Shindokai Martial Arts & Science

04/10/2024

Continuation of 4/9/2024 . . .

This is the continuation of my last

posting just minutes ago. I must

apologize as I am not FB smart in

post photos but I'm learning.

Thye Photo was of Heidamura Matsu.

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It is questionable, using common-sense based

upon historical facts, data, as well as, ration-

ale, that most or should I say, many of todays

Budo-ka ( a Martial Arts Practitioner ) have

evolved from those in the past, who may

have actually studied some of the basics;

returned home to the U.S. and began

Teaching in their garage, backyard in

some local gymnasium or community

center; such as the Boys Club and Y.M.C.A.

One of the first commercial Dojo ( place

of Teaching or Instruction; a Martial Art

School or Training Hall ), is said to be

opened in 1945 by Robert Trias of Arizona;

again, which I find suspect ! Why ? The

dates just do not align themselves with

actual MartialArts historical facts . This is

not to suggest there is no truth surround-

ing this statement . However, the dates

suggested that Trias opened the first

commercial Dojo in 1945, does not add up.

Certainly, I am not the only individual to

offer suspicion upon this supposedly,

“ historical fact ”; as it has been well

documented. BUT, by who’s statistics ?

If indeed, the War ended in such total

destruction in 1945, and a lawful restriction

on Teaching Martial Arts was upheld for three

(3) years, the date of lifting the ban should

have been around 1947 -1948.

Of course, The Seibukan Underground has

been erected but U.S. Military were not

participants . Logically, this means that

interested individuals in their Martial Arts

would not have been accepted much less

participated until the latter 1947; possibly

the beginning of 1948 .

The J*panese Masters accepted U.S.

participants knowing they would not

study long periods of time. They were

looked upon as “ weak-minded non-Asians

” or “ Gaijin ” and the Masters accepted

them as students as a matter of satisfying

their captors; nothing more ! Most under-

stood that they would not study in the

same manner as their J*panese student

had throughout the centuries.



As a means of “ patronizing ” their newly

non-Asian student; no matter how short

a period they studied , or, how infrequent

they attended, once they departed for

home for the U.S., a Black Belt was given

to each who had participated; whether

their participation was for only several

weeks or, several months.

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The Black Belt or “ Kuro Obi ” was called

a “ SHODAN ” which today is commonly

known today in the west as a “ 1st Degree

Black Belt ”. The Title of “ Shodan ”

translates NOT be the 1st, rather, trans-

lates to “ CONCEPTION ” or “ BEGINNER

or ACCEPTED STUDENT ” ! Still, it is an

accreted accomplishment that serves as

a inspiration of achievement to all Students

who study.

It’s translation in J*panese Tradition,

offers credence in meaning that the

student has been accepted as a Student;

in other words, “ ACCEPTED STUDENT ”

and nothing more. It is N O T a “ Teacher

License ”, nor does it give acceptance for

anyone of such, the License to Teach.

In fact, it takes a J*panese Practitioner at

least 18 to 25 years before he is ever

licensed to be called “ Sensei ” and have

any credibility to Teach independently on

his own . So, we can factually say that un-

less one has studied for years in the J*pans,

he has illegitimate Teachers certification -

illegitimate Rank or Grade, illiterate Title,

and should NOT be Teaching what-so-ever !

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“ There are far too may today who have

taken the initiative in dubbing themselves,

‘ Grand Master ’, ‘ Soke ’, 9th or 10th degree

black belt, and the like; an absurdity and

illiteracy to say the least ! I can remember

the difference in my being a ’Sandan’ or

3rd Grade Black Belt and today having

studied & researched for sixty six ( 66 )

years; I can honestly state in these

writings that ‘ I had NO business Teach-

ing what-so-ever ! ’ ”

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We will stop here for today and will resume

tomorrow 4 / 10/ 24

Good night every one !

04/10/2024

4 / 9 / 2024 - 4TH POSTING
______________________________

Continuation . . .

