wanting a
conventional approach to training soon select
themselves out.
- How difficult is it to train in Japan with
Hatsumi sensei? What would I have to do to attend
his classes?
Just show up and train. He holds
weekly classes at the Hombu dojo in Noda and at
the Tokyo Budokan in Ayase.
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