The large silver-winged bird gently approached for landing and I could see that the weather was cold despite a cloudless sky and a blazing clear sun. The SAS plane had landed at Narita airport, Tokyo, Japan, and just 2½ hours later my 33rd training camp in Japan with Soke Sensei Tonegawa (SST) began. My friends had gotten me an upgrade and a really good price at Hotel Okura, so room 1071 was the headquarters for this 39th training camp with Soke Sensei Tonegawa, the leading grandmaster of Jokokan International and Bujutsu Kodosoku-kai International.
The phone rang suddenly. It was SST that I picked up in the lobby. After the obligatory exchange of gifts, we moved on to the next step; The Budo and Bujutsu training camp.
Yashin Mon Yakami no Taijutsu is made up of 5 training pillars and a "crossbar". The 5 training pillars can be both coherent and replace each other, but after the densho degree Menkyo (6-7.dan) will be complementary and coherent until only the "bar" is reached, where they all become one. This is the level where all budo and bujutsu regardless of system merge into one.
This is where the 8 forces and 12 principles, which are the same for all koryo bujutsu and budo (original and old) systems, really make sense, as they are integrated here through full understanding of their workings and contexts. This happens when a student obtains "the learned journeyman's certificate" in a system at the densho degree; Menkyo Kaiden (8-10.dan). The entire training camp was based on this "overhang".
The five training pillars can also be considered three coins and a crossbar coin. The first coin consists of Jikitai (original Okinawa karate-do) and Enshin (Kenpoh) on each side of the coin. The second coin consists of koryo taijutsu (unarmed combat) and koryo Nuki-ai (armed combat) on either side of the coin. The third coin consists of "moving meditation & ki" and "sitting meditation & ki" on each side of the coin. Above the coin consists of Koryo kokyo-ho, which is "the breath and laws of the universe". This is from the densho grades Menkyo Kaiden (8-10.dan) and up. (Ed. The statistics since the end of World War II from e.g. Kendo (Japanese swordsmanship) show that on average one out of 1 million practitioners passes their 8th dan, less than 1 % of the 7th dan who attempt).
The training camp consisted of kumite and mai (kata), and of course a lot of hiden ryuha and ryugi ("secret teachings, knowledge and philosophy").
It was the best and most affirming SST training camp I had experienced to date. Although SST has grown older (72 years old) and even more Japanese, his martial arts are still incredibly graceful and powerful, and an absolute joy to watch and train with. Since March 1, 2009, this has now turned into 24 educational years of SST and before that 10 years of searching through other systems, such as jujutsu, wushu and Taekwondo, until I found the right shelf; Koryo Budo and Bujutsu – both Japanese and Chinese. I am very grateful for that.
Last week; Paris and New York. This week Tokyo and next week New York. From minus 6 hours to plus 8 hours to minus 6 hours. My body is jet-lagged, but my mind is wonderfully clear and with a deep inner satisfaction, feeling and understanding after the most affirming and clarifying SST training camp ever.
I am very grateful for that, and I can now look forward to new goals. Because one thing is certain; with my curious and bright mind, I will never be too old to learn new things - because it is a wonderful and instructive world out there of knowledge, enlightenment and new horizons.
That is what all Budo and Bujutsu are about, and as Louis Armstrong sings about in "What a wonderful world" - it is what we make it into in the eye that views and is.