The “ NIPPON BUDO SEIBUKAN ’s ” Soul is

to learn the Spirit of Humanity with Courtesy

and Friendship, by learning Shin, Gi and Tai.

Believing that the J*panese Martial Arts con-

sists of more than skill in Combat, we must

always pay heed to the Spirit and Virtues of

Budo. This philosophy was engrained within

the J*panese culture , not only in their Martial

Arts, but every cultural Art & Science(s) within

their existing communities throughout the

J*pans.

The Seibukan, known as “ School of Special

Warriors ” , according to Kara Te Master and

Zhang Chen Yen Monk, Heidamura Matsu,

Sohei’ s historical research; existed in secret

for nearly three ( 3 ) years until the SAC ban

was lifted.

It was due to this type of cross-cooperation

between systems that Martial Arts helped

survived the USA occupation.

 
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Heidamura, Sohei is a Master in Goju-ryu

Kara Te and is holder of two (2) distinguish-

ed Titles of Monastic Studies having recited

Precepts of Rites of Ordination in both

Shintoisn & Buddhism. He is a foremost

authority in these areas having lived and

studied in the J*pan’s !

He additionally adds, “ It is important to

remember that Seibukan was NOT the only

Underground Organization of this type.

However it is one of only a hand -ful that

still exist today!

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04/08/2024

. . . I said I would return and

here I am !

_________________________

Every story has a beginning as which this

is no different. Like you, I have shopped

at these elaborate bookstores, always

immediately strolling to the Martial Art

section to view the latest publication.

I want to say that I most probably have

purchased every book at one time or

another; possibly finding several new

materials to read and learn about over

the years. However, after being exposed

to nothing more than wasting my time in

these bookstores, finding the same ole-

same ole; well, I haven’t stepped into any

book store in some time. Instead, I would

rather spend my time walking into some -

one’s, Dojo, Kwoon or Dojang requesting

the Master to offer me information, or better

yet, show me something new. I don’t do

that anymore neither.

That’s just it, wherever you go, it is exactly

the same as the book store . . . “ the

same ole - same ole “. This really saddens

me !

Of course, there are some exceptions of

authenticity and legitimacy; however, for the

most part , what you see is nothing more

than commercialized mimicry of a punch, kick,

block imagination of wannabe Masters that

teach nothing more than “ martial crap

taught be martial fools ”; many of which

purchased their Black Belts in two (2)

years of study and in some cases, less.

It’s an absurdity that has transcended into

the very woven fabric of martial arts since

the beginning of post World War II; becom-

ing visible within the martial Arts community

since early 1970’s !

I would give testimony that the martial arts

here in the western world was much better

than it has been over the past sixty- five

years ; however, it has regressed tremend-

ously in today’s 21st century theatrical

gimmickry.

In these writings, I will offer the reader

point-blank explanations as to why I

express adverse comments to today’s

modern day martial arts Teachings.

Certainly, IF you are one of more legit -

mate “ Yudansha ” Practitioners and are

in possession of a legitimate “ Kuro Obi ”

or Black Belt ; ( I am certain you know

who you are ), then, my comments do

not include you . Perhaps you will agree,

then again, perhaps you . . . well, we will

see as I am certain to receive a measure

of backlash from some of who wish to

participate in protecting their disguise.

I am NOT immune to ‘ Black Belt Politics ’ !

I was taught, the Dojo ( J*p.), Kwoon ( Ch.)

was always to be looked upon as if it was

a place where religion was upheld; no

matter the denomination. The Training

Hall has always, and should be consider-

ed, “ the place of instruction where

‘ The Path ’ is taught to the un-trained

mind ! I will include early Korean Kara Te

( Dojang ) were much the same, however,

began Changing as the Republic of Korea’s

‘ Kukkiwon ’ developed ALL Korean Styles

to be listed as Tae Kwon Do so to give

emphasis & credibility to the World

Olympic stage. ( There are few Practice

Disciplines that still hold true to their

Ancient Paths defying the Kukkiwon’s

insistence of un-recognition of their

existence.

Today, what has replaced this Spiritual

conceptual philosophy is mostly, inapt

external Martial Arts; in place of Ancient

Spiritual application.

