The roots of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu trace back to the thirteenth year of the Eiroku Period (1570) at the foot of Mount Futagata in the ancient province of Rikuzen (now Miyagi Prefecture) where a monk named Unryu lived. He devised methods for shurikenjutsu, bojutsu and taijutsu, which he referred to as “Sessho Hiden”. Among his disciples was a samurai named Ito Kii no Kami Sukesada, who combined the Sessho Hiden with his own knowledge of bojutsu to create methods of sojutsu, naginatajutsu, san shaku bojutsu, kenjutsu and kodachijutsu and founded his own bujutsu lineage, the Ito Ryu. In the second year of Shoho (1645), Takagi Oriemon Shigetoshi received menkyo kaiden in this lineage and incorporated techniques influenced by sumo to create his own Jujutsu lineage, the Takagi Ryu, containing 12 techniques Omote, 24 techniques Ura and 12 techniques Sabaki. During the Tenpo Era, at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, three top students of the thirteenth soke of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu (Yagi Ikugoro Hisayoshi) branched off to create their own lines of Takagi Ryu. The resulting lineages were the Seito-ha Fujita Takagi Yoshin Ryu, Ishibashi Takagi Ryu and Ishitani Takagi Yoshin Ryu. The Fujita and Ishitiani Takagi Yoshin Ryu are taught within the curriculum of the Jinenkan.

Takagi Oriemon Shigetoshi, Founder of the Takagi Ryu

Takagi Oriemon Shigetoshi was born on April 2^nd, 1625 as the second son of Inato Sanzaemon, a kenjutsu instructor and samurai retainer of Katakura Kojuro. According to the records of the Hontai Yoshin Ryu, he traveled at a young age to the city of Dewa (in modern day Akita and Yamagata prefectures) where he studied the Muto Ryu Kodachijutsu as well as Kyochi Ryu Sojutsu. One night during his absence, his father was murdered by an assailant. Upon hearing the news of his fathers death, Oriemon swiftly returned to his home town for vengeance and changed his name to Yoshin Ryu Takagi Oriemon Shigenobu, a decision that was influenced by his father’s words, “yoboku wa tsuyoku, takagi wa oreruzoyo” roughly meaning “a willow is flexible, but a tall tree will break”. He died on October 7^th, 1711.

]]> http://www.jinenkan.la/the-hontai-takagi-yoshin-ryu-and-its-founder/feed/ 0 http://www.jinenkan.la/brain-tricks-from-my-first-use-of-traditional-budo/ http://www.jinenkan.la/brain-tricks-from-my-first-use-of-traditional-budo/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:39:00 +0000 jinenkanla http://www.jinenkan.la/2011/08/11/brain-tricks-from-my-first-use-of-traditional-budo/

The first time I ever used the martial arts skills I had learned from the initial approach to kobudo that I started studying in high school, an interesting thing happened.

Of course, over the years there are details I don’t remember – this was high school. And, now that I’ve learned enough about the likely results of what must have included some adrenaline in my blood at the time, I recognize that it’s entirely likely that most of the “actual” details that I might remember would be at least partially wrong.

With that in mind, I’m not so interested in recounting what skills got used or what worked and what didn’t work – I only remember a very little bit. What would be useful, though, is to discuss an odd thing that happened, that I actually DO remember … one that I have recently learned happens a lot to people doing something stressful and “new”.

I say it was something “new” because it was the first time I had found myself in a position where I had a whole set of fighting skills that I had been practicing, and this was where they were supposed to work. In years prior growing up, I had found some use for the sports-style Judo skills I had learned (and I assure you that if you ever throw a person outside the context of a Judo match, their expression is likely to be worth watching). But, this was different – I was supposed to have a whole new set of skills available that were supposed to be supremely useful.

I don’t know if in this case I threw him, or he threw me (honestly, unlikely)  but somehow, things in this particular little “Monkey Dance” of a scuffle ended up with both of us on the ground (luckily at the beach – sand is MUCH more forgiving than concrete for this kind of thing).

My Brain’s Funny Trick

I’m not sure that there was a normal “freeze” moment involved that I would expect to see in a high-adrenaline response. However, what I do remember is that we got to a bit of a stalemate, and while trying to figure out what to do, I could honestly hear my own voice giving me instructions that I had heard in class: things like “twist the wrist forward” and “kneel on the arm” … I distinctly remember, “step on that hand to pin him down while standing up .”

For years I thought this was a strange phenomenon, and I didn’t regard it much. It only happened that one time (as far as I can remember – of course adrenalized response could have altered memory of subsequent occurrences). As such, I didn’t think it deserved much attention for folks training – after all, it’s not something I had trained to do, or expected to do, etc.

