November 2025 Class Record
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Tuesday November 4th
We began our class as always with drilling our rolls (zenpo/ushiro kaiten), but on completion of our zenpo kaiten, we did not stand up afterwards, but remained crouched and swapped our foot position to roll backwards immediately. This is to get into the frame of mind that we cannot use our hands to prepare ourselved for our rolls; we would be wearing Daishō (大小) and must keep our hands free to retrieve our weapons if needed.
We began looking at three drills of taihenjutsu muto dori gata (体変術無刀捕型), where we had uke cut from daijodan no kamae and we responded in three different methods. Each of these waza require impeccable distance and timing; this is the skill of budo. Judging how far or near uke is as they attack can mean the diffrence between life and death, so being able to adjust your response according to how much space you have in any given time of attack allows you to calculate what you need to do when needed.
We revisited the Gyokko ryu kata 'Renyo', to capitalise on the lesson from last week. As mentioned previously, this is quite a complex kata with many moving parts. Showing care to your uke is important as injury can be very easily occur. But as a tori/aite performs a kata, the training is not just for them; it is also for uke to show restraint and allow the kata to be performed. Using improper force or lack thereof, interferes with the fluidity of the technique, and can result in an unfavourable outcome for the students (and sensei!), so it is important to remember three things when learning a potentially dangerous form:
1 - Be kind: be kind to your uke, but also to yourself. Nobody gets things 100% correct 100% of the time; not even the teacher. Showing kindness to yourself and patience to allow yourself to make mistakes shows intent to learn.
2 - Be cool: take your time with your training. Some of these kata and ryuha are around for >800 years, so you can take a beat and learn slowly. They arent going to go extinct any time soon, so rushing will not help you.
3 - Be calm: be calm when doing the technique. Being excited leads to increase of pace and adrenaline, which can injure an uke who isnt able to move as fast as you are. You may also lose footing or balance, showing poor control.
Tuesday November 11th
Starting off class with weapon control, we focused on battojutsu (抜刀術); drawing and sheathing the bokuto from the saya in a fluid and smooth manner in both vertical and horizontal directions. It was important to maintan control of the elbow position of the drawing arm, lest the saya (scabbard) be damaged. Drawing the blade along the curvature of the saya is paramount to maintaning a straight edge on the shinken (real sword 真剣). If the elbow is high when drawing, then a vertical cut cannot be performed safely and cleanly; a horizontal cut (do giri) is best. If the elbow is low, then a vertical cut (tenchi giri) is easier to perform. Of course this all depends on the situation one finds themselves in. Sheathing the sword is also as important as drawing; incorrectly/carelessly slamming the blade into the saya can crack the mouth (koiguchi 鯉口) of the scabbard and the sword can easily fall out - not helpful if you are jumping or rolling. Also, the positioning of the saya is also hugely important when maintaining zanshin (awareness 残心). You must be able to draw in a heartbeat if you believe you need to, so if the saya is in the way, or in the wrong position, it could prove costly. We drilled this intensely using the mirrors of the hall to see where we were correct/incorrect.
We also looked into shinobi aruki (忍び歩き), the way of walking without making sound whilst using daijodan no kamae moving forwards and back (advancing and retreating). The leg muscles are strained here as the lower one lowers their hips, the longer their stride can be but correct balance must be maintained at all times.
We studied the third kata from Gyokko ryu 'Danshu' (彈手). This was a simpler kata than the previous two forms. and the students picked it up quite quickly. It has less movement and more straightforward attacking strikes, and were also a lot more effective in rendering uke at a disadvantage. In this intance, we had the time to look at the 2 henka (variations) that come with it. Henka are adaptations of a kata that can be applied if a certain situation arises, such as uke countering the kata or trying to fight back. It was a great way of exploring the tai sabaki gata of the 3 techniques, and aloowed us to cram a little extra training into our session.