What I would like to accomplish here

in these writings is a general assessment

of the manner in which few today, still

remain in its area of Ancient Practices;

certainly, not in a sense of modern-day

exercise, but consideration of what our

Teachers who awarded us, Transmissions

to a point in time long past forgotten.

The change in Conceptual Practices

emerged from post WW II era, after

westerners, mostly American U.S.

soldiers occupied the J*pans; began

returning home after immediate occupation.

This did not happen right away as initially,

occupation of our U.S. military began

taking over re-construction of a

devastated J*pan; J*panese Martial Arts

subsequently, was forbidden, as higher

ranked officers in control, banned its

Practice(s), making it unlawful. It was

some time later when soldiers, on their

off-duty time, would wind up participating

in various Practices called “ Ryu ”.

The Ryu was a particular style or system

at which a individual studied. A few of

these Ryu were known as; Aikido,

Aiki-Jujitsu, Jiujitsu, Judo, Kyudo, Kendo,
Iaido, and the most popular amongst the

J*panese, as well as the U.S. soldiers,

Kara Te ( Karate ). Of course there were

others, however, the three ( 3 ) most

commonly studied were Aiki-Jujitsu ,

Judo & Kata Te.

As the J*panese were restricted from

practicing their cultural ways. The Masters’

held a secret meeting designed to con -

tinue and protect their Martial Arts which

had been a mainstream practice for can -

turies . This developed into a under -

ground movement throughout the J*pans.

This association or “ KAI ” united the

Masters of different Ryu into one organ-

ized underground overseer of J*panese

Martial Arts. It was named simply, the

“ Seibukan ”.

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I will stop here for today. I will write more

tomorrow. 4/08/24

Arakawa

04/07/2024

4 / 7/ 2024

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!
_______________________________

I pray that those of you reading this today,

slept well and had pleasant dreams.

Well, I promised you a lesson of sorts so

let begin.

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Have any of you ever had thoughts of

" HOW DO THESE L'IL OLD MASTERS

DO WHAT IT IS THEY DO " ? Do not

think for a moment that I too, haven't

been thoroughly mesmerized by their

spectacular feats; yet, I was taken in

at an early age of antics that I seeming-

ly could not understand. I was far too

young to grasp what it was they had

performed or let's say, 'H O W' they were

able to do what it was in demonstration.

Now, I am considered to be one of those

" ELDERLY MASTER'S "; not being far off

from being 80 years of age, now, after all

these years . . . I GET IT !!!

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FIRST OFF, let me say that I am using the

term " Master " in order for you to identify.

Well Guess what , " there are NO Master's!

True Master's do not refer to themselves

as Master, Grand Master, etc. We are mere-

ly Perpetual Students of the Path ONLY !

Some of my Teachers over the years,

NEVER WORE A BLACK BELT NOR DID

THEY EVER ENCOURAGE THEIR

STUDENTS TO ADDRESS THEM AS

" MASTER" !

I have a student who recently asked

how should I be addressed? I told him

to call me "Hong Kong Phooey" if he

liked ; otherwise, " BOB " sounds O.K.if

he so wished !

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Indeed, respect is utmost important in

our community however, far to many in

this modern-day era, are beholding to

their Title other than Teaching authentic

and relevant information ! None-the-less,

here I am . as I am and nothing more !

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What you are NOT visibly seeing as these

these L'il old Master's do what it is that

they do, is nothing more than an ILLUSION.

TheRE IS NO MAGIC ! They aren't MYSICAL

AND THEY ARE NOT DIVINE ! They are mere

Elderly human beings that have practice

many decades and can no longer do what

they did when they were 20 years of age.

They have found success in elevating

what they know and have studied for so

long, from ART to a SCIENCE !!!

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I am going to stop here and will return to

extend this lesson further. Stay with me

. . . or not; the choice is yours !

