A
Shidoshi’s Ramblings
This is a paper with a few concepts that I share during class. I thought it would be interesting to put them
down in words for future Bujinkan students. It also gives a basic guideline to use during Kihon Happo or other basic movements.
These collages of notes are taken from several e-mails that I have sent out in the past. I have pieced them together and added
information to them. It’s been broken down into 4 areas, Geometric Combat Movement, Balance Breaking, Flowing and Internal
Martial Arts.
Henry Infante
Budo Tenchi Dojo
1. GEOMETRIC COMBAT MOVEMENT
The Bujinkan is made up of 9 different Martial Arts traditions. Each tradition has its own unique style of moving.
Many times while we are training we will see a move shown by the instructor and ask “What the hell was that”?
What makes these 9 traditions so interesting is that no matter how different one school is from the other, they all work together
fluidly. There are thousands of concepts floating around pertaining to Martial Arts movements outside of the Bujinkan. Some
concepts are that you should ground yourself into the ground and fight from that position like a rooted tree. Another concept
is to run around as fast as you can so your opponent can never get you. I just mentioned two extremes that are being taught,
realistically it’s scary to think that some instructors are teaching this way. What we need to do is find a happy
medium between both extremes, somewhere that allows us to move freely but yet keep our balance and our strength.
What do I consider strength? Most people think that strength means the ability to bench press a house or to
punch through a wall. My take on those beliefs are simple, I will never be attacked by a house so I won’t have to worry
about flipping one and I have never been jumped by a wall in a dark alley, so that eliminates my need for houses and walls
training. Strength in my most humble opinion is the position you are in according to your opponent’s stance. I’m
not a physically strong individual so I wouldn’t want to square off with someone in a direct position. Never match muscle
for muscle!
Meet muscle with muscle, this is an argument that has been around for decades and will continue to drag
on for quite a while. A true martial artist will never rely on his physical strength. In the arts we learn that there is always
someone stronger, faster and smarter than you, so trying to muscle your way through a technique won't work. So how do we defeat
a much more muscle bound opponent? We use a simple concept called Geometric Combat Movement (Taijutsu). When using GCM you
always put yourself in the opponent’s weak side or position him to be in your strong side (which ever wording you prefer).
By positioning yourself you are able to break his balance and put yourself in a much more dominant position without using
a whole lot of body movement.
What the does that mean? If you are face to face with an opponent in a Judo grab position (Kumi Uchi),
you are both at an equal advantage. If you move at a 45 degree angle to either your left or right, you have just shifted
his balance. That's using an angle to get into a strong position where you can strike or take down the opponent. The same
principle also applies if you move forward 45 degrees to the left or right. Wow, we just made an “X“ by moving
at the 4 mentioned 45 degree angles. By using this concept you have just eliminated the need for beating your hands on
a punching bag to build up hand speed. By moving off the line of the attack you have just increased your chances of survival
by a large margin.
In a striking situation you always try to put yourself in a position where you are able to strike the opponent
with all types of body weapons but he is only able to respond with one, if that! When we work against punch attacks, we always
move inside/outside or back to avoid the strike. Well let’s not forget that we can always continue moving, so here's
an example of a situation... The attacker lunges with a right fist punch, the defender steps to the left of the strike at
a forward 45 degree angle, you are now in a position where you can destroy the attacker’s ribs, kidneys, leg and
arm. Does that mean that the attack is over? Not even close!! He can still strike back in anger or out a pain reaction.
Imagine your opponent in a diamond, in other words two triangles, one facing north the other facing south. If
he is in the center of the diamond, it will leave the diamond shape for you to work with. Start by moving up and down the
diamond along the lines. Interesting how you just walked around the opponent at a very close range. This is the basic principle
for close quarter combat (CQC). Always remember to take away as much breathing room as possible from the opponent. When you
take someone’s personal space you have just forced them to change their whole attack or idea of engagement. Taking someone’s
personal space also leads them to panic and make careless mistakes.
