Search results

Last week I passed my 8th kyu jujutsu exam. I was only mildly nervous this time. The 8th kyu is relatively basic, the only complex part is the partner kata at the end. Not that the other stuff is trivial or so, but a part of it was already handled in our ninpo curriculum, so it was not entirely...

As with ninpo, the first 2 exams in KJJR jujutsu are done in the same session. But in fairness, the jujutsu curriculum (number of techniques) is more limited than the ninpo curiculum. So all in all it is not that much to study. The most important part of the exam is without a doubt the Takagi...

One of the things we are taught is to wait until you have to move, and not move beforehand. The reason for this is that by then, the other person has committed his attack. By then, it would be much more difficult for him to adjust his attack to your new location. I blogged about this earlier...

Bear in mind that this is just my own opinion / experience / understanding, which are rather limited. I am currently preparing for my first jujutsu exam. The most important point of that exam is without a doubt the kata that we have to perform: kasumi dori. Without going into details, the...

It's almost time to start the new season and I realize I forgot to write about the end of the previous one. The season officially ended with the outdoor trainings in July, which was far too hot and humid for comfort. Still, that is part of the game I guess. Some days he weather was just...

When I was a kid, 12 or 13 years old, I was a huge fan of WWF wrestling. I thought it looked awesome. And while I sort of knew that the hits and kicks were not real, I was convinced that the outcome of the fight itself was not predetermined. Of course, this was just one childhood fantasy that...

July has arrived, and that means no more indoor training in Genbukan. July is the time for outside training. Luckily we have forrests nearby, with nice locations for training outside of public view. We still get watchers (which are welcome to stay and watch) but at least we don't draw an...

Yesterday was the day a number of our students (including me) tested for 8th kyu. Over the last weeks we spent a good amount of time rehearsing and preparing for the test. Of course, all of it had been covered throughout the year, but now it was time to polish the techniques and make sure I...

Normally I brew my own coffee at work, and I drink several large cups per day. A couple of days ago (the 1st) I was drinking my first cup and for some reason, it didn't have that draw it did before. It was like my body was telling me 'You don't need this. Coffee is not good for you'. Suddenly...

This is something that came to me fairly recently, and it was sufficiently eye-opening that I thought it would be worth writing a couple of words about. If you have been following my blog, you'll have read this post, where I explain that my tai sabaki were improved by genuinely standing relaxed...

Today was demo d-day. I woke up, fairly nervous in anticipation of having to perform in public. Granted, my part was fairly limited: 1) initiate attack 2) get *** kicked. 3) repeat 10 times I arrived way ahead of time, just like everyone else and in the background we rehearsed the entire demo...

The past weeks I spent quite some time prepping my garden for spring: de-mossing, fertilizing, repairing the bald patches grass, ... etc. But now that the weather is turning nice again, I am ready to enjoy the fruits of all that labor: outdoor training! Yesterday the sun was shining when I...

At the end of April, my dojo will do a demo of ninpo and jujutsu. Since I am in the demo team, I have to train for that as well as for my next kyu exam. Mind you, my task in the demo is quite simple. I have to attack my partner who is a black belt. He will then perform several interesting...

Yesterday we practised outside of class with a couple of people. First we tried falling into a bridge. that went ok except for the first try. My spotters held on to my belt pretty strong so my back didn't go down but my shoulders did :) I was kinda folded in 2, the wrong way. After that it...

... and as such, my new years resolution for this year will not be an easy one: to properly learn a back handspring; also known as koho tenkai in ninjutsu. Many movies can be found on youtube, even when looking for 'koho tenkai'. The problem is that many of them are defective, since they...

I am always happy when I can train. First of all, I really like practising MA and learning new stuff. But there is more to the reason I am glad to be able to go to class. If I can go to MA class, it means that my kids are safe and in the care of someone I trust. It means that I am healthy...

Today is the first time I am cancelling a practise session by choice. And I am not happy about it. Currently the company I work for has a planned shutdown, during which upgrades and maintenance activities can be done. It's like watching a swarm of locusts descend on a corn field, with the...

I worked hard for well over half a year (8 months), and today I finally got to do my first exam(s). 10th and 9th kyu exam is always done at the same time within Genbukan. I knew that I knew my stuff, but I was still nervous the whole morning. Then -through coincedence- I ended up talking with...

As time goes by, I find myself enjoying kihon training more and more. It is a good warming up at the beginning of class, it gets the blood going, and it also brings focus to the basic premise of martial arts (imo). Someone is trying to hit you. Do something about it. All the rest: the locks...

The new season started last week, and we have a couple of new members. Hopefully they will stick around. The consequence of having many new members is that the pace of the class drops significantly because everything is new to them, and it takes a while before everyone has a rough idea of how...

Just because the season has ended does not mean your training stops... So I found myself drilling the material for my 10th kyu with my sensei and another student because we had agree to meet up for some additional practise. I arrived first, so I started doing all rolls and breakfalls after...

This post is based on something I once posted in the forum as part of a discussion, but it may be good to blog about so that I can easily find this explanation for future reference. The original question was whether KI energy was real. When I said no, I was asked if I deny the phenomena...

So my first season of ninpo has come to a close. It went remarkably fast. Class was outside in July, and August is a time of rest before the new season. Well... when I say rest, I mean that there are no classes. I just keep on training. For my good progress so far I have to thank my sensei...

It is traditional in our club that during July, all practise is outdoors. Last monday was the first such lesson. It was also the first time I wore outdoor tabi. They were much more comfortable than I had anticipated. It's basically just a thin rubber sole to keep pine cones from sticking in...

Yesterday, I was participating in a conversation about the practicality of things like a kip-up, handstand flip or a back flip. The scenarios I've seen (from being uke for my sensei when he was practising techniques for his grade) are mostly related to escaping from certain joint locks if you...

One of the things on the Genbukan curriculum is zenpo tenkai, aka handstand flip. For some reason, it is part of the curriculum for your white belt. Probably because it is in the same category as all other rolling / jumping moves. It is not a mandatory item though. It is not considered in...

Something to keep in mind: in the vast majority of child abuse, rape, beatings, killings etc... the victim knows the assailant rather well, and the assailant is often in a position of trust : relative, teacher, pastor, ... Statistically speaking, it's not the strangers you have to worry about...