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday,

Arakawa

04/07/2024

WELCOME EVERYONE !
_________________________

It's been quite some time since I

last posted on this FB Page. Over

the years I have had a series of Health

issues that need attending. Being just

four years from being 80, one could say

that it set me back just a tad. However,

my Research continued as I have been

in touch with several of my Masters -

most of which have since departed into

Eternity ! May they be Blessed.

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Over the past 22 years, I have written

many pages; around 2000 plus page,

the number of which I am uncertain,

Possibly as many as 3000 or more.

Nanette less, the number is not import-

ant. What is I am now wanting to share

with you these writings. Know that some

of my words and thoughts have come from

lessons that i have researched that possibly

some of you may find offensive. It is NOT

my intention to offend nor demean any

particular Discipline of Study. What I

am wanting to establish some sort of

communications in clarifying what you

may be seeking and by offering you in-

formation, you may Validate through

Practice !

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By way of Introduction, my name is

Arakawa Mitsugi, Ajari Sohei. I am a

Zhang Chen Yen Buddhist Monk who

has studied and researched martial

arts & science for the past 66 years.

I began my studied by accident ( although

many have heard me say that there are NO

accidents in life ), I was ten years of age

when I stumbled into a local YMCA... or,

maybe it was a Boys Club, I'm not sure

as the year was 1957 or 1958; I was a

young boy of 9 or 10. I won't go into

the entire story of HOW this took place

and is why I'm simply sticking to my

story in saying that it happened by

' ACCIDENT' !

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MY FIRST INTRODUCTION was a J*panese

Rye called :

" Tenshin Shodden Katori Shinto-ryu "

It was a form of J*panese Jiu-jitsu; some-

thing I had need seen or even heard of in

those days. Born and raised in New Orleans

there was little i the way of martial arts.

What was available were in your larger

Northern & Eastern cities with some

western cities as well. New York, New

Jersey, Chicago, California ( Los Angeles,

San Francisco), and larger Texas cities.

However, deep in the South, martial arts

was unheard of. Few if any, had any

commercialized Dojo, again exceptions

in your larger cities.

I had studied Jiu-Jitsu ( not this MMA )

off and on from age 10 until I was 16 when

I was first introduced to Kara Te - again, an

area I had never seen or heard of !

It was my Boy Scout troops Scout Master

who was a Marine Recruiter who had

studied at Parris Island's Drill Instructor,

Arsenio J, Advincila, a legitimate 8th Grade

" Kuro Obi " ( Black Belt ) who studied dir -

ectly under the Master, Tatsuo Shimabuku

in the Ryukyuas of the J*pans !

He had known that I formerly trained

in Jiu-Jitsu and had asked that I stay

after class. There he asked if I knew

anything regarding Kara Te which I ex -

plained that I did not. Form that moment

on he would begin Teaching me Kara Te

that completely overwhelmed me and

from that moment of introduction, i was

completely held captive and from that

moment onward, I never looked back !

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So, rather then go any further into all

that Ive studied over these many decades

overseas; I would like to begin actually

offering you, the reader, more detained

description for you to hold on to rather

than history that means little at this point.

It is not close to 2:oo am so I will leave you

with this in mind that I will begin more of

a lesson plan, rather than talk about my

background. Oh you will be introduced

to my of my Teaching of where and whom

I studied under their direction over the

years. However, if this holds your

attention hopefully you will join me

for Lesson One which I am in hopes

you will find fascinating !

Until tomorrow even, I Pray each of

you reading this, has a good night .

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Namaste,

Arakawa Mitsugi, Ajari Sohei

永 将 川 荒

04/26/2022

05/02/2021

Due to the passing of Nobumasa Dai Sensei, this FB is inactive ( at least presently ). Those interested please log onto FB page Arakawa Mitsugi .

Since I am Nobumasa Dai Sensei ‘s Named Successor in his Ryu of
Aikido Shindokai Nobumasa-Ryu, I will be returning to this FB page and posting additional information regarding this particular Ryu. I suggest you visit from time-to-time to view any future postings !

Thank you for visiting and wishing you many blessings .