Sword evasions use shapes also. You are standing in front of your opponent and he is holding the sword over
his head (Jodan). He begins to cut down, you move to your left or maybe your right or maybe you decided to step back and clear
the length of the cut. What if you step forward and jam him up from being able to move? So lets see, you can move straight,
left, right or back....That sounds like a plus sign to me or a cross for you holy types...LOL.
Finding someone's weak line is also a form of Geometric Combat Movement. Here is a simple way of finding someone’s
off balance point. Imagine you have an opponent standing in front of you, feet are square with the shoulders. A triangle has
3 points, keep this in mind. So if we are to imagine the attacker to be standing on a triangle it would work like this: his
left foot would be one point, his right foot would be the second point. That's the easy part! Now, let’s find point
3, if one and two are side by side then the third must be in the middle of both points but slightly forward or behind him
(remember we are using a triangle). Still don't get it? Stand with both feet shoulder distance apart, now lean forward till
you have to step to get your balance so you don't meet the floor. Did you see where your leg moved? That was the third point
of the triangle. If you still don’t get it? Walk up to a friend of yours, shove him hard, three things could of happened
when you shoved your friend. Number 1, he/she could have wiped out completely and became part of the floor! Number 2, they
could have read my e-mail already and reacted to your shove by throwing you instead (if so, you are a sucker)! Number 3, he/she
could have saved themselves from falling by moving their leg to a strong point or to the 3rd point of our triangle.
If at this point you still don’t get it, I will recommend a good Tae Kwon Do school for you.
Interesting how martial arts can be simplified by using Geometry. To many schools try to confuse people by saying
step here and then there, why not say " Imagine a diamond, triangle, plus sign or an X? Keep this in mind when you are struggling
with a movement and can't find the weak spot. Make training easier not harder, or just carry a gun and forget about angles
but worry on shooting straight...LOL
I would like to add that there are many other shapes that we use in our training. The other shapes are there
but we don't necessarily look for them, they happen naturally, example: tear drop, spiral movements, etc....
Understanding which way to move your body is an art
in itself. While working on achieving this part of your training, the GCM gives
you an understanding of more or less which direction your body should be moving. It doesn't have to be a perfect triangle
or X, but along the lines of the principle of the shape. The reason you do not move in the exact shape or angle is because
in a true combat situation there may be obstacles in your path. This is where the true Budo comes out, where the warrior instinct
kicks in and you become the Geometric Combat Movement.
Moving at a level you have never been to before. This is the stage everyone wants to achieve, the Shangri-La of taijutsu. This concept is what we can
call a spiritual movement, not like the "GLOW" in the Last Dragon. The reason we call it a spiritual movement is simple, this
is were all your training and feeling tie in together. You are no longer relying on actual geometry but on the intent of the
opponent and the surroundings to your situation. This is where feeling takes over, you should be able to do taijutsu blindfolded
at this point and find all the weaknesses in the attacker. One thing about Taijutsu, it’s an injury magnet. If your
opponent has had an operation or a recent injury, you will find it and exploit it. It becomes a natural instinct after a while.
Any art can be alive if the practitioner makes it that way. If you ever notice in our training we are always
adding movement from other arts Aikido, Kuntao, Jiu Jutsu, etc... This is what makes an art living when you can add aspects
to it and still continue flowing from movement to movement.
2. Balance Breaking
The art of balance breaking in my opinion is the most difficult of all sciences. If you are unable to break
someone’s balance you have no chance of controlling them. I will give you some basic concepts, I'm going to keep it
simple because I want you to find the advance movement on your own.
We’ll look at 3 principles of breaking balance:
Concept 1: Control the head. There is a very old concept
in the history of combat, where ever the head goes, the body is sure to follow. The head is one of the 3 key elements in breaking
the posture and balance of your opponent. If an attacker has their head aligned with there spine and hips, they are in a natural
kamae. A good kamae is hard to break, especially when it’s a centered Kamae as I just mentioned. If you ever watch a
Judo match you’ll notice how strong the balance of the Judokas are. They control the center of gravity by keeping their
head lined up with their spine and hips. I'll use myself as an example, how many of you struggle trying to throw me? It's
because I know how to center my balance that causes you to get frustrated. Stick to the basics and you'll throw me like a
rag doll (remember, I hit back)
How do I control the head? Controlling the head is done by strikes or by proper hand placement. Strikes are
shutos, elbows or basic lunge punches. Don’t retract your arm after you have applied a strike, rest it on the strike
point so you are able to push or pull if necessary. Once you have broken contact with the opponents head, you will give them
a chance to regain their balance.
