The weekend of October 10 -12th 2014 the Hungarian Buyukai was held in Debrecen, Hungary. It was attended by 40 plus practitioners from various dojos throughout Hungary. There were nine Instructors, who taught over a span of 2 1/2 days. Each instructor shared their interpretation of Budo Taijutsu. Everyone seemed energized and eager to learn, to have new experiences. Unfortunately, I had to leave for Budapest early Sunday. The Sunday group of instructors from what I heard did amazingly well as the Saturday group. This event is held once a year unfortunately. So many can benefit from regular events here in Hungary. Friday night was a prerequisite for the following days. There were a few instructors present who made the evening class. Techniques, principles and taijutsu were shown by each instructor for 20 minutes a piece. Many of the participants who attended Saturday, didn’t make the Friday training. The room seemed quite large and comfortable. By Saturday, I can’t say the same.
The first session Saturday was focused on Kenjutsu. The two instructors who co-taught the first class of the morning did a great job teaching basic sword principles, concepts and strategies. Unfortunately I didn’t participated in the class. I did watch and learned a lot from such a perspective. They both can be reached via the internet for further training. Péter and Benedek are very good instructors.
The second classes was lead by Balázs, who was schedule to teach the first class. In any event, Balázs continued somewhat from the first theme. Mainly focusing on the muto dori aspect of sword evasion. We were fortunate because Balázs was recently in Japan. He brought with him a particular flavor of budo taijutsu. His skill level has developed much more since I last saw him a few years back. Balázs deliberately moves slow, and precisely to understand what he learned in Japan. Thereby making him an asset to learn from. Hatsumi sensei once said, “If you can’t go to Japan to train with him, train with those who trains with him” (paraphrase). There is regularly training with Balazs. Look him up on google.
Laszlo taught the third segment from the prior theme of muto dori and taijutsu. It was fun, innovative and somewhat traditional. Laszlo has grown as well, since I last saw him a year ago. Not to mention his recent nuptials to his lovely wife. Life experiences often influences our development in martial arts, and vice versa. During Laszlo’s class, I was partnered up with a really talented young fellow, who recently became a black belt. It was a pleasure to train with him. He was skilled enough in the fundamentals to take what was being taught to different levels. Normally senior black belts would explore beyond the basic mechanics of these opportunities. I think this class was more on sabaki, and proper distancing, along through the lenses of timing. If you get the chance to train with Laszlo, please do so. You will learn!
My class was pretty basic. I started out with a summary of my interpretation of Zanshin. Then went into some muto dori applications, with the idea of zanshin, mushin and fudoshin. The concept was to analyze yourself from within. Such practice will help you to monitor your inner conditions, such as fear, tension and apprehension. Most confrontation hardly ever play out the way we train in the dojo. The dojo in my opinion is where you can consciously discover your weaknesses – frustration, pride, irritations, and fears mainly that aren’t inborn traits. While doing so, humility prevails. Then there is the other part of dojo training, which an instructor only role is as a guide. That is to instruct the student in developing foundation. A foundation is built by way of learning the fundamentals. In the Bujinkan, there is a particular set of fundamentals that are essential in the development of a budoka. Once these tools are acquired through consistent training, the very student begins to incorporate certain principles in their lives, and maturity sprouts from within. If what I taught was to be translated, the above would closely match the physical approach I took to demonstrate my point. In closing, I decided to introduce a drill hardly, if not, ever taught in a dojo. Multiple attacks (i.e. grabs, escapes, etc). I asked everyone to break up in groups of 6 to 8 people. One person was to get in the middle, and continuously move, breath, and escape the grabs. This drills was to stimulate the nervous system, and raise the blood pressure. It was not about fighting. The benefit was to stress the system, through this particular workload, and experience an imbalance psyche. When the psyche is off, the economy of motion is restricted, and tension fortifies the person to rely on technique. The drill shown can tech the body how to naturally respond to attacks.
To learn more about Ninp Taijtusu Fighting & Health, go to our facebook page: Koteki Dojo Hungary, and scroll down to find our sign up link to receive periodic newsletters for training schedule, seminars, and private training. Anthony is a senior instructor, and certified to teach Systema as well.
Friends, please look up the instructors mentioned, if you’re seriously interested in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. There are other instructors in Hungary, who did not make the event, who I believe is equally qualified to teach budo taijutsu. I can only vouch for those whom I trained with, and were present at the buyukai.
Kocsis Csaba, did a wonderful job organizing this event, along with his staff. He was present everywhere to help, and assist when needed. A true pioneer of martial arts. A few people came to me and asked if I understood, and were willing to help. The unselfishness, and compassion was insurmountable.
