Cutting Day

The Austin Bujinkan dojo had a cutting day right ahead of Christmas. We rolled tatami mats and soaked them in a tub, then cut them.

The Austin dojo does not have a traditional Web presence, only Instagram and other social media. So I can only link to a photo of myself holding a tatami roll.

Combined Practice

A week ago, Albuquerque Fudo Myo dojo visited a Yamaneko shibu in Socorro for training together. It was held in a park on the campus of the Tech, naturally enough. One interesting moment was that I slipped up on the grass... and nothing happened. Previously I would end landing on my butt or worse, like stretching or tearing something. I suspect that after so many years my kamae have become sufficiently natural. I started seeking uneven spots on purpose and finished the class with no incident. In Albuquerque we have our own facility, so we don't train in natural settings as often as we used to.

Inertia

One of the fundamental ideas in taijutsu practice is to take it slowly and build the muscle memory, and only speed up later. However, there is an area where it's not practical to slow down as far as we do elsewhere: ukemi, or rolling and falling. At some point, when you roll, you have to do two things at once while moving. That is because your own inertia is part of the technique.

Still, you can break it down to elements, and practice that way. Also, some rolls are simpler than others.

We went out to the park today and rolled to our heart's content on the grass. Usually at this time of year, Fudou Myou migrates indoor. But the weather was great, the grass was dry (mostly).

New Dojo

Very nice. Fudo Myou relocated and it's shiny.

Exciting changes are coming

I thought to try and spring a surprise, but Shihan posted an update to our Facebook page, so the cat is out of the bag: Fudo Myou dojo is moving to a new location. Hours and contact information remains the same (find them on the website). We remain in town, and with Albuquerque being a sizeable city, the new place still a leased office. It would be cool to have a plot of land with a training hall and area for outdoor activities, such as sword practice. In a typical training room, I'm liable to hit the ceiling with a bo. Our old place had exposed day light tubes along the ceiling and bofuri required unyielding vigilance there.

5th Kyu!

This one came somewhat unexpectedly. It's a rule in the Yamaneko system, or in the whole Bujinkan actually, that tests are not announced. It makes sense: one has to be ready at all times. But usually one can tell that it's coming, even if not the exact date.

In the park

One feature of classes in Fudo Myou was new for me that we have regular classes in a park. Before, I only got outside for "special training" that black belt candidates did in Ernie Reyes' system.

Typically we take a break from the park over the winter. Not so much because of the cold, but because ground gets icy and that is conductive to injuries. Of course as ninja, we are equipped to use kamae properly and will not slip and tear up ligaments unless we make a mistake, but we do it according to the maxim of "training in most ideal circumstances for most un-ideal circumstances". This winter, however, was very mild in Albuequerque and we did not take the usual break. So, the image above is of Mr.R. (tori) working with Mr.G. (uke) on the bleak winter grass.