Kyudo: Reality

“Everyone tries to shoot naturally, but nearly all practitioners have some kind of strategy, some kind of shallow, artificial, calculating technical trick that they rely on when they shoot. Technical tricks ultimately lead nowhere. Shoot without shooting…Awa Kenzo

I am, I believe pretty good at keeping my ego in check and being realistic about things I do. Modest, Humble. Hmm I wonder does saying one is humble and modest about things, make one not humble and modest. Anyway, I having been shooting I believe fairly well as of late, Yes Mark, for my level. Tomorrow I will do a percentage check on my shooting. Anyway, I thought I had figured out the the tenuchi. I needed to hold on better and was still working on holding steady and not letting the Yumi slip then using my lighting fast Mantis reflexes to catch the bow (^_^). Anyway I was was told by Sensei, my grip was still wrong, I need to focus on that. So my two main tasks at hand are holding the bow correctly and not letting my hand drop when shooting.

I figure for what Sensei was saying I need a monkey claw fist to hold the Yumi. That is the best way for me to relate to it, in Kung Fu terms. Monkey fist shape and not my mantis grip , which puts way to much grip on the bow. I get a good lock, but too much so. Ok, this will take time. Which is to be expected. On the other side of things, my draw has improved. I still need to recall to drop my shoulders but I am making progress.

Sensei gave me a verbal quiz at the end of class. That is starting to be his habit with me. Which means I need hit the Kyuhon more as well as the dojo. This is a good thing it will keep me in balance and ready for Japan.

“The basis of our Great Way is Nature. We often hear talk of becoming one with nature. Every religion teaches this. If you can truly comprehend nature, then the Bow will be easy to master”… Awa Kenzo

Sensei had something interesting to say in class about Japan Kyudo vs American Kyudo. In Japan they are about hitting with touches on the spiritual part. In America we are about the Spiritual part with touches on the hitting part. This is for the most part speaking. Those who read this know I was put down for being to “zen” by one Sensei. Interestingly enough I am reading a Book called Zen Bow, Zen Arrow/ The life and teachings of Awa Kenzo. It is said by a certain group that all the stuff in Zen and the Art of Archery is just misunderstood translations by the German guy. Master Awa was not a student of Zen, he never had formal Zen training. After reading this book, I do not think they are correct in their assessment. One do not need to have formal “Zen” training to become enlightened, or opened to our connection to the Universe. One only needs a “stamp” when belonging to one sect or another. The Zen mind is not about a sect, it is about and awareness and experience. In Christian terms it is about a personal relationship with God. You do not need a “church” or temple to have it.  So in short, just because Awa did not have formal Zen training does not mean he did not have a Zen mind. Zen is just a word, it is just a finger pointing to the moon ( yes I’m back to that Mark). I find it interesting also that due to his change in mind from target Kyu-Jitsu to Kyu-Do he was put down by many, yet he was still a Master Archer, the only thing that changed was his mind. Perhaps even a raise in his skill, Now he could shoot without trying to shoot, hit without trying to hit, Be one with everything , without trying to be one with everything.

There will be a mini Seminar coming up this weekend. I have been invited at no charge to me. Nice. However I am a bit concerned about keeping the separation of styles, we all know how important it is not to mix styles.  Some would say that even practicing together is taboo. I think that is going to far. It should I’m thinking not be that difficult to keep separate at this point. for a weekend. As the Chukurin-ha group does not do Tai Hai, other wise the Shomen, Shamen is the main difference. Once in Daisan, the rest is the same. I should be able to handle the separation,  As doing Chu Tai Chi and Yang Tai Chi. Kai is Kai, Hanare is Hanare, Tenuchi is Tenuchi.

“Masters do not rely on subterfuge”…Awa Kenzo

I will have something to post later, maybe after Japan, maybe before. Depends on my mood about the two faces of American Kyudo. I have touched on it before but I something more to express on bring out about my disappointment/disgust  with the two face dealing of those who speak of virtue development from Kyu-Do, yet do dirt in the shadows. They are of course just people. However as they say , that is another story.

