Jikishin Dojo Budo Kenshu - Study of the Martial Way

By Filip Marić

Jikishin Dojo Budo Kenshu - Study of the Martial Way is a unique account of the purpose, method and content of Budo study at Jikishin Dojo Auckland, New Zealand. It offers a very personal and open insight into the ideas, questions, and ever-changing thought processes that underpin practice at Jikishin Dojo, based on and partially combining the author’s research in Zen, Shiatsu, physiotherapy, Western philosophy, Aikido and many other martial arts. This research has inspired an ongoing review of Budo study, from its very fundaments to its diverse technical expressions. Consequently, Jikishin Dojo Budo Kenshu offers a renewed and fresh perspective on a wide array of topics pertinent to Aikido and Budo practice, including: - The conditioning of mind and body - The place of forms, techniques and gradings - The methods and concepts of teaching - The concept of Do, the Way - The workings of a dojo, and - The ethics of the Budo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Mar 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483408255

Book preview

JIKISHIN DOJO

BUDO KENSHU

STUDY OF THE MARTIAL WAY

JikishinLogowhite.jpg

FILIP MARIĆ

Copyright © 2014 Filip Marić.

Interior Graphics/Art Credit: Jane Zimmermann - janesnation.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-0824-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-0825-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 02/19/2014

CONTENTS

Introduction

Ikigai - Why Study Budo?

Inspirations

Fundamentals - Forging The Mind And Body

Wholeheartedness & the Moment

Breathing & the Moment

Awareness, Integration & the Moment

Acceptance, Relaxation, Unintentionality & the Moment as it is

Continuous movement, Balance & the Empty Self

Mobility

Receptivity, Contact & Balance (taking)

Rest, recovery and rehabilitation

Forms, Techniques & Gradings

Shu Ha Ri – Kata & Waza Keiko

Shinsa - On gradings

MINIMUM grading requirements

Basic Terminology

Illustrated terminology

Training forms

Attacks

Waza - Techniques

Mudansha (6Th -1St Kyu)

Rokkyu – 6th Kyu

Aiki dosa

Suwari Waza

Tachi Waza

Gokyu – 5th Kyu

Suwari Waza

Tachi Waza

Aiki-ken & Kashima-no-tachi

Shikkyu – 4th Kyu

Suwari Waza

Tachi Waza

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Sankyu – 3rd Kyu

Suwari Waza

Hanmi Handachi Waza

Tachi Waza

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

On wearing the Hakama

Nikkyu – 2nd Kyu

Suwari Waza

Hanmi Handachi Waza

Tachi Waza

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Ikkyu – 1st Kyu

Suwari waza

Hanmi handachi waza

Tachi waza

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Yudansha (1St - 4Th Dan)

Shodan

Jiyu Waza

Randori

Tanto dori

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Ukemi - Neither roll, nor role

Semeru/Kogeki

Impact and contact

ukemi

Suki & Kaeshi waza

Ukemi is Aikido

Nidan

Jo Dori (Chudan tsuki)

Jo nage (Ai hanmi)

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Sandan

Tachi dori (Shomen uchi)

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Yondan

Aiki-Ken

Aiki-Jo

Kashima-no-tachi

Kodansha (5Th - 75Th Dan)

Teaching

The concept of Michi, or Do

The Budo Cooperative - Beyond Self

Reigi – Dojo Etiquette & Behaviour

Bowing & Cleaning

Places and ways of practice

Outdoors practice

Regular classes and special training occasions

Close The Book

Budo, ethics and efficacy: it’s complicated…

Efficacy 1.0 – Survival

Efficacy 2.0 - The minimization of harm

Efficacy 0.0 – underneath it all

Efficacy 0.0+ - Jikishin

What is Budo?

See you at training

References

About the Author

Thank goes to…

… my brother, all teachers and friends from near and far, and you.

INTRODUCTION

T he little book you are about to read has come about for a number of reasons. First off, I felt the need to explain myself to the people that train with me on a regular basis, so that they/you can better understand and follow why and what it is that we are doing at Jikishin Dojo Auckland. This has been motivated by a growing sense that what and how I occasionally teach seems to generate some confusion due to my increasingly frequent veering off of what might be considered standard Aikido practice, paying little or no attention to curriculum-based or grading oriented study and drawing on a whole range of ‘non-Aikido’ influences.

