Bujinkan Canberra

04/09/2026

HI all

A short clip of a recent event with Nagato sensei in Austria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJEtftjSQA

A few of us from the Canberra dojo are looking forward to being part of the Hobart taikai in November - Australia this time, not Austria!

I have long been focused on Nagato sensei's taijutsu. What I think I see comes down to two things:

* move naturally with purpose, and

* strike reliably with effect

Sounds simple - and Nagato sensei shows that what he does is simple. But simple does not mean easy ...

More to work on - I look forward to seeing the local crew tomorrow

Cheers

Rick

Nagato Taikai Austria 2026Three unforgettable days of training, f...

28/08/2026

Hi all

Tomorrow is the last Saturday of the month so we will be having a shinkengata focus.

Typically, we focus on dealing with edged and blunt weapon attacks - this clip from a recent news report shows why.

Cheers

Rick

27/08/2026

Hi all

At our last training session we also took a last look [for the moment] at the kukishinden ryu kenjutsu kata. I have learned a lot by going back over these kata. In particular, I was reminded that it is important - arguably, critical - to look for what the base level kata are teaching us, as it may not be exactly as the kata are performed.

The tenshin shoden katori shinto ryu are explicit about this aspect of training with their sword kata and also their kata that pit sword against staff. The pics below are from Otake Risuke's 'Katori shinto ryu: warrior tradition' (Koryu Books, 2007).

It reminded me that what we are being taught is not always what it seems. And I may not 'get it' straight away, but that's ok - watch and copy, watch and copy ... and with further guidance and/or enough effort, the pennies may drop.

Cheers

Rick

26/08/2026

Hi all

Last night we explored ichimonji no kata from our kihon happo. We reviewed the foundations but did not stay there ... so much to learn.

This post from Duncan in Hobart has exceptionally valuable insights:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1819502602551222

Cheers

Rick

23/08/2026

Hi all

The post below discusses a hugely important and often ignored or misunderstood issue - that is, the strategies that are used in more traditional martial arts to build practical combative capability.

In judo, the idea of randori used to refer to relaxed and cooperative free practice where each person allowed their partner to execute full throws.

In the late 1970s, this idea was very rarely applied in the circles where I trained in judo - most practice was highly competitive with a lot of effort put into not being thrown. Of course, that's what you want in shiai or competition. What it meant was that too many of us lacked skill-based technique for clean throws - the very thing that would have improved our performance.

Around this time, I remember watching the then Australian heavyweight judo champion doing this competition-focused 'randori' with a Japanese teacher [6th dan I think] who was in Sydney working as a judo coach. The much older Japanese was carrying several injuries from his competition days, including a dodgy knee. The younger, larger, fitter Australian used the power approach in what was for him a dick measuring competition and was dumped for ippon several times in a few minutes without scoring himself. I realised then that technique matters.

The idea that training involves learning and development to support desired performance means that a layered model of some sort - whether it's exactly as described in this reel or not - makes a lot of sense. Formal basics provide a foundational layer, with different scenarios or structured simulations affording opportunities to build further understanding and capability.

This reel illustrates a multiple layers model for developing capability really well - food for thought.

Cheers

Rick

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1093285496551642

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11/08/2026

Hi all

Recently we have been looking at some of the te hodoki ['untying the hands'] techniques in response to being grabbed.

I believe it is important to understand both the base-level technical aspects and the range of tactical applications.

Old jujitsu books and ww2 combatives manuals often present releases as and end in themselves - he grabbed me, I got out of it.

Years ago, Sven-Eric Bogsater showed that te hodoki was actually about getting access to weapons. The grab was to stop him getting hold of a weapon - he used te hodoki to take hold of long or short sword and directly deal with the attacker from a superior position.

So, is the grab the attack? I suspect this is rarely the case - the attack is the punch or headbutt or whatever comes once the hand or arm is restrained. Or maybe, the actual attack is coming from someone else once the other attacker has 'tied up the hands'.

I now welcome a grab to control my hand. It means that hand of the attacker is not holding a weapon or hitting me - a great opportunity for me to strike first and regain or exploit the initiative.

An interesting example of reversing the way we see being gripped comes from judo. A Korean judoka made a career of reversing the tables on opponents who would use negative gripping to gain a tactical advantage by stopping him from getting a grip on them. He used their convulsive grip on him as the necessary connection to execute clean throws.

