July 07 Seminar Info available on Upcoming Events page.
Welcome to Ninkiohen-Do Budo Taijutsu. Budo Taijutsu is not a sport martial art, it is based on the techniques and tactics of real combat strategies from Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Indian and American arts. Developed through intense and chaotic struggles where the odds were often against survival, Budo Taijutsu developed into a thorough system of body, mind and spirit protection. Ninkiohen-Do embodies the very essence of that system... Adaptability. We are a constantly evolving system of dynamic self protection and development, learning and applying lessons from the masters, and forging ourselves through self discovery.
Self discovery is not the process of attaining anything that is not already a part of you, only uncovering what was already there, making it known, and integrating it into our being. This is important to the study of Ninkiohen-Do. To find your true ability to adapt to a situation, you must understand how YOU personally respond to a situation physically as well as psychologically, and then you can work to apply the principles taught in Ninkiohen-Do to those reactions to turn them into effective methods of self protection. It is a common belief that you should train a movement over and over until it becomes second nature. It is true you must repeat movements so that your body learns the mechanics and inner principles of a technique, but if you are doing it merely for the memorization, keep this in mind, second nature is not natural. What we mean is that second nature will only work untill enough physical and psychological pressure is applied. Once your instincts feel that pressure is overwhelming, your first nature will overtake your movements. Keep the same training action, only change the focus. Learn your true nature, and then train the movements over and over in a way that you can integrate them with the natural responses that you would have under extreme pressures. Then they will be trully effective because they are your first nature, and thus natural, not mechanical memorizations.
This is one of the differences in our art; our philosophy on how to learn the principles used in combat, as well as inner spiritual development. While we do have formal techniques and movements that students learn, these techniques are seen as guidelines and examples. Each technique is used to express and to help the practitioner understand deeper underlining principles inherent in each technique and life in general. In Ninkiohen-Do we strive to follow what we call "Universal Law". These Universal Laws are things that are unchanging regardless of the circumstance or situation we view them in. For example, all healthy life acts as a form of self preservation (or desire), everything returns to its original source, all things are in a transitory state and others. When looking at techniques like joint locks and throws, it is more important to understand the feeling of the technique and the principle of "why" it works than merely repeating the technique because that is how you were shown it. Each formal technique uses leverage, balance, movement, timing, awareness and change. As the practitioner improves in skill the focus can shift from learning the formal version of the technique, to understanding the principles that make the techniques work. Once those principles are understood the technique itself should be forgotten, and focus is moved to other aspects of the technique. For example once the leverage is understood, work on understanding how it affects the balance. When leverage is used against the body, the body compensates by changing its form, it may be by bending over, extending itself, contracting itself or many other ways. This creates changes in balance which in turn creates weak points in their position that can be easily taken advantage of effortlessly to control an opponent. Once balance is understood the student would focus on the movement, and so on. This progression of awareness within each aspect of the training is what we use to achieve proficiency. It is no good just memorizing techniques, under the stress of a real encounter, your memory will not serve you well. Here is another example. Here are some things that are interconnected that greatly increase control over a fight. Timing, Distance, Angle and Stance. All of these things together make up the mastery of time and space.
Timing
This can be done with strikes, grabs or simple movements. When timing your opponent, you can move in any of five stages. Three of which are physical and the other two are non physical. You can move to attack or control the opponent on:
Development - This is when the attack or movement is on the path towards its target. This is pre-emptive work.
Completion- When the apex of motion has been reached, for example: when a punch has reached full extension.
Return- After the full extension, there is a process of retraction of the extremities, you can follow that energy back to attack. This actually hides your attack. Since the eye of the attacker sees their hand returning, if you keep your hand close to theirs it serves to hide your punch in plain sight.
Distraction- This can either be a planned distraction, misdirection for example or a distraction from a peripheral event. Either way it is an opportunity for you to take advantage of the situation. This is an attack of choice for many Police forces as well as con-men and pickpocketers.
Intent- This is the sensing of the inner tension and emotional desire to harm you. This comes with time and practice. This will give you the chance to change the situation before it turns violent, or to manipulate the situation so that you lead it to the desired result. There is a great example of this that is told in the story of the 47 Ronin.
Combining certain timing methods can be used to further control a situation. For example; often in the case that the attacker is striking in combinations, striking on development and on return will overlap. While one strike is returning, the next is developing. You can strike in between the two strikes, cutting them off from further attacks, using both acting on development and return. Or, when sensing that a person has the intent to harm you, you may cause a distraction of some sort. Let's say you are at a diner, and you see that a rowdy group of jocks have chosen you as a victim to pick on. Sensing the intent you can spill your drink (accidentally of course). This will enable you to call the waitress, and more attension will be drawn to your direction, making it difficult for the bully group to get to you.
Distance
The control and use of distance will directly affect the timing in the fight. For example, the closer you are to someone, the less time it takes for them to reach you, or for you to reach them. Increase the distance and the timing is longer. This allows you to control the speed at which the fight is fought; it also makes it possible to confuse the opponent. For example you can stay at a long range, and when the attacker attempts to reach you with their attack quickly move inside so that you are too close for the attack, strike them, and once you feel that the attacker is trying to adjust, move to a longer range again. This change of distance affects the timing of the strikes, and while the attacker is trying to adjust to the change, you can take control. Another important aspect of distance is to become familiar with what are your safe distances so that you don't move too far out of fear, or remain too close and get hit.
