Sofia Vergara

Appearing in your home on "Knights of Prosperity." Yes, on free, network television. Ain't America grand?

Rank, and its "privileges..."

My Saturday afternoon training session featured a quick comment that held loads of implications.

One young man joined our training a few minutes late. He was kidded, and our Fearless Leader joked that it was fine by him if the young man chose to be late because, "The world needed Green Belts too." (A note, our system only has three color belts: white, for no ranking; green for the kyu ranked mudansha, and black for the dan ranked yudansha.)

One of our Shodan, and a frequent commentor on this blog, continued the joke by saying, "I out-rank him, and he was here when I started." FL thought this might make for a good blog topic, and I agree.

Our young friend does represent an unusual situation, but not unheard of. And our Shodan points out the differences between the concepts of "seniority" and "rank" in the martial arts.

"Seniority" is bound up in the concepts of Sempai and Kohai. These are terms relating solely to the time one has spent in a particular martial tradition. If I join a new school and new art tomorrow, all of the current students and instructors would be my Sempai. They would have certain responsibilities regarding me, as I would be thier Kohai. They would be responsible for showing me around the school, instructing me in the peculiar rituals of the class or art, and generally making sure I don't muck it all up. Basically, this comes down to "showing me the ropes." The instructor, usually termed a sensei, is there to share instruction in the art, but teaching me how and when to bow, or how to wear my dogi is the job of my senior students.

As Kohai, my job is to learn and graciously accept the hints and suggestions from my seniors. I also accept the responsibility to share this information with the next student to join the class. When that happens, I become his Sempai.

This arrangement reflects the old idea of the Ryu, or tradition. Ryu is one of those Japanese words that holds many meanings, one of which is "flow," with a connotation of "flowing through time." The nature of the Sempai/Kohai relationship stresses the continuing flow of the tradition ever forward in time. Someone taught my teacher, who instructs me, and I will pass it on to the next generation. We are all responsible for passing on the small rituals that form our tradition.

Sempai are not, however, a privileged class. As they advance in seniority, they are expected to take on more responsibility in the school. In a truly traditional school, it is the senior-most sempai who are responsible for cleaning the dojo's practice space. It is the brand new student who has the luxury of arriving just as class begins. Sempai are their to serve and provide examples for the Kohai.

My school is not the image of a traditional dojo. It is an efficiently run, store front with all the amenities of mats, equipment, and other tools. It doesn't take one long to realize this is not the much derided "McDojo," despite the large number of small children enrolled. It has a staff that takes care of the basic maintenance of the space. Even so, I have my jobs as a senior student. The most ritual of those jobs is to light the candles on the Kamidana, or spirit shelf, before class.

There are other little things I try to perform as actions for others to see. For one, I always start as the Uke when we work on kata or other techniques. This is, in fact, a traditional role of the sempai -- and one much neglected. Many students want the more advanced person to act as the Tori or Nage in order to see who the technique is done one more time. No. In traditional thinking, the model for the technique or kata is the teacher. The reason the senior student goes first is that presumably he has seen and done the technique before and has a better understanding of how and why it works. It is the sempai's responsibility to correctly initiate the technique. Perhaps you've heard the joke: "Like many beginners, your attack is completely wrong." There's actually a degree of truth in that. Each attack prompts a particular response. The sempai must correctly attack for the technique in question to be practiced correctly. To change the punch, or the distance, or the timing... That cheats the Tori of good practice.

If you don't believe me, consider the last time you worked with a partner who was sloppy. Did things work? Probably not without great difficulty. Now, that's a form of training too, but we all know it is "perfect practice" that makes perfect.

To bring this train of thought to a destination, each of us is a Sempai and Kohai to some other student. We need to remember the essential point of the relationship, which is respect for the passing on of tradition. We shouldn't get caught up in the politics of who outranks who, or I've got more time in that that guy. By acknowledging those aspects, we are simply paying respect to a particular person's dedication and involvement in the art. We also need to understand that seniorty brings not privilege but deepening involvement and commitment to the art and our fellow students.

