A Training Analogy
By Shihan Wade Goodner (6/26/04)

There are different schools of thought on training within the dojos of the Bujinkan. One that focuses primarily on individual ryu-ha kata and concepts and details to the exclusion of others; and the other which blends the feeling and forms of the ryu-ha into an interconnection of ideas and concepts so that one school of thought doesn’t stand out above the others. Exactly how should we train? Which way is correct? Well, each method has its benefits but here are some vignettes of wisdom from Soke along with an analogy of my own which my help some of us get a different view of the way we train.

 The Bujinkan is comosed of nine different taijutsu ko-ryu (ancient schools). Hatsumi-soke teaches the feeling of these nine schools through his techniques. When training with Soke or his Shihan instructors many people ask, “which ryu-ha does this technique come from?” Some are willing to identify a specific school but others simply say it is Bujinkan. I once asked Soke why he doesn’t teach from certain ryu-ha . His answer was that he is teaching from ALL of them—we just don’t know it. This is troubling for many since they feel that they must understand the origin of the waza in order to get a better understanding of its essence.

 The basis of all these schools is the same—natural movement through taijutsu. Soke teaches that all the techniques should be studied together, not in any particular order nor with any specific feeling. “Think of it as a big smorgasbord! Pile it all on your plate and enjoy!” When asked about which grouping of waza should be studied first in the Gyokko Ryu, Soke replied, “Think of a po-boy sandwich. You don’t eat the top bread first, then eat the meat, then the cheese, then the bottom piece of bread. You take it all in with a big bite.”

 My own personal analogy of this concept of training is to think of the Bujinkan as white light (daikomyo). If you pass it through a prism you will be able to see the individual colors ROYGBIV. Each of the individual colors of the rainbow can be analogous to a specific ryu-ha in the Bujinkan, each different yet part of the whole. Do we have to know what red is before we can know orange? Is one color better than another? Must we understand each individual color before mixing and combining to make pinks, browns, and even black? Of course not, your ability to utilize and appreciate white light is not hampered by not knowing all aspects of the ROYGBIV. It certainly won’t help you use your flashlight or get a tan easier. Yes, of course, one could argue that without the knowledge of the colors and their wavelengths we might not be able to create lasers, photography, or other advanced concepts, but this argument doesn’t fit with this analogy of the ryu-ha. By understanding the gokui (highest teachings) of each of the schools you will come to the same conclusion as Soke. They all lead to the same place: The basis of the martial arts is natural movement through taijutsu, and the foundation of taijutsu is peace.

So “Pile it all on your plate and enjoy!”