What is koryu bujutsu?

Once work colleagues or people outside my close circle of friends hear that I practice martial arts the next logical question from them is, "What martial arts do you practise?"

I have found this hard to answer. I used to say 'jujutsu' but this would lead to people thinking I did Brazilian Jujutsu and was rolling around on mats and choking or tapping people out. Irritatingly, this is what most people think jujutsu is. So I changed my answer to 'an old Japanese martial art with swords'. This tends to get people thinking in the right direction but they started to think I was a ninja or samurai (eye-rolling at this point).

Lately (in the last two years or so), I have revised my answer once again. This time to, "I practice a classical Japanese sword art."  I like this answer for a few reasons. First of all, the term 'classical' indicates something old. It's very definition is that of being traditional or long-established. This is very true of koryu bujutsu. Secondly, it is of Japanese origin. Martial arts have many cultural backgrounds, I want the people asking to know that my tradition is strictly Japanese. Finally, I mention the word 'sword' so that they don't automatically think about the many empty hand fighting arts that come to mind when thinking martial arts. Even though my school does train without weapons, that is not our focus, so this is my answer. It tends to satisfy the curious while keeping true to what I do. If they have further questions or want an actual name then I will tell them that I practice Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu. This is usually more than enough!  Just uttering that phrase tends to blow their minds. 

This line of thought triggered this blog post. I would like to go a little deeper into what is koryu bujutsu? Now, I do not read or speak fluent Japanese and my understanding is simply my own based on conversations with and reading by those that know better than I do. So, I do not claim to be an expert on this subject. I am simply, as always, writing down my thoughts on the matter. 

Let's start with looking at the word 'koryu'. The characters that make up ko-ryu can be read as "old" and "flow". Essentially, this refers to styles or traditions of Japan of a particular past time such as flower arranging, tea making, dance and of course the fighting arts. Therefore, I can't simply say I practice a koryu. It is too broad. Therefore, I can add the word "bujutsu", meaning "martial arts". So you could translate koryu bujutsu as old school martial arts. Now, the words bujutsu and budo can be used interchangeably and have a fascinating history in English interpretation. There are some lines of thought that classify bujutsu as martial arts that focus on combat effectiveness while budo are martial "ways" that focus on self perfection and morals. I believe Donn Draeger was the first person to place a difference on these two words. However, others have said that most Japanese do not see a difference between the words at all. Some old school Japanese practitioners will say they study budo.

Ellis Amdur mentions in his writing that one of his own Japanese sensei didn't like the word kobudo (old martial way) as to him it meant something fixed and dead, like an antique. This sensei preferred, instead, to say koryu budo (old flow martial way) - an art that flows from the past to the present, still developing and relevant to the world. 

I tend to use the term budo for my general practise of TSYR and aikido but if I am specifically talking about TSYR I will refer to it as a koryu bujutsu. I never say koryu budo. It just doesn't sound right in my head. Each to their own.

Amdur writes that the koryu bujutsu were established as entities that used combative practice as a binding force. Their purpose to teach the practitioners how to function perfectly as a member of the samurai (warrior class) under the leadership of the daimyo (feudal lord) whom the bushi served. To the modern observer it may appear that training in these old schools simply comprises of mimicking a preset series of movements called kata. It is far more than this. If we look between the lines at what Amdur has written we can see that at its heart, studying koryu bujustu demands loyalty from its practitioners. The ryu flows through its members (remember the translation "old flow") and when you sign up to be participant in one of these archaic arts, your individual wants or needs in your practice become second to the maintenance of the ryu itself. You are loyal to the headmaster and loyal to keeping the practice going into the next generation. Threadgill sensei discusses loyalty in "Shindo Yoshin Ryu: History and Technique." He mentions that loyalty should not be trivialised in a society where individuality takes priority. In other words, western culture. One must not let ego get in the way of real loyalty. The type of loyalty he writes about is not that of a mindless drone. More that of a thinking person who has made a conscious choice to be loyal to the ryu. Amdur describes this type of group loyalty as similar to a wolf pack. At first glance, wolves might play and frolic about but as soon as the leader prepares to hunt or perceives a threat, the whole pack is on the alert. They are finely attuned to the alpha's moods. Such is the case with koryu members who may appear to joke around with each other or tell stories before training begins. However, as soon as the sensei kneels to bow in, without a word, the casual joviality stops and everyone lines up ready for class. Immediate focus and calm ensues. 

