University of Richmond (UR) 01/29/2007

The first class of the semester and my first class where I'm assisting teaching. The other guys have been doing this for a while now and know the routine but even though it was new for me it felt pretty familiar. That's because it reminds me of when I first started. The training was offered at a gym with a bunch of newbies. I don't really want to train at such a low level but I said I would help out and I know it would be good to get back to the most basic level again. The only thing to do is keep going.

If you get confused, forget the confusion and just train. A quasi-quote from Soke.

Shima Dojo 01/25/2007

Some more Kukishinden Ryu Dakentaijutsu Shoden Gata. There were also a couple of weapons techniques to mix it up.

1. Sei On (Life Sound)
   Uke: Kumiuchi.
   Tori: Kumiuchi. Drop back into ichimonji no kamae pulling uke with you by holding onto the wrist. At the same time move your front hand to the closer lapel/collar to attack the neck with a boshiken. Use a push-pull action here. Apply a sokuto keri (knife edge kick) to uke's front leg just above and to the outside of the knee. Place your foot down behind uke naturally and drop to your rear knee pulling uke over. You can punch uke's face with your rear hand as they fall and break the elbow with front your knee.
   


2. Sui Sha (Water Wheel)
   Uke: Migi tsuki, hidari tsuki, hidari sokuyaku, migi tsuki.
   Tori: Ichimonji no kamae uke nagashi each. Be in close at the last attack. Smack down and grab the uke's front shoulder/collar area with your front hand while holding uke's wrist with your other hand. With your front foot kick the inside thigh of the uke's front leg then twist and kick the other thigh with the same foot and apply a judo ashi guruma like sweep as you pull the uke over. Henka: Instead of the sweep wrap your leg around the uke's leg (ashi makikomi) and pull up like hicho as you "throw" the uke's shoulder and arm up and over.
   


3. 
   Uke: Daijodan shomen giri.
   Tori: Hidari ichimonji no kamae with jutte. When the attack comes move in switching to migi ichimonji no kamae striking upward with the jutte to the uke's hands. "Bounce" off and strike the face with the jutte like an omote shuto.
   


4. 
   Uke: Daijodan shomen giri.
   Tori: Hidari ichimonji no kamae with jutte. When the attack comes move in switching to migi ichimonji no kamae striking downward with the jutte to the uke's hands. Shift in with the fork to the uke's neck. We covered this in a previous class.
   


5. 
   Uke: Lapel grab.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae with bo. Hit uke in face with bo and take him down. :-)
   


6. Kubi Wa (Neck Ring)
   Uke: Migi tsuki to face then migi sokuyaku keri.
   Tori: Hidari uke nagashi to the inside. Switch from hidari to migi ichimonji no kamae and fudoken or shikanken the inside of the thigh while maintaining contact with uke's wrist. "Bounce" your hand around to boshiken or sanshitanken the ryumon kyusho. Pull uke around as you drop to your rear knee.
   


7. 
   Uke: Lapel grab and tsuki to face.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae with kasari fundo. Drop back into ichimonji no kamae and uke nagashi with kasari fundo. Throw kasari fundo around uke's neck and move into jumonji no kamae rotating away from uke and taking him down to his back/side. Pull the kasari fundo tight and pin his head/neck with your rear knee. Keep your back straight, especially if the uke is still holding onto your lapel. Doing this can also apply an arm bar.
   

Gambatte!

Shima Dojo 01/23/2007

With the new year almost a month old we're getting into the routine of mixing in basic taijutsu with an emphasis on Kukishinden Dakentaijutsu. This class was a good mix of students with two mukyu and several kyu and dan grades. We started with the usual sanshin no kata with an emphasis on performing as if wearing armor and therefore making larger more pronounced movements. Then we covered the basic kamae: hira, hira ichimonji, hicho, seigan, and kosei. Notable differences with the kamae were the fists were usually in shikan ken and hicho kept both feet on the groun. Then we did zenpo, koho, and sokuho kaiten with the same idea of wearing armor. After all that we went into the first two of the shoden gata: sei on and sui yoku. Good times.

Gambatte!

Kaceminar Review @ Shima Dojo

Last weekend was the Kacem Zoughari Shinden Fudo Ryu Shoden and Jutte seminar and this week has been the review. I haven't been training in a while and it was good to start again on a night with all new material. Daryl lead the review and here's what was covered:

Juttejutsu
When holding the jutte in the normal fashion your thumb should be pressed against the area below the fork much like a koppo ken. When held in the reverse fashion nothing was said about how the fingers should be. However you're holding it though it should always be hidden. There were a couple of notes about kamae with the jutte. In ichimonji no kamae the jutte can be held in front of you with either hand in the reverse fashion and it should be hidden. You can also hold it with your rear hand hidden behind your leg. If you're facing a swordsman you should not extend your forward hand but instead place it on the inside of your thigh. A sideways jumonji no kamae was shown with the jutte too. In jumonji no kamae you would hold the jutte in the reverse position and it's easy to conceal. When handling the jutte you should be able to change between the forward and reverse hand grips with ease.