He didn't resist their grips - he used their grips against them. Genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmbfvfQlVlU

This clip shows a few examples of his strategy in action - a strategy that I suggest transfers directly to our tactical application of te hodoki.

Cheers

Rick

Lee Won-Hee was one of the best South Korean judokas of all time. H...

30/07/2026

Hi all

Many thanks to the crew for last night's training. Just to follow up on a couple of things that we touched on ...

In reviewing aspects of te hodoki [untying the hands] and its application, I mentioned that many koryu jujutsu schools had heaps of techniques involving an adversary grabbing one or both hands, clothing, whatever.

One example is the asayama ichiden ryu. There is a PDF of a now out-of-print book that contains mostly these techniques - it's a good reference for ideas and the intro contains material I recall Sven Eric Bogsater discussing on one of his trips to Oz:

https://dn710203.ca.archive.org/0/items/do-it-yourself-and-survival-pdfs/Asayama%20Ichiden%20Ryu%20Taijutsu%20%28%20PDFDrive%20%29_text.pdf

The other thing that surprised the group was a reference to the shinden fudo ryu technique fubi.

I think my fubi days are over, but we will give it a go on Saturday. Here is a description of the technique from the Bujinkan budo densho series by Carsten Kuhn [a very worthwhile resource with multiple volumes covering many of the nine schools].

Cheers

Rick

22/07/2026

HI all

There will not be our usual class this Saturday 25 July - the session has been cancelled.

We will be back into it on Wednesday 29 July - usual timings.

Cheers

Rick

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20/07/2026

Hi all

Recently we have been working through the kukishinden kenjutsu kata - the aim being to get a set version of each technique, to learn the skills, strategies and tactics that each kata functions as a package for.

My sense is, I cannot vary something I do not yet have. So, our emphasis has been very much on the shu phase of shu-ha-ri.

This emphasis has highlighted the value of kata training and shone some light on at least one of its purposes - namely, a way of packaging important stuff so that it can be practiced and communicated.

For that purpose, kata do not need to reflect how one would actually fight, on the street or in a warzone.

As Ed Lomax has said many times, kata are a starting point.

Approached with that understanding, kata and kata training can be rich and valuable inputs to developing very practical combative capability.

We have also been integrating short stick work into our taijutsu training. Although tanbo is not a tool that is organic to the Bujinkan, we ae using it to explore elements of using jutte, tessen and even kunai.

An important principle is that if using a tool - any tool - it is not about the tool, but about functional effect within a combative engagement. As such, it is worth practicing 'tool as passenger' - that is, dealing with one or more opponents without using the tool as such, unless the moment calls for it. This perspective is one of the strengths of Bujinkan training.

Still, a toolkit of worthwhile skills, strategies and tactics is a useful - arguably, essential - input to the developmental process.

This clip on youtube shows kata forms of some of those things. Many of these are familiar from studying hanbo or jutte, but here they are executed using the short stick or tanbo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8_Jk4u3Ep4

These techniques might give us a few new places to start our exploration of taijutsu with a short stick.

Cheers

Rick

ps: As I understand it, the asayama ichiden ryu is one of many older jujutsu schools that include tanbo in their curriculum. Some schools talk of a short stick as a hishigi, or crusher, that is used to augment jujutsu techniques. Interesting stuff.

TANBOJUTSU | SHORT STICK ...

16/07/2026

And while I'm at it, tip number four.

I remember Oz Bujinkan shihan Tim Bathurst giving close enough to exactly the same advice a couple of decades ago. Nothing new under the sun, as the saying goes - but understanding and applying this [or any] advice takes commitment and effort.

Cheers

Rick

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D7BCtKfi6/

PERSONAL SECURITY TIP #4
WATCH THE HANDS

When assessing a potential threat, watch the hands.

A person’s face may show anger. Their words may make threats. But it is their hands that will usually cause you harm.

Hands reach for weapons. Hands conceal weapons. Hands strike, grab and restrain.

Pay particular attention to hands kept in pockets, repeatedly reaching into pockets, concealed under clothing, or held behind the back, especially when someone is approaching you or engaging you in conversation.

Don’t assume a calm approach means a safe approach. A person may appear relaxed, ask you a simple question or engage you politely while deliberately keeping their hands hidden.

What they are saying may be the distraction. Watch what their hands are doing.

If you cannot clearly see a person’s hands, your level of awareness should immediately increase.

Observe the whole person, but watch the hands.

The face may deceive you. The hands reveal intent.