I have battled with the balance of loyalty between my training, family and work for years. I have written about it from time to time on this blog. However, I have settled on this working paradigm for now - my family is first, my work is second and then koryu bujustu fills in the remainder of my time. I study a martial art so I can learn to use physical power to protect my family and others (family first). I work to obtain money to support my family (family first) and my koryu practice, therefore work needs to be second. However, once I have satisfied my needs for family and work, koryu training must be my priority. Let me clarify this. Having a drink down at the local bar is not as important as training. Binge watching a television series is not as important as training. Thinking "I can't be bothered going out to the dojo today" is not good enough. If I have time, I should be training. Now, training not only includes going through the physical movements of kata. It could writing my blog, reading one of many books on the subject I have yet to get to or cleaning and maintaining my sword. I can be practical about this. 

Right now, my country is in lock-down as it comes to grips with COVID-19. I am fortunate in that I can work from home. My children are home with me and my wife can also work from home. My daily routine supports my priorities. First of all I keep my family safe, we follow the health suggestions by our government and stay in our 'bubble'. We wash our hands well and only my wife is going out for essentials - family first. Secondly, I am a high school teacher so I am working from a digital platform for now. I make sure I am up-to-date with my work commitments online. Once they are satisfied I go out to my dojo and train for 30 mins to an hour depending on what I am working on, every day except Mondays. I give myself Mondays off from physical training - today is Monday.

I also read books about martial arts and write these posts. My mind is never far from TSYR or budo in general. 

My relationship with other deshi in the kai is quite unique as well. I cover these in more detail in this post. It is a very unique situation where I am part of an international community. 

So, that is my thoughts on this crazy obsession of mine.

Train safe and wash your hands.

Developing a Budo Body Part V

I have wanted to go into a deeper discussion on developing a type of body that can generate relaxed power for a while now. However, I am very aware that I am still learning and have a lot more to learn in this field. Due to this, I will be relying heavily on two books to help me clarify my thoughts along with my own experiences. Ellis Amdur's "Hidden in Plain Sight" and T. Threadgill and S. Ohgami's "Shindo Yoshin Ryu: History and Technique" are written by men that know much more than I and are where any quotes I use come from.

Takamura Yukiyoshi sensei called the type of body that had these esoteric skills, a budo body. I intentionally used this term back in April 2011 with my first Budo Body post. I had only been training in TSYR for a number of months but even then it was made clear to me that my body was getting conditioned for a certain skill set.

So what is this type of power I am training for? The term most often used is internal power or internal strength. Amdur summarises internal strength as managing the intersection of the ground and gravity forces within you and then directing these forces in the most powerful way possible. I think this is a good place to start. There is a fundamental exercise that I was taught very early on in my training called Ten chi jin. This is where a person stands with feet side by side, shoulder-width apart, arms slightly bent and extended forwards in front of the shoulders. The legs are slightly bent, the feet facing forward and the head up-right. Now imagine another person applying a lateral force through the first person's arms in an attempt to topple them backwards. As the force enters the first person, he or she splits the incoming force, half directed towards the ground and the other half upwards into the heavens. This exercise is teaching you to redirect forces acting on your body.

Now, if we go back to Amdur's definition of internal strength you can see that is exactly what this exercise is training. I have been practising that exercise for nine years, week in and week out. It is now becoming easy to absorb and redirect that lateral force no matter who is pushing on me. What is more interesting is that it takes little effort to do. This is important. This exercise to accomplished through coordinating bone and muscle so it is aligned in such a way that the force naturally flows where you want it to go. It does not take excessive muscular tension to do. I am 186 cm (6 ft 1 inch) and only 75 kg (165 lbs) so imagine a tall stick. I am actually very easy to knock over in most situations. The fact I can have people heavier than me lean on me and not topple me is a testament to this type of training.

As I said above, this is a fundamental exercise we have been learning for a while. It is not the only exercise and there are other skills we need to learn that require a different approach. Any application of internal power/strength also requires a heightened sense of body sensitivity. Threadgill sensei writes about four dimensions that provide this sensitivity: Skeletal-Postural, External/Tactile Sense, Internal/Proprioceptive Sense and Dynamic-Kinesthetic. I will touch on these very briefly, if you want to know more, buy the book.

The Skeletal-Postural dimension has already been discussed above. The skeleton should be aligned in such a way that it takes minimal amount of muscle to stand upright. Without a decent instructor it is very difficult to know exactly what this looks or feels like. Tactile sensitivity identifies subtle pressure changes during body contact that allows practitioners to evaluate and respond to threats. Paired exercises are required to develop this. Proprioception is the awareness of knowing where your body is in space without using visual cues. Dancers and gymnasts have enhanced this ability as well as martial artists. With proper dynamic training, the final dimension can be honed. This is done by replacing inefficient movement patterns with more efficient and budo-appropriate ones. This results in the relaxed power I wrote about at the beginning of this post. Together these four overlapping dimensions allow a TSYR practitioner to consistently monitor the physiological state of their own bodies.