1. 
   Uke: Daijodan shomen giri.
   Tori: Hidari ichimonji no kamae with the jutte hidden behind your leg in the forward position and the fork on top. Shift to the outside slightly and bring the jutte straight up to intercept the sword. The jutte should travel from its hidden position straight into the sword. Some describe as a chi no kata movement. I think of it as a punch. Rotate the jutte so that the fork is against the blade. Move across the uke taking his balance.
   


2. 
   Uke: Daijodan shomen giri.
   Tori: Hidari jumonji no kamae with the jutte fork facing the outside. When the cut comes shift forward raising the jutte up to deflect the sword much like the bo ukemi. At the same time strike under the uke's arms into the chest. Timing is obviously important here. Trap the back of the blade with the jutte fork and drive the jutte and blade into the uke's groin. You can use your free hand/arm to assist.
   


3. 
   Uke: Daijodan shomen giri.
   Tori: Hidari ichimonji no kamae with the jutte hidden behind your leg in the forward position. When cut comes immediately move in switching kamae and bringing the jutte up to the uke's hands. The timing here is important and the movement must be quick to interrupt the cut. Your kamae should be low to give you room and time to move. If the uke flinch's use the jutte like an omote shuto against the uke's hand/wrist/head.
   


4. 
   Uke: Migi tsuki to the body.
   Tori: From shizen no kamae drop back to the inside with hidari ichimonji no kamae with your front hand lightly touching the uke's attack and your rear hand bringing the jutte up to strike the wrist from below. Shift forward driving the fork into the uke's wrist. Move the jutte up driving the fork into the uke's armpit while switching to migi ichimonji no kamae and locking the uke's knee or trapping the foot with your front foot. Rotate the jutte upward taking the balance so that the uke falls onto his back much like the hanbo techinque whose name escapes me. Maintain control of the wrist the entire time and finish with take ori and/or a strike with the jutte. In any restraining move you can position the jutte between your body and the uke to free up one hand.
   


5. 
   Uke: Migi tsuki to face.
   Tori: Jutte in left hand. From shizen no kamae drop back into hidari ichimonji no kamae to the inside of the attack performing an uke nagashi with the jutte. Shift in and move the jutte over the top of the uke's arm to perform musha dori with the jutte.
   


6. 
   Uke: Migi tsuki to face.
   Tori: Jutte in right hand. From shizen no kamae drop back into migi ichimonji no kamae to the outside of the attack performing an uke nagashi with the jutte. Switch to hidari ichimonji no kamae as you move the jutte over the top of the uke's arm to perform a reverse musha dori with the jutte. Trap the uke's leg with your front leg to help prevent the uke taking ukemi or move backwards while applying the gyaku.
   


7. 
   Uke: Migi tsuki to face.
   Tori: Hidari ichimonji no kamae with jutte in right hand in a reverse grip. Uke nagashi to the inside of the attack. Shift forward bringing the jutte up and placing the fork into the bend of the uke's arm. Switch to migi ichimonji no kamae and you drive the uke off balance and to the ground. Pin the arm with take ori.
   

Taijutsu

1. 
   Uke: Shizen no kamae migi lapel grab.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae. Cover from below with the left hand. Drop back into migi ichimonji no kamae and reach over and grab the hand with your right hand. Attack the kyusho near the thumb. Switch to hidari ichimonji no kamae and apply hon gyaku placing your front foot behind the uke's foot. Kick the uke's groin or rear leg with your right foot. Place your right foot behind you and drop to that knee taking the uke down onto their back. Force the uke onto their stomach using your knee that is up by applying an armbar.
   


2. 
   Uke: Shizen no kamae migi lapel grab.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae. Drop back into migi ichimonji no kamae as your use fingers to attack the kyusho on the uke's forearm. This should cause the uke to move with you and to keep his elbow/forearm close to your body. Shuto ken the neck or shako ken the face at the same time. Grab the shoulder as you drop back to your right knee. Keep the uke's arm in line with the shoulder as you drive the shoulder into the ground.
   


3. 
   Uke: Shizen no kamae migi lapel grab and hidari tsuki to face.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae. Cover with the left hand, drop back into migi ichimonji no kamae and uke nagashi with the right hand. Reach over and grab with the right hand. Switch to hidari ichimonji no kamae and apply hon gyaku placing your front foot behind the uke's foot. Transfer the gyaku from your right hand to your left hand and pull the uke off balance. Do this by pulling the arm down and away from the uke when the gyaku is transferred between hands. This releases the hon gyaku and allows the uke to fall. Otherwise the uke will want to rotate away from you because of the pain and that changes the balance.
   


4. 
   Uke: Migi tsuki to stomach.
   Tori: Shizen no kamae. Drop back into migi ichimonji no kamae and catch the hand with your left hand while striking down with the right. Grab the hand with your left hand and keep it in front of your stomach. Move forward by switching to hidari ichimonji no kamae. As you switch kamae move the uke's hand that you're holding in front of your body to the right then left so that when the transition is complete the hand is out of the way and behind the uke. At the same time shuto ken the neck or shako ken the face taking the balance like the previous technique.
   

In each of these restrain the uke or destroy him with take ori.