KoRyu Budo
“Ideas From the Past to Serve the
Present”
By: Sukh S. Sandhu
The Gi Yu Honbu Dojo
Dayton OH. USA
04/14
Studying an
“old” Japanese Bujutsu art form for over 26 years now, I have found a chance to
explore the idea of the “samurai” and their techniques they employed to wage
war and carry on a confident peace. This
Warrior and his/her methods and code have intrigued me for as long as I can recall,
but never more than at this point in my training and life. Having multiple ranks in various arts and
having had the wonderful opportunities to train with many martial arts masters
and legends of all disciplines…I have come to the conclusion that ALL martial
forms have similarities and are related, regardless of the name on the top of
the scroll.
Lately at my
headquarter school in Dayton Ohio, USA (www.giyudojo.com) we have been studying one of our
Koryu Lineages that employed most of their movements with the expectation of
wearing armor, Yoroi. Kukishin Ryu, or
“The School of The Nine Demon Gods” (the name suggests some psychological
warfare, using a fearsome name to scare your enemies) is a school that dates back
to about 1329 (it was called Kishin Dakentaijutsu then). This info is in the Nippon no Bugei Ryu-Ha
Daijiten, and actually suggests there are several “branches of this lineage and
several “heads” of these schools. The
branch we study comprises jujutsu, sword
(long/short), spear, glave, staff. We
will be referencing the Jujutsu portion or “Dakentaijutsu” scrolls for this
article. Also, we utilize Yoroi armor
from 2 sources where you are able to purchase reasonably priced Japanese Replica
Armor… Japanese-Armor.com and Paul Chen Hanwei Armor via CasIberia.com.
The
technique we will study was originally performed wearing armor, so in this
lineage you must use low hip movement, power comes from the legs, attacking
pressure points and “finishing” the opponent(s) is crucial. We will show one of the techniques in armor
as they were meant to be, then as we study them and then in a modern jujutsu application.
The name of
the technique is Sei On, its rough idea/meaning is “to create something
new”. It comes from the ShoDen no Kata
Scroll of The Kukishin Ryu Dakentaijutsu Densho.
1. Opponents wearing Yoroi are in
standard grappling mode, gripping where they can
2. The ShiDachi moves sideways to the
left and slides the right thumb under the opponent’s face plate (Menpo) to attack Ugasumi (cheek bone area), Left hand
is applying pressure on back of UchiDachi’s right elbow.
3. ShiDachi steps in with low hips (due
to the weight of the armor) and a lot of leg power to hit in to UchiDachi’s
right leg and performs Osoto Gake
4. Follow opponent to ground , draw
Kobuto Wari (helmet crusher) and finish opponent
Now from the
way we teach at our normal Koryu weekly classes:
1. Opponents are in standard grappling
mode, gripping opponent’s sleeve and lapel
2. The ShiDachi moves sideways to the
left and hits the right thumb (BoshiKen) to Ugasumi (cheek bone area), Left
hand is applying pressure on back of UchiDachi’s right elbow.
3. ShiDachi steps in with low hips with
a lot of leg power to hit and sit in to UchiDachi’s right leg to “break” the
knee by performing Osoto Gake
4. Follow opponent to ground and press
with right thumb through UchiDachi’s cheek to pin/restrain.
Lastly the same technique from our grappling Suwari Gata classes:
1. Opponents are in standard grappling
mode, gripping opponent’s sleeve and lapel
2. The ShiDachi moves sideways to the
left to “hide” and uses right hand to push on Uchidachis neck face, Left hand
is applying pressure on back of UchiDachi’s right elbow.
3. ShiDachi closes distance, right hand
is on opponent’s right shoulder, continue to dis-balance and perform Osoto Gari
in to UchiDachi’s right leg to “sweep”
the leg out.
4. Follow opponent to ground and press
with left hand through opponent’s elbow, right hand presses against their
head, place right shin against their
ribs as you roll them to their left, step over their head with the left, lock
elbow against your body, start to press pelvis out, slide down, squeeze knees,
apply JujiGatame .