Secondly and related to the above, I am a strong believer in the philosophical nature and motivation of Budo practice. Thus, providing clarity by simply putting together a list or syllabus of forms and techniques structured by grades at which you will be tested could not be further from what I believe Budo is about. The practice and study of techniques, forms or movements within Budo is inextricably linked to a philosophy, which together make for what is then a Do - a Way (of Life). Instead of doing this enmeshment injustice by separating one from the other, I have decided to provide an exercise syllabus embedded in the broader context of Budo study - Budo Kenshu - that is, the broader study and philosophy in which it sits for me, at this moment. It is for this reason that you might be getting something less easily digestible to read here than a pure list of techniques. Also and regrettably, I am currently not able to present the (to me still) complex practice and philosophy of Budo that I am researching and practicing both on and off the mat in a simpler way than the present, so I hope you can bear with me as I develop my thoughts.

Lastly, whilst feeling the need to increase your clarity, I also felt a need to increase my own, as a tool to help me stay focussed and on track in regards to what I am passionate about and enjoy studying and practicing with you. Putting this text together seemed like a great opportunity to do that by pulling together large parts of all things Budō I have studied and practiced thus far into a somewhat coherent format.

Let me clarify what I mean by ‘large parts’, ‘all things Budo’, and ‘thus far’. When I write ‘all things Budo’ I am referring to my ongoing study and practice of Aikido, Kashima Shinryu, Zen, Shiatsu, Physiotherapy and a range of Western Philosophies (next to arguably too many other haphazard things to much lesser extent). To me, all of these are so closely linked to each other that I find it hard and am actually reluctant to keep them apart, as they all tie into what I believe Budo to be (about). ‘Large parts’ means simply that I will try to keep it somewhat brief and as directly relevant to our study of Budo at Jikishin Dojo Auckland as possible. My current PhD research, about which most of you know, will be a little broader and will look into a little more detail in regards to the combination of all of the above and might become a book in its own right at a later stage. Maybe and hopefully some of the ideas that have grown into the present text will develop further and become clearer until then.

There is certainly always more that can be said, and more depth that could be explored, but now might not be the place and time. Related to this, by saying ‘thus far’ I would like to emphasize that I consider myself to be an early-stage practitioner and researcher of all of the above. Further, considering the fact that in Japan alone there are more than 700 traditional Budo schools (Jap: ryuha) and who knows how many more traditional and modern martial arts styles in and outside of Japan in all cultures around the world I would never dare to make generalizations (Friday & Humitake, 1997). If I mistakenly use generalizing formulations at times please keep this in mind and remember that all of what I have written here will change for me as I continue to study and walk this Way myself. So please, do not mistake anything in here to be intended as the final word on any of its parts. Much rather, what you are reading is a highly personal assemblage of the ideas and practices that drive, inspire and draw my current research, practice and sharing.

Related to this is also my use and reference to Japanese terminology pertaining to Budo, Zen or Shiatsu. To be clear, what we are practicing has its origins in Japanese culture and I strongly believe that the study of this Way will always be bound to the study of its origin. And just to make things more complicated, the Japanese language is very closely linked to the Chinese language and even between those two translations are anything but an easy matter. My own basic understanding of some of this terminology comes solely from an increasing personal interest and research, but yet again I make no claims on being an authority of any sort in this regard. The Chinese and Japanese culture and languages are so different from my own multicultural background that it would be silly to assume anything like this. And further, any word or sentence in the Chinese or Japanese language can have such a large amount of meanings, from historical, to literal, modern and more that I continue to be amazed with its depth and complexity. Thus, the meanings that I am referring to are just some that I have heard of or read about, and that have and continue to inspire me.

Further in regards to terminology, I will use terms like study, research, training, exercise and practice largely interchangeably. In Budo as I see it, study, research, exercise and practice are always joined together, meaning that when we practice we always study and when we study we always practice this Way. This involves a highly long-term continuity, personal and engaged nature and accompanying need for constant questioning of what we are doing. The term ‘manual’, which I originally thought of as part of the title for this text, additionally emphasizes firstly that the study of this Way is in our hands and we are likely to get out of it what we put in, and secondly, that without the doing of our hands and its (often challenging) putting into practice all of this is just empty words. In putting all of this together, my hope is that you will neither be put off by the size of the text, nor by my inability to express its content more simply and concisely at this stage, but that it will actually serve the three purposes that I have mentioned here and support, provide clarity and help us monitor our Budo practice and research.

IKIGAI - WHY STUDY BUDO?

I t is a little hard to separate the why and what of Budo as they are so closely linked together, but I do believe that the need for something (the why) often triggers its inception and defines the what. Thus, let me begin with a brief word on why I practice Budo, or what my motivation is, before commenting on some of the other reasons for practicing it that are out there:

The main reasons for Budo practice, as I currently understand them, are the following somewhat lengthy ones, so take a deep breath: The purpose of Budo practice is to adapt to and participate in each moment,