Bujinkan Santa Monica

In our class tonight... well every night, we warm up with ukemi and taihenjutsu drills.  These are so fundamental to Bujinkan training that I do them every class. What is also fundamental is to try them ryote, katate and mute.  That is: two handed, one handed, and no handed.  This way you are prepared for nearly any situation requiring evasion or hitting the ground. Two handed gives the most control.  You can use the ground as your ally and "steer" your interaction with it or be steered by it.  You might discover something there to aid in your counter or as metsubushi. One handed can be necessary if one hand is otherwise occupied.  Maybe you are being thrown by a joint lock on one arm.  Perhaps one arm is injured.  Perhaps one hand is drawing a weapon as you evade an attacker.  In any case, you should know how to do this with the lead or rear hand. No handed is the most acrobatic.  This takes the most control with the legs.  Often when students don't use the legs

Welcome to my blog. I teach Bujinkan Taijutsu in Santa Monica. If you are in the Bujinkan, you may already know me, so Hello! Michael If you are new to this training then welcome. This blog will be my personal training log. Training in any martial art is a very personal and subjective experience. What you get from training is something only you yourself can measure. I have taken this measurement for myself for over 24 years in the Bujinkan. I run my class in Santa Monica in a personal way. I model my class after the example of my teachers: Peter Crocoll in AZ, Hatsumi Sensei and the Shihan in Japan. But there are many teachers in the Bujinkan. All of my friends, teachers, students, and training partners have taught me the richness in this art is not in technique, but in one's heart. Shinbo Ikkan!