_/|\_

Update:

Well now that my little ego and confidence has been totally stepped on by Go-Dan M3 , I will be going out to practice my Tai Hai today at RSD. Seems I need A Lot more work if I hope to pass San-kyu…Yosh

Kung Fu Kyudo Go Kung Fu

Kung Fu Kyudo GO Kung Fu, it sounds funky, rolls off the tongue, very rhythmic when you say it, a cool beat… it was my day

Sat, was a long day for me. I was up at 6:30 to head over to Tai Chi class. I had spoke with a lady who said she was interested in coming by, she did not. I should have known better, but I figure, maybe this one is different (^_^). As my senior student was out of town there was only one in attendance. He got a private lesson, which he really needed. I am always surprised when I see how out of touch with their bodies some people are.

After class I headed almost direct to V-town for Kyudo. We where going to shoot 60 meters today. It is usually 30 min drive, today it took over an hour or more there was a major traffic problem plus some major clean up of a spill. Horrible wait time. The second this week for traveling that direction. Finally I past it and zipped out to the Boneyard. Senpai and I got things setup with some new adjustments he had made to the netting and target system, which turned out well. So we had at it.

I had the first two shots. Whoosh, the first one missed. I got my internal lazer targeting system set and BAM hit on the next shot. Whoohoo. Pretty much the whole day I got at least one hit out of every 2 shots. I avg about 50% for the day. My last shots I got two in a row. Whoa, if I can shoot like that in Nihon, I could make it through the first round of eliminations. That would be sweet and more than enough to send me home happy. We’ll see.

Next back home. I picked up LZ, we were off to the Alameda Library. There was a GO club meeting there. I wanted to learn some of the basics from some people who knew what they were doing. I had tried to play before but was not clear on the rules. After some hassle finding the group we where shocked to find it was mostly kids. I was going to stay anyway . There instructor was not very together in his delivery. I was able to get a very basic idea of the structure, before LZ pushed me to leave. She was not comfortable, so many kids, she could not understand the guy’s English, she was ready to leave. I was not pleased but allowed myself to be pushed out… but not happy camper. Anyway, now I’m back to finding a book, I did find out there are some on-line resources as well for games. I will go back to the meeting next month…alone.

I had a very short nap once home, then off to pickup Ling Sisook to head down to Campbell for Eng Sifu’s Chinese New Year Party with my classmates. On the way down, we run into another traffic Jam, not as bad as earlier. SiSuk called to say we were running late, do not wait. He said not that many people were there. I did not think so as yet, it was still early, most of the time they come 1 hour later than the start time. When we arrived there was a fair amount of people, with more coming in behind us. So it turned out to be a good crowd.  Campbell school, San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, and Alameda. It was nice to see everyone. Oh, I did not say the new school of Sifu’s in Placerville. I guess that should be included, as the guy running it was there. So that gave us a total of six school for the NY’s party.

Weird and kind of gross .. Ne!

There was a ton of food and drinks, some of which I would not touch.. Everyone had plenty, LZ was not there, so I took a lot home to her and still there was plenty for others to take home as well.  I did not get a great amount to eat, yet several different salads, some noodles, some veggie dish, dessert, wine, brandy was enough.

I was full enough, and getting sleepy. I was glad things started early so we were able visit, eat, visit chat, drink, and still head out around 9:30pm.  I was home by 10:30 perfect.  A good day of work, play and visiting family I was ready for bed kind of early @ 11:30.

Sunday was to be a long day of Kyudo training.

Back to Do…3 of 6

On Tues. before heading out to Sac to deal with family stuff, I went to practice at RSD. I had about one hour or so alone. I put on full dress to get me in the right state of mind. I did some video of things as I went through Tai Hai several times, three or four. I had a good comparison to work from. It was so so. Over all better I feel I added in some of the correction I was advised on from my elders.

My sempai arrived after a while and we chatted and practiced. It was a quiet session with just us there. After added in all my corrections and getting to my last shots, there was that quiet sense that happens. This day on my last round of shots, which had been sets of six.

I made three hits. I guess I am making some improvements…slowly. I just need to find that zone and lock into it from the beginning. The clock says I have 73 days to do so…Yosh.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out ne! After I return from Japan Kyudo will need to scaled back. I will need to deal with seriously organizing to leave, with only close to 1.5 years left. Which means, Work, Japanese study, Sailing practice, boat maintenance, that kind of stuff. I would like to hit Minnesota next April for the next Kyudo seminar and then, the final one for me here in the states in Cal in 2010 before hitting the high seas. I think if I can hit Japan with a San-Dan it will be, I believe a good kick off for the new life and times. A good symbolic beginning of a new level of training, Not just for Kyudo , but for Ceramics, Music, Kung Fu, Life. Ganbatte Fuu kun…Yosh!

back n forth, this n that

I’ve been traveling this week. Three times out to Mum’s some 1.5 hours away. The family is there packing the house and getting her ready to move to Va. I went out to add my input, and rational to the mix. I’m tired now. They thought she was just going to let them pack up and take her away to Virginia. I knew better. Today they found out different, I told them so on Tues. I can understand her logic and need to carry out her “giri”, I also understand theirs.

