Many of the Chinese & Japanese martial arts have chi/ki and jing training methods in them, but I find that this doesn't seem to be the case in the Bujinkan?
Are there methods taught to strengthen chi & jing? Because I haven't seen or heard any mention of it in the last 3-4 years I've been training.

I think it's one of those things that's there but not explicitly taught - there are many things you pick up just by being around people who can do them, I think. Expressions of flow, intent, sakki and so on seem to tie in with the idea of ki quite well.

I'm not sure, though, since I seem to be a complete blank when it comes to that side of things.

Try Sanshin-no-kata as a kind if everyday regimen. Slow and really concentrating on the movements.
In the mornings works for me. i once picked it up as a supposed help for getting yourself integrated.

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What do you mean by 'integrated'? Can you elaborate please?

Based on my experiences and training*, amazing feats of chi/jing are simply proper body positioning and fine, focused muscle control. Most people are amazed/can't perform these things because they don't spend the time learning how to move their bodies in these ways.

Because of this, I believe that Bujinkan training DOES develop "chi/jing" because it's teaching you to move naturally and powerfully without any effort. At high levels, it doesn't even appear to an outside observer that you are touching/striking/throwing/etc. with any force at all, yet your opponent is obviously being affected.

If you've been training for 3-4 years, you should be pretty relaxed/effortless in your movements.

~D

* I said "based on my experiences/training," because it's always possible that I'll experience something that will change my mind. :)

I've compiled together a couple of posts that I made on Masai in order to try to answer your question. These posts were in reply to a question regarding how meditation fits into training. Seeing how many people equate "sitting in meditation" to "learning to manifest ki," the conversation naturally moved in that direction.

Hope this helps....

-ben

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ON MEDITATION

Some teachers teach meditation to their students, but this is usually something they acquired from elsewhere. Soke does not teach meditation nor encourage it. "Just do Budo," he says, "and it will all come together."

Budo is moving meditation. In time, you gain the state of "no-mind," which is what people are sitting on their butts trying to achieve. In time, you also gain "ki" (for those of you who believe in it), which allows you to use "kiai" (true kiai, not the grunting of a base Karateka) and "kihaku." Both kiai and kihaku are part of Soke's teachings, but you still don't see people running around in class kiai-ing all the time. Why? Because that is a crass way to learn this stuff. If you just do Budo, everything else will come....

A true kiai should feel natural. It just kinda comes out. People may feel uncomfortable when it happens (thinking others might believe they are trying to make Taijutsu into Karate), but a truly skilled teacher will recognize the kiai (if it is natural) for what it is. I personally think it is a step in one's evolution as a martial artist.

Having kiai just naturally come out can be a dangerous thing though. So over time, you need to learn to control them. You don't want to risk having them come out at the wrong time. This is no different than learning to turn your "shinkengata" on and off. One second you are standing there talking with a friend, the next second you are in a fight. And then, as soon as the fight is over, you need to be able to "turn it off."

This type of training is very important. That is why I think it is important to NOT train an entire session "turned on." You cannot live life being "on" the entire time. You will frighten people around you. Instead, you need to be "invisible"--only "turning on" when you need to make a point (frighten away an attacker, reach a large audience during a speech, etc.)

During training, you need to train intensely during the time with your partner, then turn immediately carefree when your teacher is showing a technique or speaking. In fact, I think it is important for a teacher to break the intensity of the paired students by talking, telling stories, explaining things, telling jokes, whatever. People tend to get too "wound up" thinking, "If I don't train intensely, I will never get good." In fact, if you always train intensely, you will NEVER get good in my opinion.

A teacher who interrupts class, just when you are "getting into the technique" is not a bad teacher. In fact, it is a sign of a very good teacher who is trying to teach you a skill set without you knowing it.

If you train properly, these skills of kiai and shinkengata will begin to manifest. No need to do anything more than that.

-ben

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Hmm...interesting. I've never thought about it this way before, nor have I ever seen it. All that stuff where Soke (and other martial artists) throws people without touching them and drops people with just kiai comes from training in body movements?

How can something so 'miraculous' come out from training in physical ways of moving the body? Why can't NBA's top atheletes do this?? Just kidding, but I am wondering about how taijutsu is ki training...

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Yup.

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Are you thinking about whether you paid your gas bill as your tori comes to punch you in the face? Or are you "in the moment"? Can you switch between being in the moment to not being in the moment?

Go and re-read what I wrote earlier.... I think it is pretty clear how proper training manifests these other "things."

-ben

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