It turns out though, that it’s a particularly common thing. Rory Miller’s book Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected mentions that “Often, you will hear similar stories from medics describing the first ‘real one.’ The trick they use to beat the freeze is to talk themselves through it … The first few seconds are sloppy, then after that, they can use their skills. I found the same thing true in my first fights.”

Some survivors of assault have described hearing their self-defense instructor’s voice yelling at them with useful commands. Usually, those stories involve more emotive than technical commands heard, with things like “keep going” or perhaps “don’t give up” etc. This might be a curious point of consideration for the methods used in their training, as opposed to what I experienced. Beyond instructional paradigm considerations, it does point to a common occurrence of this “voices in your head” thing happening in these circumstances.

Thanks For The Help, Brain

At the very least, it’s an interesting thing to know exists. Beyond that, it’s a useful thing to at least be comfortable accepting. If you find yourself needing self-defense skills, the last thing you need is to be surprised and confused by your own brain – chances are good that there is already enough mayhem going on externally.

I am curious to know if this is at all familiar with anybody else – have you experienced this, or anything similar?

The last day of summer camp was one of the best days of summer camp. Our young folks lived up to every expectation I had, and they outperformed beyond that, too. This week included sleight of hand, swords, hiding in public spaces, and today: rescuing a damsel (or two) in distress.

We had just had lunch and were walking to the park, when across the street we saw two women looking at their car, holding up the hood, with an empty bottle of coolant next to them. We all looked at each other and realized this was a great time to put into practice some of the skills and attitudes that we practice every day. We’ve used some of our “Urban” summer camp weeks to do a little basic car maintenance, and this was perfect timing!

Lending 6 Pairs Of Helping Hands

The two ladies were impressed by two things, the kids’ ability to help, and (more importantly) their desire to help. They looked at the dipstick for the oil, and noted that it was completely dry. The ladies then confided that the indicator light for the oil had been on for a little while. The kids also looked at the coolant level and noted that it was low, at which point the ladies let us know their car was overheating. Good diagnosis job, kids!

While the two women were quite capable and willing to walk down the two blocks to get the needed supplies at the local market, one of our campers talked to the other kids and said, “It wouldn’t be very chivalrous of us to just leave them now. We should help and finish the job.” Yes, he actually said the word “chivalrous” – I love our summer camp.

Our group walked with them to the local market, and one of our own campers decided on an action plan for some folks to find the oil, and another to grab water, etc. It worked marvelously, and we helped to carry everything back and help replace the needed fluids, and give a little friendly advice to keep up with their car care. The best part was watching them start up their car and drive away with no problems.

Be A Responsible Role Model

While we certainly enjoyed helping today, it would be even better if everyone always took amazing care of their cars, and had no problems at all. Here’s a good start towards that goal:

http://www.howtodothings.com/automotive/a2304-how-to-perform-basic-maintenance-on-your-car.html

Want to be a real professional “operator” at Summer Camp this year? We talk a LOT in Summer Camp, and we have a great time … and some of that talking is done over the radio. We learn to use modern phonetic alphabet, “ten-codes” and we’ve even built simple receivers from scratch.

While there’s NO requirement to buy your own radio, it’s a super handy part of emergency preparedness, and it’s a ton of fun, you will hopefully use it plenty outside your camp time, and it’s actually quite affordable.

We will discuss plenty of alternative (and traditional, ninja-style) communication methods, too. But let’s also remember that even cool, old-time ninja were contemporary at their time, and used the coolest gadgets they could get their hands on, too.

What’s the “Best” radio for Summer Camp?

In Summer Camp, we do a LOT of emergency preparedness training, for all kinds of circumstances, and a lot of that kind of training comes from the CERT program, which I recommend to everyone. I follow the CERT model for emergency communication: if it’s too difficult, you can’t help enough people.

That means that the “bubble pack” radios that you can purchase at Best Buy or similar stores have to be the lowest common denominator, and we MUST be able to use them effectively. They are available at low cost, sufficient power for our needs, and can be used in emergencies.

We will discuss in Summer Camp what the differences are between “channels” and “frequencies” and “private lines” and even which ones to use for emergencies, and why. I really wish I got to know this stuff when I was younger!

What’s the “Best” radio for other purposes?

Really, if you’re going to be more prepared than that, you can easily purchase a much better radio that will communicate much further with a much greater range of people. You really should have a (simple to acquire) license to use such a radio at its full potential, too. Let’s set a good example!

I am a huge believer in “dual band” handheld radios. A quick google search for “what’s the best radio” will likely deliver a discussion of UHF vs VHF and the relative merits of each. Forget the debate: buy a radio that does both, and have the opportunity to communicate with both groups that bought their favorite type.