I also recalled why I stay away as much as I do. I sat to talk with about her plans. After my saying ok, I understand I just wanted to know what plans you had. I get set on. Oh you have an earring. Yes, I do for some 20 years now. Oh why is that? Girls wear earrings, oh you have just one… Do you go to church? what church? What denomination? how many members? what do you do there anything? Is this a bible church? Is there a Minister? sigh… I side stepped and changed the subject.  Yes, she is just doing her Mother thing, but her style rubs me wrong. Needless to say I was relieved  she did not want to come stay with LZ and I although I suggested it to her.

The moving sale went slow, there were some people who came by. Some purchased things, many just looked. The large pieces are what really needs to go. Sofas, book cases, desk, china cabs, lamps, TV, tables. If not they will need to be donated. They are too big and costly to move to a house where they will not fit. Her and her husband have a lot of stuff. I can relate on some level. I use to have  alot of stuff as well ( according to LZ I still do), but I also had a business which most of my stuff was from.

Anyway, my part there for now is done…for now.

After being depressed from that adventure with Mum, I come home to find I need to deal with a couple of complaints from my Ebay sales. one was reasonable and justified, the other was not! Regardless, it is reducing my travel funds by $400.00 because I have this thing about being honorable. Depressingly I feel it is a one way street at times.

…and now back to our regular programing.

Amazing Grace…

An old gospel hymn, I had been working on a version of this, this week, to do at my the memorial service for my brother. Today it was held.

It was not that great a start. My sister was due in on Friday, however due to a major storm in D.C. all flights were canceled. My 2nd brother calls me a couple of hours before LZ and I are heading to Sac. and says can you pick up sister on your way? Huh! Sac airport is not on my way!, ( I’m 1.5 hrs away, they are 20 mins. Something is wrong with this logic) Sigh ok! But she has to wait until we get there.

About 30 min later I recall, hey I do not know what airline. I call my brother back, no answer. Great! LZ and I head out to parts unknown basically. The service is at 2:00pm. We get to the airport at 1:45 after going to the wrong terminal first of course. Finally I get in touch with my brother. Oh, they do not have the same setup as Philly everything is at one check out. Ok…crimany I think.

After having to make two trips around the airport because she is not there the first trip, we finally find her. She has just arrived the plane was late. Sigh. Ok, so Now we find out the service has been changed to 3:30, so it’s all good.

We head over to the church and get things setup. There turned out to be a lot more people than than we expected. My Mum’s church family turned out to support her. It was a thoughtful show of support. Also in attendance were my favorite Aunt from my Mum’s side, as well as my brother’s wife neither of who I was expecting, beside my favorite cuz.

The service was nice, some old pictures from the old days, some shared sentiments, some tears and laughter. A very good Pastoral message from the minister and a well received song from me. I was not as nervous as I thought I would be, the old musician kicked in and it went very smooth. The church organist, volunteered to play along with me, so that was a nice added touch. LZ was shocked to hear me sing, it was her first time. I had forgotten she seen me play before, but I never sang. She was pleasantly surprised she said, as were the other family members who I had forgotten I had never preformed in front of before.

So everything worked out well.  It was a fitting memorial service for my brother who was all about being the musician and artist. If his spirit was still around I’m sure he was pleased and can now RIP.

Bone yard Kyudo

Sat. am I was up sleepy eyed and tired, yet I headed out to Kungfu class. I had to ganbatte as I am the Shifu. I would have preferred to stay in bed. Once there after some stretching, breathing, etc, I was good. We had a small class as usual but meaningful.

Next I went home did some this n that and heading then to Kyudo practice. The Tanuki clan, -1 were going to shoot at the 60 meter Dojo, called the BoneYard. There are several reasons for this name, at least for us. One is there are dead mice skeletons here and there since it use to be a grain storage warehouse or something like that, so the little guys are still around. Another reason at least to us is it destroys Ya’s.

