Tokumeikan At MMA 2008

Tokumeikan will be demonstrating at the Toronto Mixed Martial Arts Expo, June 21 and 22. We will be showing the crowds our practice of Katori Shinto Ryu swordsmanship at what promises to be one of the largest gatherings of martial artists in Canada.

We will demonstrating both days of the Expo, and welcome all visitors and questions.

There will be over 200 seminars at the MMA this year, with styles ranging from Aikido to Muay Thai to, well, Classical Japanese Swordsmanship. As they say on their site:

MMA Expo II boasted over 60 world-class instructors across more than 30 different martial arts. For 2008, MMA Expo III will have an even greater emphasis on MMA reflecting the growing popularity of the UFC, IFL and TKO.

• Martial Artists - Virtually all major styles represented. Come and train with THE best
• MMA Students – You’d be hard pressed to find this much MMA talent in one room. These will be the seminars and photo opps that you will cherish for decades to come.
  
• MMA fight fans – What can we say! This will be autograph central. And have your cameras ready!
• Two previous UFC veterans and MMA Expo instructors have already signed up to return for MMA Expo III. They had a blast last time, and they’re back:
  
  • Dan Severn – UFC Hall of Famer; Holder of dozens of world titles
    
  • Carlos Newton – PRIDE competitor and past UFC Welter Weight Champion

For the TMA/MMA student, MMA Expo III presents an amazing opportunity to train with these world champions. For the MMA fan...other than a front row seat at the next UFC it doesn't get much better than this.

Tokumeikan is very honoured to have been invited to this event. It is a great chance to observe martial arts traditions from around the world, and we are looking forward to demonstrating amongst so many fellow practitioners. If you see us there, please don't hesitate to come over and talk to us.

The First Lesson Is Walking

It struck me a few years ago, as I practicing the first kata of omote-tachi -- the foundation of Katori Shinto Ryu -- that the very first thing a student learns is walking. Walking two steps.

Katori is not a practice in which one learns a technique and moves on to the next. It is an endless circle of practice, insight, and more practice. I have been doing these two steps for many years now, and I still feel that even just taking two steps backwards is a process more full of possibility than I could ever completely encompass.

The kata opens with the two participants facing one another, swords at the ready. The senior member (uketachi) advances forward, driving back the junior member (kirikomi). One step. Two steps.

That's it. Just two steps. If you're kirikomi, you just back up two steps and you're done. Hardly a sophisticated maneuver.

And yet, like everything else in Katori, there is much, much more going on here than can be easily seen.

First is ma-ai -- "correct distance". At the opening of the kata, before the steps begin, uketachi and kirikomi are separated by a precise distance -- just too far to reach each other without taking a step. Their swordtips just meet.

As they walk, uke pushes forward and it is the job of kirikomi to maintain ma-ai. Sometimes uke pushes quickly and sometimes he pushes slowly -- nevertheless, kirikomi must maintain the correct distance. After two steps back, their swords must still be in precisely the same relationship as before.

There is also timing to consider. It is uke's forward step that prompts kirikomi's backward one. Tong Sensei says often that swordplay in Katori Shinto Ryu is a conversation, an exchange -- as a junior student I found concentrating on these brief, simple steps a chance to establish that communication with my uketachi. A chance to listen, pay attention to what uke is telling me. One step. Two steps.

One of the ongoing lessons of Katori is that of listening. You must maintain, not just the correct distance, but actual contact with your opponent. Only by fully experiencing their presence, with all your senses, can you hope to attain mastery over them. You must be aware of their sword, their feet, their eyes, all of their intent and their spirit. From any position an opponent can launch a multitude of attacks -- the only way to respond correctly is by sensing them without preconceptions and allowing the correct response to come forth.

Without total attention, you cannot possibly succeed.

And so it has always struck me how, when I first began studying Katori Shinto Ryu, my first lesson was to do nothing more than walk two steps. And when I watch new students walking backwards, with so much of their attention just focused on "What's next? What's next?" I am reminded that just two steps can contain lessons that always need re-learning.

Photo: Jason Conlon

Forward Is Backward

One of the lessons of Katori Shinto Ryu practice is that just because something looks like it must be one thing, it's never safe to assume that it is. And this lesson seems to go on being taught and taught again, even after you first learn it.

Beginning students often lean back in postures such as ko-gasumi or te-ura-gasumi, since they believe they are blocking an incoming strike, and reasonably decide that the further away they are from that incoming blow, the safer they will be. Even after years of practice I find myself doing that without being aware of it. It's natural, to want to shy away from danger.

The problem of course is that ko-gasumi doesn't have to be a block at all. You learn after some practice that many of the maneuvers that appear to be blocks, and are practiced as blocks, are in fact attacks, carefully disguised to look like blocks. If I step backward, the incoming attack is blocked; but if I step forward, the attack is avoided and instead of blocking I find my sword striking down my enemy at the exact moment he sought to strike me.

If I do it right. And he doesn't see it coming. And a thousand other things that might go wrong don't.

But this is one reason why when we practice our stances, we work so hard to maintain a neutral if not a forward stance. We are never really retreating, and we must never forget to maintain a forward focus. To kill the enemy is the point of entering combat; many texts talk about the necessity to forget about self-preservation and think only of cutting down the enemy, whatever the cost to yourself. These are not empty exhortations, even in the safe sort of practice we engage in. It is something I should always be keeping in my mind. Whatever stance I take, whatever response the kata seems to be asking me to take, I need to constantly consider what is happening and how I can take the initiative, even when I seem to be blocking or retreating.

At the same time, I can't just move forward every chance I get. That's too simplistic for Katori. There are times when increasing the distance between your enemy and yourself is the right choice. I have to wait, pay attention, and learn to recognize when an opportunity presents itself.

The kata of Katori Shinto Ryu are not simple patterns to be memorized. They hold secrets and demonstrate options, many of which cannot be perceived by the casual student. It takes years of practice to uncover these truths, and this journey never truly ends. I am forever discovering assumptions in my practice that only now am I realizing are unfounded, and can be cut apart effortlessly by someone who has seen through them.

And leaning back doesn't help.


By CoreyReid 2008
http://www.scratchfactory.com/

Haru Matsuri 2008: Spring Flowers

The members of Tokumeikan demonstrated Katori Shinto Ryu at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on Saturday, March 1. People who attended were treated to a view of basic sword kata and also iaijutsu kata.


It was a great honour for us to be asked to demonstrate at 2008's Haru Matsuri celebration. It was nice to see so many people come to observe our demonstration. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Road to Asia festival in November!

For Dojo-cho (Head Instructors):

Workshops/Seminars

Mr. Tong is available for workshops and seminars. Please contact us at dtong@tokumeikan.com to discuss this possibility. Thank you.