By Mathis Isaksen, Member until 2017
Right now the clock says 20 minutes past ten. It is Wednesday evening, and I find myself placed in my room, in the very relaxed and almost 'drunk' state that one's body takes after approx. three hours of local training. After calming down a bit, and after playing a bit with my electric guitar, my thoughts have now wandered to Saturday's course, Jujutsu course 2.
As on many other courses, you have now been met with new concepts, terms and important points. Ting captures the essence of the techniques performed and beautifully, if I dare to use such a word, shows the importance of not separating different fighting styles and putting them in separate boxes. Things are connected, and any principle learned can therefore be transferred to and help build one's normal understanding of combat. A fight is a fight, and although the execution may be different, the essence will be the same.
The Jujutsu 2 course consisted of both a ryuha and a ryugi part. That is that there was both theoretical and practical teaching. We learned how jujutsu can be described as a combination of karate, judo and aikido. One can therefore choose to see jujutsu as a more 'complete' style, as it takes care of more elements of combat than what else is seen in modern styles (In popular Shindenkan terms: A whole pizza). If you do a little homework, you can also associate the word koryu with jujutsu. Koryu refers to Japanese styles and martial arts from before the Meiji period in Japan, when, among other things, a ban on carrying swords in public (Haitorei) was introduced (Karate, however, is exempt from this definition as it was not developed on the Japanese mainland). Koryu is therefore the old school, which differs very significantly from the new styles, and for the modern sports match. How the approach to martial arts/arts has changed was therefore also an important part of the ryugi training, where videos of old masters compared to modern sports fighters were studied and how jujutsu differs from its 'modern' counterpart, judo. Where the old systems were based on war and survival, the new systems are based on e.g. rules if you consider the sports part, and on personal development and formation in other cases.
With this understanding in place, we entered the ryuha training, the practical part. Jujutsu 2 primarily deals with throwing techniques at all heights. An important thing to understand is that throws are technically very complicated if you don't want to use muscle strength. We were therefore made aware that what we should expect was more to get a feel for the things that govern these techniques than to be able to perform them as Mifune Sensei did in the video.
However, it must be said that this was certainly also possible. As always, we were introduced to the tools (exercises) that should give us this feeling (Exercises I will not go into detail with, as the reader should participate and try it himself, if this is not already the case). This helped make the course a positive experience, with plenty of food for thought. It must be said that I was not able to perform exercises with the same grace as Kimu Sensei, but that is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
Finally, I want to mention one other thing that I feel I have gained from this course. This is that I feel I have opened my eyes more to some of the things true bujutsu masters are capable of. After the course, I myself have tried to find more recordings of old masters, and to my joy and admiration, I see how the very principles that have been introduced to us go over and over again and to complete perfection.
My dopamine 'rush' has gradually disappeared now. My body is starting to feel more and more tired, and my head is no longer relaxed, but more clear and normal. I can't help but think that this is a journey I'm on. A journey which is probably still easy for me, where the jujutsu 2 course is yet another experience. Right now I'm looking ahead, wondering if there might be more dangerous waters coming soon, and if these waters will lead me to what I might eventually find.
