Embu

[Guy Preston]

Students working on Embu of kata from their respective grade syllabus.

A few wobbles and mistakes, but coming along nicely. Mixed ability, Embu are for 9th, 7th, and 3rd Kyu

 

[tshadowchaser]

Thank for sharing those.

 

[Chris Parker]

Hey Guy,

Overall, nicely done by the guys there. Not really much in the way of critiques to put down (considering the ranks, it was quite well done)… the only thing I'd mention is the lack of consistency for the reiho (the 3rd Kyu guys go down on their left knee, whereas both the 9th and 7th Kyu guys are on their right… which is correct for that reiho, coming from Takagi Yoshin Ryu). I also noted that there was some interesting elements to some of the kata… seemingly drawn from disparate lines… not sure where that came from, but that's a small matter (unless you're teaching specific lines, of course… in which case, it might need to be looked at).

I do have a few questions, though… you labeled these as "embu", what about these clips is embu? You also seem to have changed from Ninniku Dojo to Ninniku Ryu… what's the reasoning behind that?

 

[Guy Preston]

Hey Guy,

Overall, nicely done by the guys there. Not really much in the way of critiques to put down (considering the ranks, it was quite well done)… the only thing I'd mention is the lack of consistency for the reiho (the 3rd Kyu guys go down on their left knee, whereas both the 9th and 7th Kyu guys are on their right… which is correct for that reiho, coming from Takagi Yoshin Ryu). I also noted that there was some interesting elements to some of the kata… seemingly drawn from disparate lines… not sure where that came from, but that's a small matter (unless you're teaching specific lines, of course… in which case, it might need to be looked at).

I do have a few questions, though… you labeled these as "embu", what about these clips is embu? You also seem to have changed from Ninniku Dojo to Ninniku Ryu… what's the reasoning behind that?

Thanks Chris,

As always, very observant.

Regarding the Reiho, it should all be right knee, if you look it is just 1 person going down on the left, that was due to a knee issue he was experiencing, but would otherwise have been right knee.

Embu in sense of demonstration, we are putting on a demonstration locally later in the summer, and that's what they are working on.


No change to name, that's what it's always been, but more often than not I refer to our Jujutsu syllabus as Ninniku Dojo Jujutsu. But student grades are issued as Ninniku Ryu.

Our grading syllabus is gendai budo, a mixture of different Ryu, and some other stuff, hence some cross over. I like to keep a clear distinction between this and when we practice a specific koryu, etc.. So back when we opened gave it that name, just literally following on from our dojo name..

 

[Chris Parker]

Thanks Chris,

As always, very observant.

Ha, thanks.

Regarding the Reiho, it should all be right knee, if you look it is just 1 person going down on the left, that was due to a knee issue he was experiencing, but would otherwise have been right knee.

Cool, fair enough. It's an interesting adaptation, personally, I would have just had him do it standing, allowing the right leg to remain in front, and having the slap on the thigh… there are reasons that the right leg is in front (to do with weaponry, and other aspects), but I can understand the adaptation used.

Embu in sense of demonstration, we are putting on a demonstration locally later in the summer, and that's what they are working on.

Cool, so it's preparation for a later embu… fun! Is it part of a larger demonstration including other groups, or just your dojo?

No change to name, that's what it's always been, but more often than not I refer to our Jujutsu syllabus as Ninniku Dojo Jujutsu. But student grades are issued as Ninniku Ryu.

Hmm, okay. Is the Ninniku Ryu a separate syllabus itself?

Our grading syllabus is gendai budo, a mixture of different Ryu, and some other stuff, hence some cross over. I like to keep a clear distinction between this and when we practice a specific koryu, etc.. So back when we opened gave it that name, just literally following on from our dojo name..

Not sure that'd really qualify as a "ryu" in itself… more simply a "housing" for a collection of methods from other ryu… of course, it can be, depending on exactly how you've got it structured… but I can only think of one example that managed that (and it's status as a "ryu" is sometimes questioned as well).

 

[Guy Preston]

Ha, thanks.



Cool, fair enough. It's an interesting adaptation, personally, I would have just had him do it standing, allowing the right leg to remain in front, and having the slap on the thigh… there are reasons that the right leg is in front (to do with weaponry, and other aspects), but I can understand the adaptation used.

Good point, to be honest it was just a one off, rather than an ongoing problem so will be back to normal next time so didn't look at it too closely.



Cool, so it's preparation for a later embu… fun! Is it part of a larger demonstration including other groups, or just your dojo?

Just our dojo, at a local community event, trying to share and create some more local interest.



Hmm, okay. Is the Ninniku Ryu a separate syllabus itself?

It is a separate syllabus - that's what students grade in...


Not sure that'd really qualify as a "ryu" in itself… more simply a "housing" for a collection of methods from other ryu… of course, it can be, depending on exactly how you've got it structured… but I can only think of one example that managed that (and it's status as a "ryu" is sometimes questioned as well).

It is structured like its own Ryu, but I agree, the name was back when I first opened the dojo - hence why most of the time I just say Ninniku Dojo Jujutsu, I think it fits better - but I have a bag full of patches with Ninniku Ryu on them!! Lol...

 

[Chris Parker]

Interesting… what would you say is the central emphasis of Ninniku Ryu? This is just me being curious, of course.

 

[Guy Preston]

Interesting… what would you say is the central emphasis of Ninniku Ryu? This is just me being curious, of course.

Strong grips, we focus on very firm grips during techniques, whether locks, or throws, etc.. So all of our techniques are things that include a good grip on something - we don't do much finger manipulation, or control attackers with only our little fingers. We also don't have techniques which overly rely on the attacker maintaining their grip for a technique to work

As we train a variety of different Ryu, most other things we place emphasis on would mirror common themes from those Ryu, and Jujutsu in general, such as;

Closing down an attack
Avoiding relying on strength
Using momentum and/or direction change

etc, etc...

but as above, being a little older I prefer Ninniku Dojo Jujutsu, I think some rebranding would be good when I can get around to it

 

[Chris Parker]

Cool, thanks for that. So the emphasis is on control through strong grips… I like that! Did you alter existing kata to fit that, or more choose kata that reflect that for the syllabus? Again, for emphasis, I agree with the idea of changing/rebranding to Ninniku Dojo… this is just my curiosity, really. Each Ryu-ha, as you know, has it's own set of riai etc, which don't necessarily agree with other systems, so I was wondering how you got around that to form a "ryu-ha" style approach.

 

[Guy Preston]

Cool, thanks for that. So the emphasis is on control through strong grips… I like that! Did you alter existing kata to fit that, or more choose kata that reflect that for the syllabus? Again, for emphasis, I agree with the idea of changing/rebranding to Ninniku Dojo… this is just my curiosity, really. Each Ryu-ha, as you know, has it's own set of riai etc, which don't necessarily agree with other systems, so I was wondering how you got around that to form a "ryu-ha" style approach.

For the syllabus where possible I've included kata from various sources that already fit our ethos - some things have been altered slightly, or mixed up a little based on our style of movement, but I try to keep that to a minimum...

When we train a specific Ryu though, as you'd expect, nothing is changed.

 

[Chris Parker]

Cool, I like the approach. And all the best for the guys doing the Embu.