Study on this well.

Diplomat Tactical Pants

As many of you know, Royal Robbins 5.11 Tactical Pants have dominated the market for "concealment" or "low visibility" tactical wear for several years now. They provide a very practical alternative to solid color, miltary style BDU trousers, wear well, and have an assortment of useful features. Interestingly, they really did not enhance the features that appeared on their ancestor garment, the Royal Robbins climbing pants that appeared in the early Nineties. Even the 5.11 Gear name is a nod to the original purpose of the pants, which were for outdoorsman trekking to their favorite rock-climbing spot. The 5.11 pants are now pretty standard issue to a veritable who's who of federal, state and local agencies.

And maybe that's why there have been no competitors until recently. Woolrich, an esteemed outdoor outfitter jumped in last year with a near copy of the 5.11 pants. Now there's the Diplomat. These pants also do not depart too radically from the 5.11 pants, but they still have some differences: a couple of cleverly placed additional pockets and velcro tabs at the ankle. They retail about $5 cheaper at the online sites I've located for them. My personal R&D budget has dwindled, so I do not have a pair of these for review, but I will say they look promising. If anyone jumps in to get a pair, please let me know what you think of them -- especially if you can compare them one-to-one with the 5.11 pants I love so much.

Litigious Dorks

Put your hands in the air if you've heard of Konigun Ninjutsu. Anyone?

I thought as much. This appears to many to be another group of wannabe ninjas who mix a little mumbo-jumbo together with second-rate karate and call anyone who questions them a bunch of liars and spoilsports.

The problem is... they sue people who have the nerve to ask questions about their legitimacy. Okay, I won't ask any questions, nor will I call them frauds. I will simply post a link to their website and you can decide for yourselves... You shouldn't need a Ph.D. in Japanese History to smell something fishy.

Now, you might ask why they would sue anyone about this nonsense. Easy, they want someone to be the straw man so they can get a court in the United States to certify that they are a ninjutsu system. Consider this, can you prove, to a reasonable person to the standard of "more likely than not", this negative: Konigun is not a ninjutsu system? Keep in mind that the average, reasonable person has no clue about martial arts, let alone the complicated history of ninjutsu. You'll need to prove there was no mysterious, lone Konigun ninja who taught the current master before dying and leaving no trace -- as a good ninja would.

Also keep in mind that it is still difficult to prove to elite, highly educated martial artists that Bujinkan and the other X-kans are teaching legitimate ninjutsu. (Especially since I don't think Hatsumi will be willing to leave Japan with the authentic densho to produce what evidence he can to a court of law.) At a minimum, Konigun walks away from a law suit with "proof" that the X-kans are no more legitimately "ninjutsu" than their art. And they can use that in their phony advertising.

What is it they say about wrestling pigs in mud?

Paging Dr. Banzai!

Calling all Blue Blaze Irregulars! Instant newsflash...

Any out there besides me remember The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension? The hero was a rock n rollin', philosophy spoutin', six-gun slingin', neurosurgeon/astrophysicist, and probably a bunch of other things. This was a geek-fest starring Peter Weller in the title roll, Jeff Goldblum as his chief sidekick, opposing the evil antics of John Lithgow and Christopher Lloyd. To be fair, the idea of a pulp action hero with as much in the brians department as the brwn department isn't new. Doc Savage, the man of bronze, was plying those waters many, many years ago. But, you never got the sense from Peter Weller that Dr. Banzai's churning waters ran very deep.

What do you expect from the man who played RoboCop? While Peter Weller is a cult favorite on the Sci Fi Convention circuit, it's not like he ever made a big, important movie.

He's solidly in the B-list of well-made cult films.

So imagine my surprise when I learned Peter Weller, man of a thousand faces, and film super hero, had an alter ego...

It seems Mr. Weller is, in fact, working towards his PhD in Italian Renaissance Art from UCLA. He already holds Master's Degrees in Roman and Renaissance Art. And this is no lark... like any aspiring academic, he actually teaches classes, writes papers, and lectures! And he seems to have a sense of humor about it too. Here's a quote regarding the fact that his classes are so hard he actually loses many students after the first class: "They thought they were going to get the easy A from old RoboCop." Why would they think that? Don't they realize RoboCop is one badass mother... Sorry, I was just talking about RoboCop.