It’s super-inexpensive to buy the “bubble pack” variety, and they’ll do most of what you want, but there are some very severe limitations, too. If you’re at all considering learning more and playing around with radios, save the money and apply it towards a better radio, like the one that I use nearly every day.

Get a radio & Consider getting a ham radio license:

My Radio (for the best price I can find it anywhere). Note: I use this on patrol with the Guardian Angels, bounty hunting with Third Echelon Investigations, and will be using it in Summer Camp, too:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/dual-frequency-display-multi-band-walkie-talkie-with-vox-flashlight-fm-radio-vhf-uhf-41618?r.43307959

“Bubble Pack” for much less cost (comes as a pair, too!) motorola talkabout radios (we’ve used these types for several years without a problem):
Motorola Talkabout MC220R 16-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

Test Study & Sample Tests (same resource that I used to pass the test easily):
http://bb.qualitymatrix.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30

What can you do to improve your martial arts skills faster than anything else?

I guess, in my own pursuit both as a student and an instructor, that’s the biggest question that I want to answer. And that’s what I hope to discuss today:

10 Minutes, Twice a Day for Massive Martial Arts Improvement

I got to meet Unsui Sensei just after the Jinenkan had formed. My good friend Christopher Penn served as the technical end to arrange a meeting with him. In fact, he had informed me of the formation of the Jinenkan just after I had graduated from college, and once I moved to Japan, since I didn’t yet have an internet connection (my town wasn’t that tech-ready then), Chris helped me make the connections I needed. So, thanks, Chris!

Anyways, I did finally get to Noda City and started training in the Jinenkan. It was awesome: every day I showed up I was able to dig in and find some new bit of information, or nuance that would improve my own training or understanding.

With that pursuit in mind, one day after class I asked Unsui Sensei, “What physical exercises should I be doing?”

Note: I had just moved to Japan, and as a young American guy straight out of college, I was thinking pretty simply: “Should I do more push ups or more pull ups?” is really all I had in mind at the time, I’m sure. I was primarily interested in strength and power related answers, I think.

Unsui Sensei’s Answer

The answer was simple, not unlike most of the instruction or discussion from Unsui Sensei: “Don’t worry about being stronger – work on being flexible.”

Luckily, this was something I was already very interested in improving, so he added, “You’re already flexible enough, so just focus on trying to do what I’m doing.”

That challenge still remains, and I keep on trying to do what he’s doing. On the other hand, that advice is still awesome! Flexibility is really the difference, and that applies to your thinking as well as your body.

If your body won’t do what you want in a particular circumstance, it is likely that you are limited by your flexibility:

• Keeping your knees over your toes a problem? Stretch more!
• Getting lower hips giving you trouble? Stretch more!
• Even a ShindenFudo Ryu style back-tuck out of a hip throw needs the same help: Stretch more!

For physical stretching, I’ve always suggested following the same pattern I did. I stretched a little in the morning, and a little more at night, maybe only ten minutes each session. I’d focus mostly on my legs, but get the whole body involved, and would work through holding as many angles as possible, while trying to relax my muscles in positions that were otherwise difficult to attain.

The nice thing is that by taking a little time out of your day in the morning, you’ll set your mind on a useful course; and by doing it at night you’ll rest better and allow the troubles of the day to release the tense hold they might have on your body and health. It’s a perfect meditation, blending your mind with your body.

In fact, I think physical flexibility is mostly a function of your mindset: if you relax and allow yourself to gradually move further into a stretch, you’ll get there. If you worry about getting there sooner, you’ll add too much psychological pressure to an already challenging task.

I used to visualize the muscles actually stretching and lengthening while I would hold and exhale and try to relax into whatever odd yoga-inspired position I was trying to achieve.

Just move through what feels good, avoid real pain, and RELAX while you stretch. And more than anything else, commit to doing it consistently.

I have my own favorite stretches, but they fit my body and my needs. I think you need to find what suits you, but that approach will work if you let yourself succeed gradually. You’ll make huge improvements in your movement and posture, even with small improvements in your stretching.

Please make the time to do this for yourself – I think you’ll find it really helps.

The Last Jinenkan Seminar in USA with Unsui Sensei: Swords, Jutaijutsu, and Wisdom

Four of us from the Los Angeles Jinenkan Dojo had the opportunity to travel across the country to attend the final USA seminar with Manaka Unsui Sensei – who opened the training of Kobudo through the Jinenkan to make it available to the public over ten years ago.

Shinden Fudo Ryu: Jutaijutsu / Jujutsu Up Close & Personal

Our look at the Shoden (first teachings) of this martial arts method had one very particular point that Unsui Sensei made over and over again, so that we would have a chance to learn it well: “This is jutaijutsu. That means it’s important to be gentle.” 