Namaste 🙏


- - Arakawa Mitsugi

02/16/2021

The one area I am most fond of, have studied under the delightful Asian Teachers, were the stories that were Awarded as they were just as much a part of our Spiritual development as were my “ Combative Waza ” Teachings.

Here is one of them :

" THE MASTER MONK & HIS YOUNG DISCIPLE "
___________________________________________________

The Master Hoshi ( Monk ) asked his young Disciple
student, to run out and pick herbs for the afternoon's
meals.

The young Monk was a “ Yokasei ” , ( a Novice ) that
wanted to impress his Master. He immediately left
out of the Temple and into the forrest, and after some
time, arrived at the Tang-Ji Mountain paths where herbs
were plentiful.

As he began picking herbs and placing them in
his cloth sack, he began to travel further up the
path where he sometimes would swim and bathe
in a shallow part of the mountain creek.

The young Monk did not realize that the Master
had decided to follow him as he knew all to well
the Young Monk, who was around the age of 8,
was rather mischievous at times.

As the young Monk traveled the path further into
the mountain-side, he came across the mountain
creek and there, he saw a lone fish in the water at
which he decided to catch.

When he caught the small fish, he then, tied a string
around the fish and on the other end, tied a small
stone.

Releasing the fish back into the creek, he began to
laugh as he saw how difficult it was for the fish to
swim.

After laughing at the struggling fish for several
minuteshe began to follow the path once again at
which he sawa frog and immediately chased it catch-
ing it and again, wrapped a string around the frogs
body and tied another stone on the other end.
Releasing the frog, the young Monk began to laugh
loudlyas the frog began to struggle as he began leap-
ing forward.

After several minutes, the young Monk began to walk
the path descending the mountain path and found a
snake on the path.

Immediately the young Monk ran after it and catching
it, began tying a string around its body with a stone at
the other end of the string. Of course, the snake had
difficulty in wiggling away.

The Master had witnessed each off the three occur-
rences but said nothing each time.

That night, as the young Monk slept, the Master Hoshi,
turned the young Monk over and tied a large stone to
the Young Monks back.

Early the next morning at breakfast, the young Monk
began to complain to the Master Hoshi that he was
having difficulty walking around and even rising up
as he fell on occasion.

The Master, then looking the young Monk in his
eyes said . .

" I had seen what you had done to the Fish, the Frog
and the Snake, and as you thought it amusing in laugh-
ing as to each of their struggles, you committed grave
acts of cruelty to those who are defenseless. Go to
the mountain again and FREE each of them - THEN, I
will free you . If you do not, you will suffer in your
Heart and Mind for this suffering will become your
Karma !"

The young Monk traveled up the Tang-Ji Mountain
againonly to find that each ; the Fish, the Frog, and
the Snake, had each died.

The Young Mong began to weep in each case know-
ing he had caused suffering and returning to the
Temple, he Shamefully wept as he advised the Master
Hoshi, what had happened .

As the young Monk wept in sorrow, the Master
summoned the young Monk to sit on his lap where
the Master Hoshi released him from his bo***ge
and said . . .

" I see you are sorry in your heart for what you have
done and I did to you, what you had done to them,
the least of us.

I did to you so that you should feel their suffering
and will always remember throughout your lifetime,
to never harm another again. I love you just as if
you are my son but most of all, God loves you as
' you are His son ' !

Remember what happened here and let no man
ever tell you, it is alright to Kill ! "

I am not certain where this came from but I do
know, there many areas of life I may consider
“ Necessary Evils ” at which I have not and will not
ever participate , , , taking a Life is one of them !
Blessing to all who read my words !
In Metta,
“ Old Heart Mount

12/02/2020

GOODNESS EVERYONE. . .

Blessings, as I see a handful are interested in

this Page ! Thank you !

I've been away for some time not

logging on since the Passing of

Nobumasa Dai Sensei.

I apologize for ignoring some of you OR

ALL of you who may be interested in this Page

or learning more about me and what I Teach.

Give me a day or several and I will begin writing

some materials that may, or not, interest you !

NAMASTE TO ALL ! 🙏