Why Do I have a martial arts Blog?

My reason for having a martial arts blog has changed over the last few years for me. My initial thoughts were to use this blog to convey technique, culture, philosophy, kata, and more. Subsequently this became a forum to promote any specific events or seminars that my group had or I was attending. I realised that the more I trained the more I had to share and the world of budo being so vast and deep there was defintely no stop to the learning. This blog then became a mirror for my thoughts on budo.

The last few weeks of training have been spectacular with the quality of fellow practitioners being really special and thus I decided to share a few photos from our training sessions here.

Our facebook page www.facebook.com/bujinkan.ae has more photos but here is a glimpse.

Perhaps the real reason I have a martial arts blog is to be able to share the amount of Fun we have at our traning sessions??? Perhaps thats the real reason we train?
 Feel free to drop by anytime. You are bound to meet some great people and have fun! :)
Stay happy, Train hard

Weekend Ninjutsu Seminar in Dubai, UAE

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Ninjutsu Martial arts Seminar in Dubai

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Shihan Arnaud Cousergue Bujinkan Ninjutsu Seminar in Dubai

Shihan Arnaud Cousergue Martial arts Seminar (Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, Ninjutsu) in Dubai

April 11th & 12th, 2014

This 2 Day seminar will Cover all the basics of the 9 schools of Bujinkan martial system.

****Dont Miss this chance to train with one of the Senior MOST Practitioners of our martial art in the world and one of the TOP Students of our Sôke (Grandmaster and founder of Bujinkan) - Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi****

Days : Apr11 & 12 (Friday & Saturday)
Timings : 10am to 5:30pm - (930am Reporting time)
Who can Come? : Open For Beginners, people with no martial experience and existing practitioners
What will you learn? : Basics, Rolls, Punches, Blocks, Kicks, Throws, Locks, Pins, Evasions, Grappling, Reversals, Weapons, Groundwork, Vocabulary, Martial Philosophy and much more.

Venue : Day 1 (April 11th)

KO GYM, Dubai Marina, Dreams tower 1 (near JLT metro Station) location map : https://goo.gl/maps/bNUvn 

Venue : Day 2 (April 12th)UFS GYM 39th Floor, Concord tower, Dubai Media City. (In front of 10 Sports) Tel:+971-4-3991313location map : https://goo.gl/maps/7C39M 

Fees
Early Bird Discount - AED500 For 2 days both days (book by 25th March)
Book On the spot - Seminar Per Day - AED 300
*student discount Available*

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About Shihan Arnaud Cousergue

Shihan Arnaud has been training for more than 45 years in “martial arts” including 30+ years in the Bujinkan. He has given seminars all over the world and conducted many Taikais (international training sessions) and travels 3 times to Japan every year to train under the Sôke (grand master / owner of the sacred scrolls) Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi

He holds the following Black Belts - Judo 1st Dan, Karate 3rd Dan, Bujinkan Taijutsu 15th Dan

He also has been awarded the highest level of diplomas in the Bujinkan system including the Shingitai Diploma ( Tokyô Apr 2011) and the Shi Tennô Diploma ( Tokyô Aug 2012)

Arnaud Cousergue has also received a Menkyo Kaiden in Fûgyô Happô Biken in 2002 and a Menkyo Kaiden in Tachi Waza in 2004. The Menkyo’s are the highest grade of transmission in the martial arts. Being the technical mentor to many Dojos around the world he is the leading light for many martial artistes who follow him for his knowledge, skills and experience. He shares his martial thoughts on his popular blog. 

We privileged to host him at Bujinkan UAE

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Shingin Budō - Bujinkan Theme for 2014

 

As you already might know, Every year our Soke - Dr Masaaki Hatsumi sets a new theme for our training in the Bujinkan. Last year (year of the snake) it was the Tsurugi

The theme of this year, the year of the horse, seems to be

Shingin Budō 神韻武導 .
 

 Here is the breakdown of the Kanji (Japanese Characters)

神  - shin/kami: God

韻 - in/un/hibiki: to rhyme, sound

(神韻: Shingin (/Shinin): exceptional artistry of words, poetry or literature

 

武 - bu/mu/takedakeshi: martial

導 - dō means to lead and michibiku 導 means to guide

武導: budō - same pronunciation as 武道 budō: which means martial art or the martial way

 

The meaning of shingin is exceptional artistry, and budō is budō, the martial way. This is just a simple definition. The theme is still subject to interepretations and will evolve through the year when our understanding becomes deeper of the concept.