This specialized expertise has garnered Peter Weller a gig hosting the History Channel's Engineering an Empire. He apparently is very knowledgable about Roman architecture. Who knew?

Momofuku Ando

Usually when I post pictures of elderly Japanese men, they are highly skilled martial artists desperately trying to maintain a tradition of ass-whupping that goes back hundreds of years. Not today.

On January 5th, 2007, at the ripe old age of 96, Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin and the inventor of instant noodles, died.

I found his obituary in the back pages of hoity-toity The Economist, a weekly newsmagazine that I feel into the habit of reading several years ago while studying for a job interview. (Don't ask.) The obit is very wry. It likens the instant gratification and simplicity of instant Ramen noodles to the search for enlightenment. Apparently this is not merely the low-wit of the author, because Mr. Ando had three sayings that served as Nissin's motto:

Peace will come when people have food.
Eating wisely will enhance beauty and health.
The creation of food will serve society.

Talk about a mission statement. No wonder Japanese business is such tough competition.

Anyway, instant noodles are the kind of thing you take for granted. You just assume they've always been around. Not so. Mr. Ando got the idea while walking home from work in 1957. He saw the long lines of people waiting at the noodle shops, which were the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds back in the day. I say "were" because I suspect McDonalds is now the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds, but I digress.

It took Mr. Ando a year to perfect the process of creating the instant noodle. The secret? Flash-frying the fresh noodles in palm oil. But here's the bit that really surprised me -- as it will surprise almost any student in higher education:
Mr. Ando was laughed at and repeatedly told he would fail because... the instant noodles cost 6 times as much as a bowl of fresh noodles! Hard to believe when you can take home a grocery bag full of the things for pocket change.

Well, we will all miss Mr. Ando in our own ways. But he did something extraordinary by making so many millions happy with something so incredibly simple, and even if he is forgotten, I'm sure his legacy will continue forever.

Basics

Path of the Assassin is Koike and Kojima's 15-volume story of notorious ninja master, Hattori Hanzo! Published by dark Horse comics, you can follow the "quasi-historical" (i.e. fictional)advantures of Hanzo through this series. Koike and Kojima are best known for their hugely influential series, Lone Wolf and Cub and they have an excellent understanding of the Japanese past.

While I certainly would never in a million years claim they know true ninjutsu, they do have an excellent understanding of samurai and martial arts history. And being Japanese, they provide an added insight into the mythology and history surrounding the samurai and ninja cultures. It is very different from the Hollywood idea of the legends we have in the US. The shadow of Sho Kosugi does not fall on Koike and Kojima.

And speaking of the true stuff... I had an opportunity to teach a section of the dojo's End of Year Training. I took about fifteen minutes to express, and demonstrate, what I learned this year: that Basics really matter.

I'm not talking about the outward movements we tend to teach or describe as basics, but the underlying principles that make them work. I showed how the most recent Black Belt recipients could throw a great punch, but failed in a decent understanding of the necessary distance to use it properly. They had been working on that punch for over five years.

Earlier this year, I was left in charge of a class and I asked some new black belts to each teach something themselves. It was an excellent gauge of progress. They each competently taught a technique, but not one of them referenced a principle. There are, of course two big principles we ought to be talking about ALOT!

Distancing, or ma-ai.

And...

Balance, or kuzushi.

But there are plenty of other principles also to consider in good taijutsu. Moving in circles, or angles. Proper use of total body weight. Leverage. The meaning of "Natural" movement. And of course, the elusive "Kukan," or management of space.

You have to pick apart the larger movements we call Basics, or Kihon Happo, to work on these principles.

