Michael uses the Yari to create illusion
We warmed up with 雷光之剣 raikou no ken. We study how to cut efficiently, but this drill also gives great insight into sword kamae. We finished our warmup with advancing and retreating footwork against an opponent.
I began class with 突伏 tsuki buse. The name of this kata suggests thrusting and covering with the spear. But another translation can be thrust and drop as I explain below.
It looks like basic thrusting, but the thrusts are illusions that destroy the opponent’s heart and spirit. You literally thrust at the heart. And then the spirit, or 腹 hara.
This is where the fighting spirit or concentration of inner energy is found. The precise target can be 臍下丹田 seika tanden. This idea originated in India with the svadhisthana chakra. This is where ki or 気合 kiai comes from. Sometimes it is described as having guts or courage to do something.
In this kata, when we tsuki with the yari, we are crushing his fighting spirit. The most interesting thing that I’ve learned from Hatsumi Sensei recently, is that this does not require physical contact. It happens in a dimension of the kukan that is hidden from normal fighting.
This leads to the ふせ fuse, or the second kanji of the kata’s name. On the final thrust, the tip of the spear drops into this other space in the kukan. This is difficult to explain, but my students experienced how difficult it is to defend. If you thrust this way with the yari, it is not a purely physical act.
In this manner, the tip of the spear expresses what Hatsumi Sensei calls 体槍一如 taisō ichinyo. The body and spear are one. In fact, you are what thrusts into the space. Thrusting into the kukan with your own ki, this is how you cut down your enemy (切り伏せる).
Of Note: and we are off to a strong start.