Hello fellow Buyu
Recently I watched the latest well known Koppojutsu dvd.
I think it's a beautifull dvd especially the Gikan, Kumogakure, Gyokushin part. So with watching the dvd, and 'studying' Soke's movements, what really catched my eye was that it seemed like he was using very much power. Or is it something else? like energy, kihaku maybe. Maybe that's the feeling of Koto Ryu?
So my question is if anyone can tell me more about this.
Thank you.

John

I typically have nothing bad to say about any of Soke's videos but I was rather dissapointed with this one.

Super compliant uke (leaping into things way before they needed to go) and the cheesy special effects bumped this to the bottom of my training DVD rack.

As far as the arts most of us who bought this for, even though we owned it already, it was what five minutes worth?

Overall just a bad MA DVD, I liked the original Koto Ryu ones footage much better than the added/edited scenes of this one. Makes me wish I didn't give my VHS Koto Ryu away when I ordered this.

Quote:

I'm really fighting back the desire to want to defend this DVD.

In regards to "leaping into things" observation I clearly saw this as the next step in subtle mayhem on Soke's part, and all the Uke's nimble ukemi as "survival". I've just seen the escalation of brutality Soke has rewarded his faithful with and am both left jealous of them, and glad it's not me.

There is one scene where Yamanaka Sensei nimbly leaps into the air. This scene is etched into my psyche because it's apparent that his body has sensed that there's no time for organized ukemi and that releaving itself of gravity is the best defense. I like how he jumps into a mid-air fetal position. It's scarey and disturbing at the same time. He takes such brutal ukemi from Soke during DKMS every year, it leaves me wondering how he survives serious joint and ligament injury. I had someone else ask him this outside of Honbu dojo in Spring, but the translation wasn't clear and he just laughed at me!

Anyway, don't take this as criticism I understand your opinion and am sorry you didn't like the video. And speaking for myself, yes - it was worth that 5 minues of those three schools.

Hello,

I really loved the DVD to. I think the reason Soke's movements seem more 'Kihaku-like' is because Soke teaches the Ura and Omote the In/Yo. In this world we have the In/Yo in nature, and because Bujinkan is about the nature of this world it teaches the Ura and Omote of thinks. Soke teaches the hard and the soft sides for instance.

I remember Soke said that the reason why Bujinkan is now in his adulthood is because the two sides have now fallin in love with eachother and we should see the hard and the soft as one . So I think that's why you see Soke do it the hard way in this DVD and sometimes he does the softer way. Soke stated that it is better for a beginner to start with and study the soft way first. Because you can then have a good start and go really into the movement. In nature it often works like that, first it's soft and then the flow of life makes it harder. For example your feet, when your a baby it's soft and in the years it gets 'harder' because of the tougher skin.

So in this way I tried to explain for me why this Koppojutsu DVD was that way. I think the Bujinkan is about creating a balance between In/Yo. But the soft/peace side is a little more important to be a good human. If we as warriors use the hard side (war or fighting for instance) we often use it to keep the soft side, the peace.
These are just my thoughts and I hope this is helpfull to you

Jiri

OK, I made a proper account now, because my first wasnt good. sorry

Jiri

Hey five minutes is five minutes. I always enjoy watching Soke work his brand of martial magic! (how could you not)

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com

I enjoyed this DVD alot.

As with all training DVD's that show the Katas from the various Ryuha Densho I believe we have to keep it real. Katas are merely forms without the creativity we put into these forms they are just empty husks.

It feels good however to work our way through various katas to get the "feeling" but we must keep it real. We could learn every Kata perfectly but does that make us perfect martial artists.....erm....I believe not.

With regard to Koppojutsu Hatsumi Sensei said it is the "knack" of Taijutsu that is the real Koppo.

In Japan Hatsumi Sensei talked about a famous calligrapher who never let his brush leave the canvas through his works maybe this calligrapher had found the "knack" or the Koppo of his art.

I loved the DVD I will take on board what I believe Sensei is teaching. I have seen a few people demonstrate Koppojutsu and it seems quite an explosive ethos.......im deeply intrigued by the style of this Ryu.

Any informative DVD on the subject is like gold dust.