I had another enlightning moment when walking through a Black Belt class one day and suggesting a correction to a gentleman performing a particular kata. He had replaced a kick with a knee strike. I showed him how to do it better ("correctly" being a loaded term) and he frowned at me. He told me he knew that was the original way the kata was done, but he couldn't do it that way and substituted the knee strike. OK... But I'd seen him do it several times and he'd been consistently doing the knee strike. Yes, he had changed the way he did the kata -- and that was ok, he said proudly, because it "worked."

I shook my head and moved on, secure in the knowledge that this man would wise-up, or hit a dead end and quit. We change kata at our own risk. If we can't perform a movement correctly, it is a clue that we are doing something wrong and need to figure out what it is and why. Kata hold many lessons about the basic principles, and we need to be mindful of them. They are not simple movements strung together as a tailored response to some attack. They are meant to suggest a solution, based on a basic principle, to a particular type of problem. For example: Straight attack coming in on a line? Shift in a circular way and generate power for a counter-attack, while placing yourself in a protected position. Change the kata, and you might get part of that solution, but neglect the second.

National Marine Corps Museum

This is Tun Tavern. On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas to raise two Battalions of Marines. That very day, Nicholas set up shop in Tun Tavern. He appointed Robert Mullan, then the proprietor of the tavern, to the job of chief Marine Recruiter -- serving, of course, from his place of business at Tun Tavern. Prospective recruits flocked to the tavern, lured by (1) cold beer and (2) the opportunity to serve in the new Corps of Marines. So, yes, the U.S. Marine Corps was indeed born in Tun Tavern. Needless to say, both the Marine Corps and the tavern thrived during this new relationship.
Tun Tavern still lives today. And, Tun Tavern beer is still readily available throughout the Philadelphia area. Further, through magazines it is advertised to Marines throughout the world.

The United States Marine Corps is older than the Republic for which it stands. For over 200 years, it has stood guard over our country and taken the fight to our enemies wherever they slept. The Corps is very proud of its history, and insists that all new recruits learn a fairly detailed account of dates, names, and places important to the Corps' heritage. Yet, until last November 10, there was no central, National Marine Corps Museum.

Over my Christmas Vacation, my father and I went to visit the new museum. He had provided a donation for the place, and wanted to chack on his "investment." My father was not a Marine, he was a draftee in the Army. But when he heard there was an effort to build a museum, he felt strongly that he should provide some money to assist in the construction.

The museum is world-class. It covers the full expanse of Marine Corps history, but focuses on the modern age: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War Era. This was obviously done to appease the many, many vets (always known as "Former Marines," never "Ex-Marines") who provided money so the deeds of their comrades would not be forgotten. The staff is rife with Former Marines, all ready to answer questions knowledgably and eagerly. There are plans to expand the museum to have exhibit halls devoted to the earlier periods, and more than one staff member told me they have more artifacts than they can ever hope to display.

The place is very moving, and does not shy away from the Marines' core mission: find the enemy and destroy him. This is not an dry, antiseptic view of history. There is a life size display of a World War I Marine struggling in hand-to-hand combat with a German stormtrooper -- it's all mud, muck, knives, and pistols. As the visitor enters the World War II gallery, the visitor is greeted with another lifesize diorama of a Navy Corpsman treating a wounded Marine.

The actual flag from the famous Iwo Jima picture is on display at the Museum, across from a war studded with globes and anchors, one for each Marine who died in the gray, sulfur sand of that godforsaken place. In the Korean War Gallery, there is a room size diorama of a winter battle, kept chilled by air conditioners. Personally, I think it was still too warm in there, and I'd have dropped the temperature more, but it gets the point across.

My favorite room was a depiction of a Vietnam firebase -- most likely Khe Sanh. The entrance, as you can see in the conceptual drawing above, is through a mock-up of a Chinook helicopter's tail. The Chinook fuselage vibrates, and a hot, dry wind blows through the main compartment. You can hear radio chatter over some speakers. I closed my eyes for a moment and thought of a high school classmate who recently returned from reserve duty as a Marine in Iraq. One of his stories involved a raid from the back of a Chinook, and it occurred to me that it must have been just like this... Except for the stark fear and adrenaline dump, of course!

