It was a very special Taikai, imo. Perhaps one of the best.

Soke was clearly feeling the moment. On the first day, he had on display the chief priest outfit of Shugendo, similar to the type that Takamatsu would have worn. Soke wore his Jiraya outfit all three days, and the four to five main Shihan were in gold monk's robes. I've never seen anything like it.

Soke spoke widely of Takamatsu's passing, and only gave the Godan on the actual anniversary day (the second day). Of about 25+ people who attempted, 20 or so were turned into mashed potatoes. I think ten people failed in a row before the first one passed.

On the third day, Soke began by announcing that several 15th dans "had been born of me" and that we would come to know who they were in time. Soke also said that there will be no Shidoshi born outside of Japan any longer. Even the 15th dans who may now give the test MUST go to Japan with the candidate and administer the exam in Soke's presence.

Soke also came down hard on people who had taken advantage of his good will, specifically people who recommend their friends for rank, not because of their Budo, but because of their friendship. At one point, he admonished, "This is not about friendship. This is about Budo."

These two announcements are very important and should be viewed by every member of the Bujinkan on the Taikai DVD for full effect of their gravity. There shall be no grey area on these matters.

There were so many people at Taikai (over 300) that Ayase actually felt crowded. Panning across the room, it looked like an ancient battlefield. It was very good training.

Soke's movement is becoming smaller and smaller. Clearly, most people couldn't see anything, let alone replicate it. It used to be that Soke would move into position and you could see him "thinking" about what cool thing to do. Now, he moves so naturally, there is no intention whatsoever. Just a few inches of movement and people are falling over themselves. His timing and distancing were impeccable, but generally unreplicable (in my humble opinion) to almost everyone.

Of great surprise to me during the reception party was the presence of Mr. Yonegawa. He is the other gentleman in the old photos of Takamatsu in the park. He talked about the treks with Hatsumi down to Nara "before the days of the Shinkansen" and mentioned how Takamatsu would always make sure they had writings and calligraphy with them when they left after every practice. Takamatsu even named Yonegawa's son--some forty years ago.

All in all, one could say the Taikai was a very religious experience. Much of what Soke was saying drew from Buddhism, which none of the translators (including myself) knew anything about. Of note was the mention of the "Rokudai." In addition to the conventionally known "Godai" (Chi, Ka, Sui, Fu, Ku) there is a sixth (Shiki), which refers to "Consciousness." Soke said that Musashi's focus only on the five rings fell short of the truth. Shiki is an important aspect of the Buddhist tradition and played a frequent role in Soke's discussions throughout my time there.

On the last day, Soke began to speak about "yuugen no sekai." Discussion of this concept is also in Soke's new book, which is a beautiful piece of work translated brilliantly by Ben Jones.

Soke first spoke the words "yugen no sekai" about 6-7 years ago. I remember it, because there was talk amongst us about how it was being used. As the translator struggled to make sense of the words during Taikai, I offered up the translation of "dream world" because that is the meaning with which Soke had used before -- "yume no yu." This time at Taikai, it became clear after I had spoken that Soke was referring to "yuurei no yu," which changes the meaning to "spirit world."

I will argue that the belief in Japan that people can communicate with the spirit world during sleep kinda melds the two together so the pedantic differentiation doesn't really matter in my opinion. For some, it may. For me, it does not. The feeling of what Soke wanted to say on this important occasion was clear.

I hope that helps!

-ben

Thanks Ben,

speaking of rokudai, you guys may want to read THIS It explains it pretty well as an introduction.

Also the "sound" Skiki can mean form.

In the Hannya Shingyo, a famous line reads ku soku ze shiki, shiki soku ze ku. Emptiness is form, form is emptiness. They both exist as one, what is the one before the two? Shiki of the rokudai, dainichi noyrai, maha vairochana buddha.

Interesting stuff...

I don't know about anyone else, I have been around a while but NOW seems to be a SPECIAL time in the Bujinkan a Golden time...

At the beginning of the first day of the Tai Kai ( as well as at a class with Soke a few days before), Soke mentioned something that Takamatsu had told him that was very important and it was along the lines of : hide your body, hide your thoughts, hide something else. I don't remember exactly what the three were ( actually i'm sure i've messed the first two up). But it was important because it was mentioned more than once, and at the beginning of the Taikai.

Also another thing mentioned by soke was something like Kami hito e or shito or something like that, Ed Lomax had mentioned it to me during 2003, and said that it meant something like within the distance of a sheet of paper, This kind of distancing being critical.

Also Yoyu, or yuyo was mentioned. Which also has something to do with critical distance.

If anyone could help clarify these three things for me ( what they are in Japanese namewise, and what they mean). I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Alex Bushman

Thanks for your input, Ben.

Quote:

I think it is

身を忍び (mi-wo shinobi)
心を忍び (kokoro-wo shinobi)
識を忍ぶ (shiki-wo shinobu)

(Don't ask me to translate it. m(_ _)m )

Thanks to Ben for taking the time to post his Tai Kai report. Sounds like an eventful few days, and I look forward to the DVD.

If I may...

"Shiki wo shinobu" was one of the first things that Sensei mentioned on the opening day of Taikai. (It was not translated during the opening comments.)

The concept of "shiki" was a big theme of the Taikai, from what I heard/saw. (I was only able to attend half of it due to work.) Shiki can generally be translated as awareness, intention, or consciousness. We find it in words like "kaishiki" (subconscious), "muishiki" (unconsciousness), "joshiki" (common sense), etc. Sensei talked about "shiki" as being the 6th element, which the human applies to the 5 natural elements of chi, sui, ka, fu, ku. (This has a lot of interesting parallels to Western Alchemy, in which the element of Spirit is used to control the 4 natural elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.)

Sensei talked about the 6th element as being something which is above the other 5 and is used to control them, but also as something that we have to learn to conceal, and something which we must learn to *refrain* from using when not necessary. These concepts of both concealment and restraint are what we talk about when we talk about "nin," and the character for "nin" is often pronounced "shinobu" when used as a word by itself. The 3 lines that Ohashi-san has given above read:

Mi wo shinobi
Kokoro (Shin) wo shinobi
Shiki wo shinobu

These form a type of ninjutsu proverb, and roughly translate as:

Conceal the body
Conceal the heart/mind
Conceal the awareness/intention/spirit

This concealment/restraint aspect of nin applies to all areas of life where you are dealing with any kind of power, be that the political power of a nation, personal finances, or even rank - it is not something to be shown off or "used" in an obvious way all the time, but only when it is most effective to one's own purposes to do so. This is one of the areas of training that I feel has the most direct application to daily life. There are relatively few times when most of us have had to use taijutsu to physically defend ourselves - this is a principle that we can use in our everyday lives, and I feel that this is why Sensei stresses this type of principle.

Shawn

Thank's to all those who took the time to share of what is but a drop in the ocean of what Sensei is trying to convey this year.

Thanks for the word Ben. :)

Here is an opinion from the view point of Hatsumi sensei's valet at Taikai.

mi-wo-shinobi : You should arrange slipper which you take off at the entrance of dojo. Sensei was laughing when he saw mess slippers. Enlightenment is under your foot.

kokoro-wo-shinobi : You should not ask any question to sensei while everyone is training. Sensei is not only for you. If you have any question, ask it to high rank shihan first.

shiki-wo-shinobu : You should think about this opinion before you criticize this.

Quote:

No. Thanks to Shawn for picking up a very important point that I forgot about. Very good stuff!

And thanks to Joji for being the catalyst, and for Harada-san for his thoughts! Great stuff all around!

-ben