Man or woman makes the Tea and Tea makes the man or woman – In my early years of training in Chugoku KuKempo, it was customary for the junior students to open up the dojo and clean it before and after training, sweep snow off the roof in winter, get the fire going, make tea, fold Sensei’s gi...

During most of the 70s and part of the 80’s I lived in Japan and Okinawa. Until ’73, Okinawa was a US protectorate and not considered “part of” Japan. After reversion, Okinawa became a prefecture of what they would call mainland Japan. Many of the Ryuku people (U’chinachu or Okinawans) believed...

Most of us think that concealment and cover are pretty much the same thing. However, for those who’s lives may depend on it, there is a huge difference between the two. Proper concealment is just that. You are invisible to your opponent. You can’t be seen. This would be like hiding in a tree or...

Menkyo Kaiden in Bo that Soke gave me a number of years agoSoke told me long ago that in order to become good in a particular weapon you have to understand the “Taijutsu” of that weapon. Each weapon has its on Taijutsu that we must understand and conform to if we are to master the weapon. In th...

Thoughts by Karl Koch, Shihan Recently, I had the opportunity to train with Shihan Rob Renner regarding the recent training in Japan and the concept of Totokuhyoshi. This kamae is general demonstrated with the sword held vertically out front as a method for deflecting shuriken; a practice ...

Nbr 2 ShotOne of the many reasons I like a shotgun for hunting or home defense is its versatility in use of ammo. 2 3/4 or 3″ shells and anything from number 8 bird shot to number 2 small game loads to slug rounds for deer. Shotguns can handle almost any load that you need for hunting. Higher n...

I think sometimes in the Bujinkan we have a misconception about what an Uke is and their role in training. Some think that the Uke is always the junior person and they are solely there for the senior person to learn a technique. Merely sacrificing their body so the senior person can do a good c...

Training Kicks – 1978A few weeks ago I wrote an article about proper punching and made a reference to kicks as also being maligned by outsiders. No doubt about it, Bujinkan kicks are extremely powerful kicks when done properly. We have all taken a well-placed heel stomp kick to the torso that t...

It is said by some that Bujinkan people don’t know how to punch or kick. I believe this is a reaction to the long distance punch and heel stomp kicks we do so often as an uke for the tori to practice a technique. What the casual observer fails to Hitting the Makiwara in 1978 see are the dev...

Arguably this is the one Japanese word that defines the art of the Bujinkan. Ichimonji loosely means first position or stance. Is it a defensive position? Is it a ready position? Is it static or a move? Does it change to something else when you put a sword or Yari in your hands? Is Ichimonji f...