I recommend the museum. I'd like to go back some day and spend more time. We were there for four hours, and it was no where near enough time to soak it all in. We missed a few things -- including the Tun Tavern mock-up that serves as a dining hall. And I decided against trying out the indoor rifle range with it's five dollar cost and laser rifle training tools.

On a final note, I think those of us in the Bujinkan should also make an effort to visit this museum as part of our roots if possible. Consider that two members of the "Holy American Bujinkan Trinity" of founders (Bud Malmstrom and Jack Hoban) were Marines, and I think that not a little of the spirit of the Corps has been grafted onto the sprout that came from Japan.

Oniyuri Shinobigatana Review

I've already lost count of the number of swords I own. It isn't a huge number, but it's more than the average person. (Of course, how many "average" people own even one sword?) My previous acquisition was a Last Legend katana and I was so happy with it that I figured it would be a long time before I purchased another sword.

It was about three years... I guess that's a long time for me.

I discovered Cheness Cutlery's shinobigatana. They make two versions, the Onibasu and the Oniyuri. The Onibasu is the "economy" version and list prices at $299.99, but seems to be on a semi-permanaent sale at $189.99. Since Santa Claus was financially kind to me this year, I purchased the Oniyuri version, which lists at $499.99 and is also on semi-permanent sale for $249.99.

The Oniyuri is advertised as being made to the specifications of a Togakure Ryu sword, as commissioned by a Bujinkan Dojo based on information they received from Hatsumi-sensei at some point. I can't verify the truth, but it sure sounds good. These are the technical specs for those who care:

metallurgy: 9260 Silicon Alloy Carbon Spring Steel, full hand forged, through Tempered, Oil Quneched, Hand Polished.

Dimensions: Overall sheathed length: 44.5 inches. Cutting edge: 23 inches. 0.3 inch width, 1.25 inches height. The sori, or curve in the blade is a deviation of 0.5 inches.

Weight is 2 lbs 12 oz.

Tsuka, or handle, length is a whopping 14 inches!

Now, I am not a sword connoiseur. All of my stuff is made for cutting and is sturdy, but it was all made by Indians or Chinese folks, none of it is a true Nihon-to, forged with the blessings of the kami, and direct from the Land of the Rising Sun. But I do know that oil quenching is a no-no for Japanese sword fans, amd double-pinning the tsuka to the blade is a faux-pas. Still, this is an impressive cutting tool made in the image of a true shinobigatana, or ninja-to.

The obligatory word on the ninja-to: We all know by now that the straight bladed, square-guarded short sword that is instantly familiar to even the previously mentioned "average person" is a Hollywood fantasy. Yes, I know that Christian Bale even used one in Batman Begins... But they were living in Tibet! Obviously, if you are a secret agent -- no matter what era you live in -- you don't want to be carrying around tools which instantly identify you as a spy or assassin.

A ninja sword tended to be whatever sword fit the disguise you were in: rich samurai, poor wandering ronin, armed monk, traveling merchant. Even so, Togakure Ryu seemed to favor a "trick" sword that was made to look like an everyday katana, but had a shorter cutting blade. This provided some advanatges to the owner. The most widely known is the quick draw. The shorter length allows the blade to clear the scabbard faster. It also messes with the distance of an attacker. (Ponder that, those of you in the know...) The sword could be used in tight spaces. The hollow in the bottom of the scabbard could be used to hold small items intended to be secret, or even blinding powder. (Note: If you own a ninja sword from Cheness, DON'T put powder in your scabbard. I know it sounds cool, but the oil from your sword will creep into the powder and creat a mess over time. In eons past, replacement saya were much easier to come by than in 21st Century America.)

I haven't had a chance to cut anything with it. But the workmanship holds up with the Hanwei line so many people have, and is almost as good as Last Legend. These seem to be the current standards for swords to be used (or is that "abused") by martial artists. Here is a thread from Kutaki discussing the Cheness swords. And here is an interesting thread on whether or not there ever was a straight bladed ninja-to from e-Budo. I post this last link because it opens the question: how do we know the story about the curved, short Togakure Ryu sword is true? Has anyone ever found one? It's a mindbender for sure...