Concept 2: Move the Uke’s waist line. If you can move
his waist, you have moved his balance. The waist is the key to all balance! The waist is your center of gravity, this is where
your body maintains control when you are walking. The only way to make it move is by disrupting one of the other two balance
points that we are discussing. Once the waist has been controlled , the odds have just risen greatly in your favor. An easy
idea to keep in mind is when you enter the opponents personal space a simple boshiken or even a good strike can move the hips.
Also, when you close the gap on your opponent you have taken away all his breathing room, this is another form of balance
breaking.
Concept 3: Take the legs. Controlling the legs is very fundamental
to the Bujinkan. Any close quarter combat or real fight scenario involves control of the legs, it’s seeing whats going
on with the legs that is hard. How do I control the legs? When you enter the opponent’s danger zone, you should be able
to make contact with their legs using yours. A simple movement with your knee or just stepping closer to his feet causes them
to move in a different direction which they didn’t want to be in the first place.
3. FLOWING
This is the one area of Taijutsu which is totally left up to you. The flowing part of training kicks in with
the effort you put into it. I will give you just a couple tips that may help you in this incredible journey.
Tip #1- Don’t stop your movement once you have started. It’s easier to keep energy flowing once
it’s on the move! Here’s a good example, imagine a semi-truck rolling down the highway. It’s going 70 mph
and has a long way to go. Now, all of a sudden the driver has to stop the truck to stretch his leg. So the semi-truck went
from cruising at a comfortable speed to having to make a complete stop. Its going to time for that truck to start all over
again and get back to 70 mph when it starts up again. The same principle can be used with taijutsu, once you stop moving you
have to start all over again and kick start your energy and flow.
Tip #2- Here is something that I have started incorporating and has helped me incredibly. When the opponent
is falling and you are following them, as they hit the ground try to end up on the opposite side that you are on by semi-circling
around their head. Example: You throw the opponent with a leg trip of some sort. You are on his left side doing the trip,
as he is falling you begin to walk right next to him, as he hits the ground you quickly step around to his right side by circling
above his head. This does two things, it confuses him incredibly and it also takes you to the side he is not worrying about
defending. Try it in class and tell me what you think. If done right you should be able to knee him in the face effortlessly.
4. Internal Martial Arts
There are many levels to training in any Martial Art, none more powerful than the next but all essential in
the "complete package" of training.
1. There is the physical level, which is the easiest to learn. It's all about stepping here and moving there.
2. There is the philosophical level, which is the history, philosophy and mental training.
3. Then there is the internal Martial Art level, this is where you learn to move attackers by taking their
energy and moving them without doing a physical technique.
The Internal Martial Arts (IMA) level is in every technique or concept that is taught in the Bujinkan.
Achieving this level is only as difficult as you make it. When anyone speaks about energy, the first thing that pops in their
head is Tai Chi or Reiki. Tai Chi and Reiki are known for their energy levels, but how many other arts have this energy and
aren't talked about? The answer is simple, all arts have the principles of energy transfer and it’s
up to the student to find it.
This is my favorite area of training, mainly because it’s
constant even when we are not on the mats. What do I mean by constant? Energy should be a never ending flow constantly going
through your body and radiating to others. At the same time you should be able to feel the energy of people and items around
you. This does not mean you have to be a psychic or give up believing in your faith. All energy transfer really is, is the
ability to open yourself up to feel things around you. It’s not a religious order or a religious theory, its reality.
How do I transfer energy? You do it every time you shake someone’s hand or whenever you make contact with an object.
Energy transfer happens from within you, what you think or feel is what you give off.