(Do note - Japanese Kanji is such that its open to multiple interpretation and the same sounding word can be written with different kanji and have different meanings in Japanese.)

 

 

This is a picture of Shingin budō 神韻武導 scroll drawn by soke.. it is displayed at the Honbu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan

 

The chinese believe the horse to be symbol of perseverance. The symbolism is also associated with the qualies of speed, high class and being warm-hearted. This year and the Horse Imagery should remind us to improve ourselves constantly 

 

And to improve you have to take the guidance of your seniors in this art. Ask your teacher and their teacher and perhaps even Soke for his interpretation of theme of the year. Persevere till you find your answer. And afterall the "Nin" in Ninjutsu does stand for perseverance. Stick to your training plan, endure the pain, proceed at a good pace and you will soon gallop like a horse.

 

A tool that Hatsumi sensei has given us is the kihon happo - the basiscs of Bujinkan. At the end of the day, the basics are the path to your freedom and one cannot be truly free if you are not steadfast on your path. 

 

That said I have to conclude by admitting that the trick to actually finding the true meaning of things is to train. Hope to see you on the mat soon.

 

Train hard. Stay happy.



Happy Birthday Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi - from Bujinkan UAE

December is always a special month in the Bujinkan. The Grand-master of the Bujinkan - Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi celebrates his birthday on the 2nd of December :)

Our Soke (grand-master), besides being  a highly accomplished martial artist, doctor and healer, writer, actor, and artist is the founder of Bujinkan System which encompasses nine ancient martial art traditions of feudal Japan. This system integrates physical,mental and spiritual elements for personal growth and development. He is the heir and inheritor of these nine traditional schools of Ninjutsu and Samurai-jutsu and he can also be described as the "last living ninja".

Every year in December his students from all around the world traveled to Tokyo for the Dai Komyo Sai (DKMS) training sessions and celebration of his birthday. I had the luck to be part of DKMS 2010 and it was an exhilarating experience. This is the first year (2013) that there will be no DKMS. 

As our Soke (grand-master) turns 81, we at the Bujinkan UAE, decided to honor him with one more opportunity for you to train in his art. I think he would like this birthday gift! :)

Happy birthday Soke!

Great news for you if you Live in Dubai. We start our Morning classes in December. These will be Every Tuesday starting December 3rd. The classes will be of 90mins from 7:00am to 8:30am (you can leave earlier if you have to go to work) and will comprise of basics, advanced movements and weapons. 

These classes will be held at Core Direction in Dubai Marina - Ground Floor Dreams Tower 2 (same Building as Bob's Fish and chips). Here is the location map. 

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for more updates and call us and have a chat if you want to know more. Trust me we are super friendly! :)

We hope to see you on the mat. 

Breathe Right - Stay Happier!

I love the Bujinkan system of fighting. Here is reason #1493

Part of our training includes Junan taiso (junan meaning flexible). This is a yogic method of stretching and breathing. This predominently helps us develop and maintain good physical condition and wellbeing. The exercises promote relaxation, blood circulation, muscle toning and flexibility
All major joints are rotated and stretched in a proper manner while healthy breathing and concentration are practiced.

The use of breathwork through out any given exercise drill set is quite literally mind blowing. The exercises are designed to strengthen the body from the core outwards, allowing for greater muscle and joint flexibility. Furthermore due to great emphasis being placed on ligament as opposed to muscle strength, the practitioner finds they are able to practice effectively right into old age. The body becomes full of calm yet explosive with energy.

The trick to stamina is correct breathing. The secret to good posture is correct breathing. The answer to physical pain & worries is correct breathing. The differnce between "alive" and "dead" is also breathing. Being awarness of ones breath is also the core of most meditation practices.
I hope you come to class soon and learn to breathe right! :)

Stay happy!
 

Bujinkan UAE is on Facebook

Training in the UAE just got a bit more cooler. We have had regular classes 3 days a week over the last 4 months and now even have an active community on facebook.

In case you are not a part of it.. then join right now. All you need to do is click "like" on www.facebook.com/bujinkan.ae

This page is predominently for practitioners of Bujinakan Budo taijutsu (Ninjutsu) in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman) But even if you dont practice you are more than welcome to come hang out with us! :) If you want to know more about martial arts in general or our martial arts system in specific, feel free to give us a shout.

Pretty cool eh?