Yagyu Shingan Ryu Techniques

These are several techniques from different parts of the Yagyu Shingan Ryu curriculum as demonstrated in Japan a few years ago. See if you can pick out the "secret" techniques.

This is not classical koryu... But it's still fun to watch...

Santa's Naughty List...

Naughty Santa

Saucy Rachel Ray

Some essays on Ma-ai...

"Ma-ai" means "harmonious distance." It refers to the concept of the proper interval of space, and often the associated time, between two opponents in Japanese martial arts. I prefer an alternate translation of "critical distance" as it implies the proper sense of urgency in most martial arts encounters.

There is no set rule for ma-ai, and the "critical distance" varies according to the bodies of the individual opponents and the tools engaged in the encounter. The determining of ma-ai is not intrinsically difficult. As has been pointed out (most recently by He Who Shall Not Be Named!), most people have a sense of their own comfort zone for conversation. Interestingly enough, although this comfort zone does differ from culture to culture and person to person, in the West, it generally extends to the limits of defensible distance.

If you want to see what I mean, the next time you have a standing conversation with an acquaintance, set a distance. Then try to shuffle forward as unobtrusively as possible. Even if your action is not threatening or alarming, the other person will probably take a noticiable step back to reset the original distance. You can expand your experiement by trying the same trick on a good friend. Chances are good the friend will let you get closer. But even so, if there is no perceived "need" for you to be so close, you may notice your buddy begin to get uncomfortable.

You can also watch ma-ai while driving. Tail-gating is bad ma-ai. But more importantly, the "critical distance" between you and the car in front of you will change depending on road and weather conditions, and the type of vehicle you are driving.

Sparring seminar...

Last Saturday, our dojo's Fearless Leader (FL) invited his teacher, the awe-inspiring "He Who Shall Not be Named!" (or HWSNBN!) to give a seminar on sparring. As usual, HWSNBN! gave an excellent class and threw out many comments for us Mere Mortals to consider when we slink back to regular training to work on improving.
I was thinking about one of the rhetorical questions thrown out by HWSNBN! "Why are you in Ichimonji?" He said any response of "I don't know why I'm doing this" is incorrect. I liked that.

However, from a teaching point of view, I'm not sure that's always 100% true. Because the student's understanding of why he does anything should constantly improve.

I expect a beginner to say, "I have no idea why I'm doing this other than myteacher told me to, and I trust him." I think that's valid.

Somewhere in the middle, the student should be able to explain that the kamae is optimal for defense, offense, mobility, etc. How the student expresses that is going to change. Defense and offense might be defined as having the arms up to block strikes and be available for punching in response. Later the student might describe how blading the body protects the vital areas, and that three of the four weapons (2 hands, one foot) are between you and the opponent.

The student will later talk about more subtle concepts, "I feel right in this posture; I'm ready to act." Or be able to explain how and why power can be generated from the hips and knees more efficiently.

I think the most advanced people are fully aware of these parts, but probably (and legitimately) they go back to, "I've been doing it so long, I'm comfortable with it. I trust that it works, because I've experienced it working."

I'm told that our dojo needs, as a group, to work on bending our knees. We've been hearing that for ages. I was watching HWSNBN! demonstrate, and paid particular attention to his legs. He does get low, and he uses a rocking motion to create an illusion of distance for his opponent. Maybe the importance of the low knees will drive home when I finally understand the manipulation of ma-ai in that way.

I've also heard, in an ominously vague way, that some students, "Didn't seem to have a grasp of Gyokko Ryu Ichimonji." Comments like that cause me to ponder on my own training and lead to the first few paragraphs above.

Here's a training tip: Always assume that a criticism of your group automatically applies to you. Think long and hard about it. Never, ever, hear yourself say, "I'm glad he's not talking about me." He probably is talking about you in that case.

Gambatte!

Emma Peel

Silent Interlude

Commando

Danger Girl

Mmmm... Brainy!

Soledad O'Brien