The body armour of our modern security, policing and military personnel are not so dissimilar to that of feudal samurai. Therefore, the grips that exist in our system of training have never lost their relevance; not to mention that the lapel of a modern jacket bears resemblance to the same positioning of the hand if someone was to grab you – what was old is still new! Hence the ancient wisdom of our art has modern applications in our society today!
There are really only two types of grips someone can take on your body – knuckles facing up after scrunching anti-clockwise or knuckles facing sideways or down after scrunching clockwise. These resemble the same positions as an attacker grasping the body armour of ancient samurai, an ‘undesirable’ grabbing a modern security/policing/military personnel’s body armour from the top or from the side, or even a ‘bogan’ grabbing your shirt or jacket. Thus, Nikajo, Sokumen irminage or Hijishime etc. in the 11th century was as effective in controlling assailants as it is today in modern Australian society. When the emperor’s descendent Minamoto no Yoshimitsu developed Aiki Jujutsu in the 11th century (through heated combat and scientific study of human anatomy by examining bodies on battlefields and execution grounds to determine the most effective strikes, blows, holds, joint locks, and pins) and began work on the Kata (型 ) to practice safely and transmit this wisdom on to generations that followed in order to keep the clan safer in warfare and later in peacetime, both a genius in martial form and function were born!
Thus, as a follow-up from my closing demonstration last year in December, the genius of Japan’s centuries-old ‘Kata Geiko’ training methodology allows practitioners to see how what was once old is always relevant and effective in our modern world once proficiency over time is obtained. However, the difficulty is in the discipline in applying oneself consistently and repetitively to the Kihon Waza (basic techniques) over decades in order to build the foundational conceptual proficiency and understanding of the underpinning principles within what I like to call ‘the matrix’ or ‘fabric’ of our martial art. Only then, can we access and must continue FOREVER to polish ourselves confidently through the ‘formless’. Let me further elaborate by way of my first Shinto Muso Ryu Jojutsu teacher Master Nishioka Tsuneo Sensei’s words in explanation. Nishioka Sensei wrote the following in his 1989 book ‘The Lore of the Jo’, two decades before his passing in 2014. The following is a small excerpt from his book that conveys the point I’m trying to make better than I could make it in my own words.
| Learning The Formless ‘There is no other way to learn the formless than to learn through something with shape. I realise that when we ultimately seek is an intangible spirit. Same as when you pursue martial arts through martial techniques. Even though this spirit has no form and is elusive we continue to pursue it. The ultimate thing behind this spirit is called truth, virtue, beauty, sincerity, and cordiality. Starting with kata and mastering its essence is called the path. The path is spiritual and has no form, So what you see is kata and rei (courtesy). Therefore, they’re always just one of the expressions of the spirit at each time, and there is a possibility of appearing in other ways. The formless spirit we learned from something with shape moves our body and it appears as one kata in other words, training is not just imitation. In that sense, schools of Budō mainly focus on taking over the spirit of the ancestors, and kata must be owned by the person comprehending the right spirit. However, it should not be a selfish interpretation. To learn Kata (型 – training the order of forms) is to identify yourself with it and eventually come to understand Kata (形 – training to ascertain the opponent’s Maai {spatial and temporal}, spirit, controlling sword and speed within a single order of forms). Kata (形) is formless because it is a spirit so it has infinite variety. learn Kata (型 ) can be understood and taught, but Kata (形) cannot teach and make people understand, which means that the spirit is something to be understood individually, not something you can be taught. What I truly want to teach in Kata (型 ) is that spirit, but I have to recognise that there is no other way than students acquiring it by themselves. In other words, there is no other way than perceiving it. And when you finally understand it, you realise that there is infinite deepness in what you have learned, and that you strongly realise the need for training after this enlightenment. Both dedication and duty appear as sincerity or true heart in Kata (型 ). If you only focus on Kata (型 ) externally, you lose the essence. There is only one destination to reach from the numerous different Kata (型 ). How to understand this one goal is up to each person’s attitude and it is not something that can be taught. No matter how hard you try to teach it, you feel that it cannot be taught, and if you understand that, then you realise that Kata (型 ) has infinite variety and keeps changing endlessly. Nishioka Tsuneo (1989) The Lore of the Jo (Jodo Jikai). Shimazu Shobo Publishing. Japan. Pp.33-34. |
Nishioka Sensei continues to explain that just remembering the order of a Kata or an individual technique and moving nicely without making a mistake does not really make you acquire anything. This, he explains, is nothing more than ‘just learning Kata (型 ), and you end up having an illusion that someone who knows 13 Kata is better than someone who knows 12 Kata.’ Sensei continues to point out that there are hidden techniques that are not represented in Kata. He calls these formless Kata (形) which is not described in Kata (型 ). These come with depth and breadth of engagement with Kata Geiko over many years in addition to depth of reflection about one’s training. In time all the Kata (型 ) – 64 in Shinto Muso Ryu and the basic 150 in Goshu-Ryu Aiki Jujutsu – all become one at some stage… The formless Kata (形). Nishioka Sensei adds that, ‘There is just one Kata to reach and that one Kata has infinite variety. Training leads you to find the one.’
I feel only now, after two and half decades of engagement in Goshu-Ryu Aiki Jujutsu and Shinto Muso Ryu Jojutsu Kata (型 ) , I can only start to understand Nishioka Sensei’s words here, and feel a sense of the importance of awareness of Kata (形) when practicing Kata (型 ). This is the essence of Kata-Geiko methodology that leads to what Nishioka Sensei alludes to above, the ‘Spirit’. This ‘Spirit’ (truth, virtue, beauty, sincerity, and cordiality) are the intangible principles that come through in what we physically do (tangible principles underpinning the Kihon Waza) on the mats and off them. The ‘spirit’, once achieved and continuously practiced and polished, also provides the physical attributes to move beyond the form of the Kata (型 ) and martially apply the tangible principles to any situation freely and formlessly. (Sorry if this is confusing you. Hopefully you have by now realised the difference in the two terms of the same name but different character and meaning.) Furthermore, the ‘deepness’ that Nishioka Sensei describes is another feature of the Kata Geiko methodology, I believe. And I question whether other training styles that don’t have a consistent and repetitive approach to adherence to ancient and proven technical and philosophical principles can provide students with such ‘depth’. After all, this is why I believe Budō is so profoundly unique.
Osu!
Ryan Slavin
Goshu-Ryu SunCoast 
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