Jinen Ryu: Two Swords Style

We spent half of each seminar day on the “gentle” unarmed methods of jujutsu, but the other half was devoted to fighting your opponent-s with two swords. Certainly, once swords enter the fight, thoughts of being “gentle” are quite different – lethal force makes it very difficult to be subtle!

According to the newsletter from Manaka Unsui Sensei, a Buddhist monk named Unryu devised training for taijutsu, bojutsu and shurikenjutsu (unarmed fighting, staff fighting, throwing stars) around 1570, which eventually became Takagi Yoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu or Jujutsu.

In 1645, Takagi Oriemon Shigetoshi added more grappling, and in 1671 Takagi Umonosuke spread the training widely and included Naginata skills. Much later, around 1841, three top students branched off to make their own “seito-ha” or student-breakoffs of training: Fujita Takagi Yoshin Ryu, Ishibashi Takagi Ryu, and Ishitani Takagi Yoshin Ryu. Our training is derived from the first and last of those named above, giving us a total of 94 unarmed jujutsu techniques from the Takagi martial arts lineage.

Jinenkan LA Takagi Yoshin Jujutsu Training Now

In this two-month segment, we are working on the Chuden “middle-scroll” and Okuden “deep scroll” teachings.
If training in order, then we would have one collection of teachings in between them of 8 choking techniques. Because we practice those techniques at another part of our curriculum, they will not be included here (but if I had to guess, I’d say that several people at the dojo would be quite happy to choke you with them as much as you want or need to practice them now!)

While training on the Chuden, according to Manaka Unsui Sensei, “it is important to sufficiently move your body forward and back, side to side, up and down, and learn with your body the secret to throwing an opponent down without relying on strength.” These ideas should take precedence over strict kata practice, but of course strict kata practice is important for good note-taking, so please be diligent in your training.

The Okuden, are also known as Fu no Kata (Wind Kata), and “since these kata are for admonishing an opponent, do not apply more force than is necessary.” This is technically advanced material, and will require thorough training with full mental involvement. Please come to these classes ready to train hard, sweat a lot, and help your training partners.

This is a fantastic martial arts lineage, and I look forward to seeing you in class!

Our training covers a range from pinching a little skin, to cutting our adversaries in half from nine feet away. That’s a pretty big range for this “use of force continuum” in our training. The selection process of appropriate response is a little more difficult than you might think.

For example, you might pick the perfect response to a situation, but then realize that your judgment about the situation itself was not so perfect. There are huge moral implications to that. And, there are legal implications to that, too.

Imperfect Self Defense

“Imperfect self defense” (which only applies if there is actual but unreasonable belief in the need for self defense) reduces a murder to a manslaughter. Imperfect self defense applies if EITHER the defendant unreasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, OR the defendant unreasonably believed that the immediate use of deadly force was necessary.

Read the more detailed descriptions here.

Let’s face it: if we had perfect judgment, we’d probably be able to de-escalate just about every problem that could ever come up, even before it happened. But, we don’t have access to hindsight until it’s too late. Could your actions get somebody other innocent person hurt? Consider this:

Provocative Act Murder

It was 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday in May 2008. Byoune and a few friends were at a Rally’s hamburger stand, talking to some girls, when gunshots rang out nearby. Terrified, the teenagers jumped into their dark gray Honda and tried to flee.

In the frantic few minutes that followed, two Inglewood police officers, believing the teens were shooting at them, fired 29 rounds into the Honda. Byoune, shot five times, died at the scene.
Read the whole LA Times article from September 2nd here.

Improve Your Training Every Time

To make the most of your experience in training, you must take into account all three layers of the kobudo experience:

• 心　Shin – Mental / Spiritual Aspects
• 技　Gi – Technical / Tactical Skill
• 体　Tai – Physical Fitness & Capacity

If any of those is being ignored in training, it can falter when needed. All of these elements work in a complex mix with each other.

Beyond the obvious needs and benefits for a healthy body, consider things like sleep-deprivation. That’s an easy way to cloud your judgment, and reduce your tactical abilities. (I know, that’s one I have to consider more strongly, too. It’s part of the reason I’ve always tried to take naps on the way to a ‘house call’ when on a fugitive recovery assignment).

During class, try to put yourself in the proper mindset. Adapt appropriate breathing patterns to induce the emotional response you’re trying to re-create in the Dojo. Get your hips lower, and keep good posture; develop the physical stamina to endure and work hard. Pay attention to the gross motor and fine/complex motor movements in each skill; be sure that you understand each piece or (please!) ask questions and get clarity.

In every moment, we have the ability to make a breakthrough in any of those areas of training. Make this kind of progress on the mat the next time you’re in class (which I hope will be soon!)