文武館道場 - 杉並 - Bunbukan Dojo

文武館道場 - 杉並 - Bunbukan Dojo We are a martial arts school in Tokyo, teaching SMR Jodo and Yoshinkan Aikido.

21/04/2026

I think Ukekaeshi is a kata with one of the most variations.
And teaching it to a beginner is surprisingly difficult.
Returning to shoshin 初心 (beginner’s mind) helps us see what’s truly essential.

Tim's last day at the Bunbukan. お疲れ様👊🥋
20/04/2026

Tim's last day at the Bunbukan. お疲れ様👊🥋

It was an absolute pleasure to host Lorenzo and Maria Rosa from Italy last night. Great practice and catch up.Also in th...
18/04/2026

It was an absolute pleasure to host Lorenzo and Maria Rosa from Italy last night. Great practice and catch up.
Also in the photos is Tim from Sweden who has been staying at the dojo for the last few weeks.
Good times 🍣🍺🍻🍶🍵🍱🍙

20/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (9/9) Ranai in the Dojo
This final video isn’t a demonstration... it’s just practice (with Andrei).
And practice is what (I believe) Ranai was made for.

But what was it ACTUALLY made for, and when?

It's not on the SMR densho lists, but it's likely to have existed as an oral teaching by the end of the Meiji period.
It seems reasonable to assume that a sequence of techniques known by that name existed by the time of Shiraishi Hanjiro (Shimizu Takaji's teacher). I speculate that he would have had a good idea about the purpose of Ranai.
It seems that Ranai is a composite summary of many other techniques in SMR, and as Pascal Krieger Sensei wrote, it has the effect of "boiling the water" on the practitioner.
So if it is a "summary" Kata that transmits fighting spirit, Shimizu Takaji must have thought this an excellent choice to be part of the Seitei selection.

I'll conclude with my personal speculation:
There's no one true way to do Ranai. There is, however, a spirit to strive for.
If you push Ranai hard enough, the structure starts to strain.
Mistakes appear. Timing collapses. Different possibilities emerge.
It teaches you to remain calm even when you're tired and movement gets sloppy.
It teaches you to keep the form while also letting go of it.
In other words, it teaches you to harmonise with chaos.
Ranai is not so much about teaching, but more about forging.

Why do you do Ranai?

16/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (8/9) A Different Perspective
This video shows something I really appreciate about non-Japanese practitioners: a willingness to move beyond mere imitation.
This video from Aikidofestijn 2018 in the Netherlands features Christiaan Zandt and Fred Quant demonstrating Ranai in two distinct modes.
The first run-through is slow and deliberate.
Shidachi allows Uchidachi to complete each cut, revealing the targeting and the logic behind every response.
The second run is with the power we expect in Ranai.
Foreign practitioners can bring a fresh perspective to SMR, and this is a perfect example.
Respectful of tradition, but not afraid to explore.

13/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (7/9) Pilgrimage to Kamado Shrine
This Ranai was filmed at Kamado Shrine in 2025, with my Shisho (師匠), Glen Henry Sensei.
This Ranai was part of an Embu at the shrine... a place where dignity and restraint matter.
Glen and I have practiced Ranai with far more rawness in the past.
But here, in front of the Kami, we strived to maintain the power that befits Ranai...
While also showing proper respect for the place we were in.
So in this video, we see another way to show Ranai.
Not wild, not polished. Somewhere between.
It's not hard to notice the influence of Nishioka Sensei, and the divergence from modern Seitei.
While not pretending to do things exactly as he did, we both learnt from him...
And try to keep those lessons alive in our movement.
In the next post we'll see a demonstration by other students of Nishioka Sensei... on another continent...

09/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (6/9) In Malaysia
This demonstration, I think filmed in 1979 (at the first International Jodo Jamboree), shows Pascal Krieger and Karuna Dharamarajah performing Ranai with a raw, unfiltered energy.
This is the Ranai that lives in my imagination: powerful, slightly wild, full of controlled chaos.
This was the spirit taught by Donn Draeger.
The style is still similar to Shimizu Sensei's...
But this demonstration is less polished.
It's more alive. More willing to let chaos push against the form.
I think that Ranai isn’t about looking perfect.
It’s about learning to breathe when everything speeds up.
It’s about moving on even after mistakes.
It’s about keeping your mind clear when you get pushed to your limit.
That spirit is hown here.

06/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (5/9) Nishioka Tsuneo 2
This footage is from about 2005 at the Bunbukan Dojo.
Arai Katsuhiko (Uchidachi) and Addo (Shidachi) are practicing Ranai under the watchful eye of Nishioka Tsuneo Sensei, followed by his corrections.
Nishioka Sensei was one of the longest training students of Shimizu Takaji.
Yet his own interpretation of Ranai seems to have emerged over the years.
Whether he added his own understanding, or simply expressed Shimizu Sensei’s teachings more openly, we’ll never truly know.
This video captures the timing, the targeting, the feeling that he taught in his later years.
In the next post, we’ll step back in time…
To an era where Ranai was performed with a rawness that still echoes today.

02/03/2026

Ranai 乱合 (4/9) Nishioka Tsuneo 1
This footage from the mid‑90s in Athens, Georgia, shows Nishioka Tsuneo Sensei as Uchidachi, with Wada Norio as Shidachi.
It's a glimpse into an earlier phase of Nishioka Sensei's evolution.
The performance here sits close to the Seitei style, with only subtle differences.
It’s a valuable reference point, showing his desire to preserve the teaching of Shimizu Sensei.
Next we will compare this to later footage, where you will see how much his timing, targeting, and overall feeling changed from the 1990s into the 2000s.

27/02/2026

Ranai 乱合 (3/9) 1978 All‑Japan Kobudo Enbu Taikai
This NHK clip shows Ranai performed before a massive audience at the Nippon Budokan... a moment of history captured on film.
Compared to modern Seitei Ranai, there are small differences of timing, targeting, and flavor.
Uchidachi here is Otofuji Ichizo Sensei. His sword work is magnificent: grounded, powerful, and full of the kind of presence that explains why Nishioka Tsuneo Sensei valued training with him after Shimizu Sensei’s passing.
The name of Shidachi is not 100% confirmed, but it was suggested (thanks Aurélien Nacrour) that this may be Kawasaki Saburo.
The energy is palpable. You get the real sense that the form is just on the limit of breaking...
Yet they keep it under control.
This is perhaps the best demonstration of Ranai I've ever seen on film.

The Compliment That Went Wrong - part 3Since that day, I’ve never forgotten the lesson.Another example in Japanese cultu...
18/02/2026

The Compliment That Went Wrong - part 3

Since that day, I’ve never forgotten the lesson.

Another example in Japanese culture is how people downplay themselves when they do something for someone.

When someone thanks you, you’re expected to say things like:
“My gift is of such poor quality.”
Or, “I only did something insignificant.”

But over time, I came to think that humility in Japan doesn't have to be about pretending you’re bad.
It’s about recognising that the process never ends as long as you keep practicing.

So if someone praises my technique now, I definitely don't fall for the trap!

I simply say:

「まだ頑張ってます。」
“I’m still working on it.”

We are all on a spectrum from bad to good, and there is always better.

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