Dragon Dance Dojo

At first it was a rumble in the distance followed by a relief brining cool breeze. Probably would have gone unnoticed except for how the wind pushed the tops of the trees in a certain way. Something was coming. When the storm hit we were already at the top of the hill, swords in hand, locked in kamae, deep into our practice. It was part of a spiritual process with the bujin, the war-gods, to practice something one hundred times for a hundred days. To become a one-hundred-day-man. Or woman. For this cycle is was a particular sword pattern, aptly named thunder and lightning, about 60 or so repetitions in and it started. Thunder and lightning, the two of us at the top of the hill cutting and moving back and forth, at that point there was nothing else. It was a dangerous place to be, not in terms of the storm, but in terms of focus. Being able to tune out the wind ad rain hitting you, being able to not react to not being able to see as the rain poured down your face. Tu...

As we rode the service elevator up the building I should have been paying attention to what Shi Shi was saying to Astra but in truth I was more interested in what was in the long carrying bag. We had been practicing kenjutsu at the past few gatherings, and I figured this was an extension of that, but this time something was different, the feeling was different. The ride up took us some time, as there was no destination button. You got in, the doors closed, turned a key, and its up and away. When the elevator stopped and the doors open, we were in a large empty machine room at the top of the skyscraper. All was quiet when I realized and asked Shi Shi if we were even allowed to be here, which he replied with a finger to his lips and a smile. Up another set of metal stairs and through a door, we were now on the roof overlooking the entirety of the city, the difference between night and day, being almost midnight, the city was very quiet. Rolling out the carrying bag I again sh...

The dojo was already quiet when my name was called out, expecting a bit of surprise, but I was ready. Ready for something, even if I didn’t directly know what. The ability to read the air, sense hidden change is an important part of the movement. The instructions were simple, start in the center of the dojo, and for the next two minutes avoid getting hit. I could use any footwork, sabaki-gata, or kamae that I wanted, but I was *not* allowed to counter, block, or take any other direct action. Don’t get hit. A moment later the senior students circled around me and the punches started coming in. I did my best moving and keeping the minimum of them behind me, they did their best keeping my in the center of the dojo so I could be surrounded. I ate a lot of punches, but many of them I avoided just be moving. Two minutes in the dojo is an eternity, those outside of the ‘arts can’t really understand the intensity of a minute when you are moving and trying not to get hit. That is ...

It was customary just after the New Year to give an embu in the dojo. The teacher would call up senior students and an exchange would happen back and forth with both acting as attacker and defender taking turns using one of the training weapons on the dojo wall. Sojutsu had been fresh in my mind, so when it was my turn I selected a yari, the longest that I could that still cleared the dojo ceiling and the embu began. Returning my yari to the wall, I sat down and enjoyed the rest of the celebration thinking my part was done… …only to be surprised to be called back up, selecting another training weapon from the wall. No, please take this one. As I was handed a sword unlike I had ever seen before. A thick and heavy blade, double sided with a tear shaped point, very much like a broadsword. A long handle, with a large disk shape at the end. Tsugiri . First time picking it up, feeling the connection of the balance and weight I began to mentally scan the kata from the densho a...

What I remember about the man the most was his style of dress, how he greeted you at the door, and the size of his hands. Always dressed in a grey suit, always wearing a smile, always offering a firm handshake when he greeted you at the church door, which dwarfed the hand of my thirteen year old self. Mr. B. was a man from a different time, a world that no longer existed, a world that new generations would have doubted every existed. Regardless of the occasion he always wore a suit, would call you on your bullshit if needed, and was a man of action even at 85 years of age when I met him. When I was confirmed at 16, after the service and the luncheon after, on the outside steps of the church he instructed me to wait as he had something to give me. Imagine handing a 16 year old kid a sword. That was just what he was doing along with a picture in a small frame. The sword was a one handed sabre in a leather wrapped scabbard, ivory handle, wrapped in gold-brass wire.   It ...

For some reason it was not working, and for the past hour of training I couldn’t figure out why. We were exploring the waza (technique) called Koku and honestly I was frustrate. This was one of the techniques that I was rather confident with. I had seen it a number of times, practiced it with a few different master, and studied it at home, outside of the dojo for a few years now. In short I felt confident with it, even to the point that if a shihan (master teacher) had called me up to demonstrate it, I felt I could represent it well. It was a good thing there were no shihan here tonight in the dojo watching me. Sometimes in class the lesson is way beyond ones pay-grade, and in cases like this sometimes the best one can do is keep going in class and do they best that they can, as there is a lesson in this developing correct warrior heart. Continuing to the end and never giving up. Sometimes a class *is* intentionally hard to the point where none of the students can do it, or...

We had an hour for lunch, but both of us silently agreed we were both exhausted and had decided to just hang out on the dojo floor as everybody else cleared out. It had been an intense morning of training under the master, and this was a chance to write down some notes and get some stamina back for the afternoon session. Can I see? Asked a voice as a hand pointed to the kusari fundo in my training bag, which was open from taking my notebook and pencil out. Turning around I was surprised to see the master, and it took me a few moments to respond as I stared at him blankly. How had he entered the room and come over without both of us noticing, as my friend was equally as surprised. Should I have been surprised? This was the same master who last time when we were all training in a field had pointed to a crow flying overhead, called it down and had it land on his shoulder. I can remember if I even said anything, reaching down and passing the kusari fundo to him. Smiling, he passed ...

Keep up if you can! That was the quick piece of advice given before we all took off running through the forest. You picked your path running along-side sensei and the other students, using ukemi taihenjutsu to navigate around, over and sometimes through the rocks, trees, and bushes. This wasn’t my first run, so there was an awareness of experience that some of the other first-time students did not have, which was an important part of the training. Being able to observe those around you, read the air so-to-speak and notice what was going on through body action as opposed to words. Those that had danced before didn’t run at full speed, they kept up with sensei, but held a bit back- you never go one-hundred-percent, what if you needed to tap a reserve and had already spent it. For those who’s first run this was they ran side by side, or even ahead of sensei, which wasn’t necessary, and nobody outside of him knew for just how long we would be running. Body posture (kyu kamae) were al...

The skills was not only to catch it, but be able to catch it in a way that one could immediately use. It was after class and the group of us sat seiza in a large circle, about eight feet or so in diameter. We had just finished up randori practice and while we were waiting one used the next few minute to catch breath and relax, let the tension go and sharpen the focus. There was a reason why this exercise was always after class. The senior student was first handed the knife, and after a few manipulations to check the balance, they tossed it to the person across from them. Toss as in send it across to another person so they can catch it in hand and easily bring it into play. There were two parts to this training exercise, the student tossing the knife, and the student receiving it. The student tossing it has to manipulate it around so the handle was facing out, and toss it with the correct distance and timing so the other student could catch it. The student receiving it had to catch it i...

I moved from the strongest and best kenjutsu kamae that I could, cutting down with the bokken which was just side-stepped and taken from my hand.  Let's try that again. Same effortless result. It's because you also have a sword, the strength of the sword twisting and taking my sword. Using just his hands the same effortless movement. How? Weapons also have kyusho. See this space on the bokken, this place on the blade, based on the length and balance here, this is where the kyusho is. Stand in seigan no kamae with no tsuki. Solid.  The kyusho is there, but it is covered by the kamae- seigan. Now extend your arms forward bit, move the elbows here, see how the posture breaks, how it creates an opening. That opening applied to the kyusho on the bokken and it can be taken away. Making sure you get out of the way first of course. I could replicate the movement from time to time, making it work *most* of the time, but there was something *else* missing, that kotsu point. Here it is! ...