So somewhat unexpectedly, I find myself here in Peterborough on the first day of the koryu seminar. Beers last night with life-long friends and students, then more beer at Jim Wilson’s place. Very nice.
It’s early in the morning, but I’m sure you all want to know what we talked about last night, Ohmi sensei, Jim, Carole and I. Don’t worry too much, it was the same old round of wondering what would be the very best things to do for the students. The same discussion I’ve had with Ohmi sensei since the first year I met him when we declared, in a car driving home from a seminar in Montreal, that we would not act selfishly, but we would instead always act for the students.
And I think we have, I also think we have produced a few students who feel the same way, in fact, most of our students feel that way.
Inevitably, we come to those who have disappointed us, those who act selfishly, who seek what? To be a big fish in a small pond maybe. Who knows? These are the students who rush to find the most powerful sensei they can, who are just gagging for that next rank. You know the types they exist in every martial art and in every country. They have to be lived with, like you might have to live with squirrels in your attic.
And like those squirrels, they may mess up that attic with their poo. Oh dear, Ohmi sensei would tell me I’m being unkind and he’s right. These students generally weren’t made the way they are by any of us senior instructors, and they most certainly feel that they are doing the best for the students. Which is why they are so hard to deal with.
Today we will be starting with the Omori ryu, the first set of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. I want to line everyone up in lineage order, Ohmi sensei out front, his students next, their students and grand students and great-grandstudents. But it’s more of a thought experiment. There’s a lot of cross training.
Why bother? Because koryu is lineage, as simple as that. It’s your teacher and his and the fellow before that. Do you know your lineage? You should.
A problem that came up was the idea that “It’s koryu, you can do what you want.” I know where that comes from but it’s not true. There are many “variations” which we tend to show in class, which leads to “What ever you want.” It’s not. I’ve invited the term “Type specimin” which comes from zoology. The type specimin is kept in a drawer in a museum. That’s the kata you were taught first, the one sensei showed you before he showed you all the variations.
Does that mean there’s never any change? Of course there is. You can’t do that angle because of your shoulder? Remember that angle and then do another one so you can do the kata. Teach your students the angle sensei taught and explain that you can’t do that one. It’s not all that hard, but it’s also not rocket science. If you make a mistake the rocket blows up. If a student isn’t your clone, it’s OK.
~~
Kim Taylor Oct 21, 2023
Aaargh, sorry about the extra stuff below. On my bluetooth
somewhat unexpectedly, I find myself here in Peterborough on the first day of the koryu seminar. Beers last night with life-long friends and students, then more beer at Jim Wilson’s place. Very nice.
It’s early in the morning, but I’m sure you all want to know what we talked about last night, Ohmi sensei, Jim, Carole and I. Don’t worry too much, it was the same old round of wondering what would be the very best things to do for the students. The same discussion I’ve had with Ohmi sensei since the first year I met him when we declared, in a car driving home from a seminar in Montreal, that we would not act selfishly, but we would instead always act for the students.
And I think we have, I also think we have produced a few students who feel the same way, in fact, most of our students feel that way.
Inevitably, we come to those who have disappointed us, those who act selfishly, who seek what? To be a big fish in a small pond maybe. Who knows? These are the students who rush to find the most powerful sensei they can, who are just gagging for that next rank. You know the types they exist in every martial art and in every country. They have to be lived with, like you might have to live with squirrels in your attic.
And like those squirrels, they may mess up that attic with their poo. Oh dear, Ohmi sensei would tell me I’m being unkind and he’s right. These students generally weren’t made the way they are by any of us senior instructors, and they most certainly feel that they are doing the best for the students. Which is why they are so hard to deal with.
Today we will be starting with the Omori ryu, the first set of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. I want to line everyone up in lineage order, Ohmi sensei out front, his students next, their students and grand students and great-grandstudents. But it’s more of a thought experiment. There’s a lot of cross training.
Why bother? Because koryu is lineage, as simple as that. It’s your teacher an
Seito Bugei Juku 