Samurai Jack training his proprioception.

Once an awareness of one's own body has begun to develop, five key skills can be practised. Again, I will not go into detail here (read Threadgill and Ohgami's book). The first is to have a connected body, a body that is flexible but strong and works in a unified fashion. The practitioner is able to act in a fully coordinated manner recruiting muscle, bone and fascia to deliver power. The next skill is that of having a subtle touch/feel so that your hands can detect tactile feedback. The touch must be light, only as much is required. The third skill is the cultivation of a precise grip. Flexible, yet firm and devoid of tension. Extremely important in this weapon-based art. The fourth skill is called Dragon Capturing and involves projecting force into an adversary when you grab them. Not in a linear fashion but with a subtle spiral. Finally, breathing methods are utilised to enhance internal strength.

I would like to talk about fascia for a moment. This connective tissue plays an important part in internal power. Recent research hints that fascia is more than just a passive tissue enveloping muscles and organs. It can be conditioned, toughened and used to direct and assign force. Many of the metaphors in internal martial arts appear to be linked to using the fascia network within one's body. I remember talking to the late Robbie Smith sensei before our usual Saturday morning practice. I said that my body felt more robust and springy than prior to training with him but I couldn't put my finger on why. Thinking about it now, I believe the exercises we were doing were developing my fascia along with the coordination of the muscles to created a more unified body. Even now, when I train I can turn on a 'tone' in my body. I'm not sure what this is but I can speculate and say it is a combination of key muscle groups and fascia. If that makes sense? I know that without that tone, I am more susceptible to having my centre taken.

In his book, Amdur has this to say, "With internal expressions of force, the mind directs muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia AND one's body mass as a whole, organized primarily to exert actions upon oneself, which affect the other in the process." This is a fascinating statement and a great explanation, in my opinion, on how a budo body is created. What Amdur is saying, is that until you have control over your own body, you can't control your opponent using internal power. In my own experience, I find this to be true. Most of my training in internal power has been around me being aware of tension in my body, how I power movements efficiently and monitoring my body alignment. As Threadgill sensei says, once this budo body is developed, the very act of an adversary touching the practitioner results in the attacker being stripped of any structural support. The opponent loses their advantage on contact.

Now that we have established that the practitioner requires an element of sensitivity and an awareness of their own body mechanics the final, crucial element is intent. Threadgill sensei talks about intent often when giving instruction. For a person of his calibre to be talking about the same concept over and over again indicates to me that I should listen carefully. If he thinks it is important then so should I. Internal power ultimately requires a well-integrated mind/body connection. In a moment of conflict, I can't think sequentially through my checkpoints to make sure I am moving appropriately while someone tries to strangle me. My movements must become instinctual. Therefore I must get to the point where my intent drives my actions and I trust that the training I have in place allows for my body to produce the appropriate response. 

A great analogy for this is driving a car. When we first learn to drive a car it can be overwhelming (especially if you learned in a car with manual transmission). However, over the years it becomes second nature to drive to and from work everyday, pass other vehicles and assess threats as you drive. This is what must occur for internal power to be practical. Think about how many hours you have spent behind the wheel of a car. Then think how often you train. Scary thought, huh?

It is well documented that athletes use visualisation to help them succeed in their physical endeavours. When you visualise yourself doing something, but not actually doing it, the same neural pathways fire that would normally activate those muscles that help you perform the activity. The mind is a powerful tool. I think of intent in the same way. If you have grabbed me I might put my intent behind you to make you topple in that direction. I think, "over there" and my conditioned, coordinated body does what is required to put you there. We can practice intent when attempting Ten Chi Jin exercises. Once we can redirect the incoming force we can start to try other things within this set up. I can move the other person around as they try and push me over. By thinking "move that way" my opponent gets moved. I can also place my intent into parts of my opponent's body. This is complex to explain in this post. Having face-to-face instruction is key to learning such concepts. 

So a budo body is not complete without the intent of the practitioner. Amdur says, "intent is the ability to use the forces of gravity and ground to your advantage, and to organize your body in such a way that, moment-by-moment, you shift to make another's power your own." It is the final puzzle piece in internal power training. 

Internal power training comes with a warning from Threadgill and Ohgami in their book, "Not all budo practitioners can internalize or master nairiki (internal power) skills. Nairiki training requires a significant investment in time and physical dedication." Further more, "Considerable mental patience and resolve are needed. Repeated failure and thousands of hours of repetitive training must be endured to acquire these skills, with no guarantee of success." 

Even after training for years, you may not get it.

Sobering words.

I have found a certain level of competence in this area but have a long way to go before mastery. I see it being many years until I can claim that, if at all. 

Train safe out there everyone!