#bujitsu

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"When you decide to attack, keep calm and dash in quickly, forestalling the enemy. Or you can advance seemingly strongly but with a reserved spirit, forestalling him with reserve. Alternatively, advance with as strong as possible, and when you reach the enemy move with your feet a little quicker than normal, unsettling him and overwhelming him sharply. Or, with your spirit calm, attack with a feeling of constantly crushing the enemy, from first to last. The spirit is to win in the depths of the enemy. These are all Ken No Sen." - Miyamoto Musashi (Go Rin No Sho - The Book Of Five Rings: The Fire Book) ******** This video is a basic illustration of the principle of "Moving with The Mover" while disrupting his Mind in the process. This is known as "Sen No Sen". ********* Classes for Women's Self Defense are Forming Now. No experience necessary. Bro. T.A. Hargrove www.SiriusElevation.com #womensselfdefense #budo #bujitsu

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Tonight's Thoughts on Training

Tonight I had a one-on-one training session with my Monday night sensei - he's the head of a security chain, previously a bodyguard to VIP around the country, with around 40 years experience in a spectrum of martial arts. Because of this, he's not the most traditional of instructors, although he does appreciate the roots of the Bujinkan and will remind us of the original purpose of techniques. He's extremely street-wise and has us focused on self defence for the modern world. He's also, obviously, very open-minded to other martial arts - keep what you've got in a cupboard within your mind, he often says to me, and with Bujinkan you will learn the skills and techniques to create the space that allows you to execute your previous strengths.

His classes have been very quiet of late, probably owing to the fact that he's an extremely busy man, but I also feel (and this may just be an incorrect interpretation, but here's to expressing myself anyhow) that the majority of the others have abandoned his classes to focus on training only with our shihan, perhaps because he is very traditional (and the one that will grade you). I feel disappointed for him that people aren't making the effort to train with him, although I was truly grateful to be able to have this opportunity tonight. I believe in having variety in your training, and that training with different instructors is a great thing. In training constantly with just the one instructor we will conform to the one style and perhaps even the one way of thinking. I believe that in Bujinkan, keeping ourselves open to different ways of training, different interpretations of techniques and different experiences is important, and a great strength.