Angle
This is where the fight becomes three dimensional. I will only mension angles as it applies to where to stand. When you stand at the right angle, you can move in close enough to work with the opponent, and because of your angle, stay out of reach from any further attacks. Changing the angle will directly affect distancing, and indirectly affects timing via the distance. If you take a 45 degree step from a forward strike, you may find yourself looking right at your opponents centerline. Then when the attacker tries to adjust to correct, you move 45 degrees to the opposite direction, you will find yourself now at a 90 degree angle to the attacker, and sometimes depending on the attack you may even end up behind the opponent, placing you directly at a positional advantage.
Stance
This one changes directly both the angle and the distance. Say for example you stand in a front leaning stance with the legs slightly wider than the shoulders and the front knee bent. You lean in so that your head is just about in line with your lead knee, and shifted to that side so that your head is almost directly over the knee. This will put you in a position where you seem closer than you really are, and more to one side than your true center. When the attacker moves in, you may shift your weight to the rear leg, moving your head back so that it is in line with the rear knee, your legs positioned as if you were about to take off running. This moves you away from the attack, as well as changes the angle that you are standing in, putting you in a position that is easy to counter attack from. The idea is not to react to the a strike defensively, as this puts you a step behind your attacker (a dangerous game of catch up), but to lead the strikes to where you want them to be. Much like playing "Gim'me five" with a child only to take the hand away before the child makes contact.
Also used in Ninkiohen is the Godai or five element theory. This is taken from the Togakure Ninpo, Hoshin Budo Ryu, and Tantra. The late legendary Dr. Glenn Morris of Hoshin has been crucial to the integration of these Eastern practices with Western medical and psychological understandings. The elements are Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void. Each of these elements are associated with specific qualities and properties within ourselves. We use these to further understand underlying principles in both our martial and spiritual development. Here is a basic chart describing the nature of the godai.
Element
Footwork
Movements
Breathing
Pattern
Awareness
Attitude
Body part
Organ
Shape
Chakra color
Element color
Void
Formless, unpredictable
Unpredictable
Formless
Spirit
Expansiveness, emptiness, clarity
Throat and head
Heart
None, formless
Blue,
violet, fading to white
Bright white,
Violet
Wind / Air
Circular, spiraling, cross stepping
Circular, rotating
Quick inhale, long exhale
Will
Unpredictable, redirection, quick
Center of the chest
Lung
Circle, Cross, Star of David
Green
Green
Fire
Constant forward pressure
Forward and back
Sharp and short inhale and exhale
Mind
Unstoppable, strong willed
Solar plexus
Liver
Triangle
Yellow
Red
Water
Evasive, flowing from angle to angle
Side to side
Long inhale, short exhale
Emotion
Calm, relaxed, flowing, unreachable,
adaptive
Naval, lower abdominals
Kidney
Crescent
Orange
Blue
Earth
Rooted, solid
Up and down
Equal & steady inhale and exhale
Body, Physical
Secure, immovable, grounded
Feet, pereneum
Spleen
Square
Red
Yellow
When looking at many different styles, or individuals in the martial arts, you can easily catagorize the overall element or combination of elements that are being used; (it is common to have 2 at one time: Earth & Fire, or Water & Wind are most common, this is a balancing act of two polar opposites, Earth is receptive or Yin, Fire is expressive or Yang, the same for Water/ receptive, Wind expressive) . This will allow you to understand what the strengths and weaknesses are. Understand that it is most important to observe and understand yourself. Using the Godai, you can find your own imbalances and weaknesses, both internally and externally. In Tantra for example each element and its associated chakra has external and internal qualities that are to be balanced within themselves and with eachother, in this way one can move from the more dense energies of Earth to lighter frequencies of awareness.
For more in depth study of the esoteric functions of the elements visit www.umaatantra.com. These elements are seen as a part of a universal truth, and as such all things can be examined using this method. Take the coming and going of life. When a fetus is being developed in the womb of the mother, the first thing to develop is the spine, and tissue, this is Earth, the body. Then the arteries and veins develop, moving the fluids throughout the body, this is Water. Next to develop is the ability to process food for energy, or the digestive system, this is Fire. One of the last things to develop in an unborn child is the lungs, and they do not breathe air until after birth, this is Wind/Air. Void is the ability to communicate, and is developed at different stages for different children, but on average about two years. As a dying process the stages of manifestation are reversed. First to go is the ability to communicate, next the ability to breathe, then the digestive system, followed by the circulatory system, until finally the body. This gives automatic rise to a force of duality. This dualistic force is a force that creates balance. All of existance creates balance in "the big picture", so if we see day, it is because there is night to caompare it to. If there is above, there is also below, and what is done at one level is mirrored in the opposite. "As above, so below". This is expressed in the Yin/Yang symbol.