It was a beautiful weather day. The bone yard is right next to the water, the inlet leading to Vallejo marina and Mare island. I took in visually the sight and recalled sailing up this very channel a couple of times. Peaceful thoughts to go into Kyudo practice.

The setup was easy and somewhat simple, there were some adjustments to be made but we over came and got on with the shooting. This was only our second time here and doing this, so it took some adjustments. Distance , angle, draw, sighting, 60 meters is a whole new game.

After a few test shoots I was able to start hitting the target, as did my Sempai.

After a while I started feeling the effects of a late night Kung Fu session and a early class. I went outside to sit in the sun and enjoy the water view. I got somewhat of a second wind and went back for more.

We had about 1 hour left, I did a couple more shots, some hit, some did not. I found something I notice the other day at RSD, after a few shots, there is a certain peace that settles in around me. A quiet, not the quiet of no noise but the quiet of doing Zazen. Things slow down, like going into another dimension, of this reality. I took my time shooting and in holding Kai, I have found the zone for holding Kai and continuing to expand without feeling stressed from holding the Yumi in place. I took my last two shots. Bam, Bam… both hits. Two Shoots , Two hits. Yatta!

I quit while I was ahead (^_^)

Kyudo afternoon, Kung Fu nite

It was a long day, it did not start off raining there was some sun, for a bit.

I was up later than my regular time. For some reason I was pooped and did not want to get up before the sun. I had Chan practice on Thursday night. It was a quiet practice just me and my two Chan sisters. We got a little caught up on our current life, and what Shifu was doing. It was kind of nice just the three of us. We had a 35 min. sitting then a chat. Anyway I digress.

On Friday I did some organizing of some of my brothers stuff to get ready for our trip to Sacramento on Sunday for the Memorial Service. Afterwards I headed out to V-town for some Kyudo practice. I was doing a solo practice today as my Sempai was there on Weds and Thurs. He needed so  solo time so I changed my plans fro today which gave me some. It worked out. Sat we will have group practice at the 60 meter Dojo.

Today I was at RSD, I did not have to clean up the great lakes that were there last time. There was only a little creek this time, which I made short work of making disappear. Then I had at it. I practiced my Tai Hai 5 times. I had 5 arrow per shooting set, and was going for a 25 arrow day. So at the start of each set I did Tai Hai, then just did regular shooting. It worked out well. I did some taping so I could check myself later and also have a couple of teachers check me as well. Overall I think i did pretty well only a few small mistakes, forgetting to left the knee at first, and not keeping the Yumi tip at eye level when turning at couple of time. Other wise it went pretty well. Even when I smacked myself with the string when shooting I did not lose form. Kung Fu training helps, because it really hurt. But i did not show it, from the tape play back. Not only that I still made the shot. That was only two time I made the shots back to back and one of those was when I got hit. That was my best series in fact. I made three out of five shots that set. I know for sure two of them where back to back, it could have however been more. Now I just need to keep that up.

If I can do three out of five all the time I’d be pleased. Even two out of two consistently.  I think my Hikiwaki looks better, it feels better, larger and I can hold Kai much better now. It was a 25 arrow day. If I can maintain that once a week plus a regular class with Sensei, I think I’ll be ok for testing. More time would be better, but the there is the travel cost to deal with on a shrinking budget. Anyway it was a good day at the Dojo, at least the ending shots were even after I got tired. So that is really an improvement.  My Tenuchi was better through out.

Friday Fu

After heading home for a little break. I watched the tape of my Tai Hai , not too bad I had a bowl of cereal and heading out to Kung Fu. It was raining now, and the traffic was bad. It in fact sucked. So I did not get to Shifu’s until much later than I planned. As it turned out, Shifu was not there. My classmates and Art Sihing were there along with Fong Sisuk, but Shifu was not.

When I arrived they we deep into a discussion of Knife defense application. Fong Sisuk was explaining the difference between doing some beginners drills and advantage real life usage. As usual stressing that it is one strong foundation is training that makes the difference in usage. Also stressing the Principals. The technique changes from situation to situation but the principals are the same.

He did a few demo’s on disarms and for some reason I ended up being the attacker…pain pain pain, my hands are cut up from his fingernails digging into my pressure points. He would say, oh sorry I do not mean to hurt you. You ok? I say yeah, but I have to play guitar on Sunday. From then on I tried to stay away from being the demo guy and keep someone else next to him (^_^).

We spoke on many subjects that night. How it is more important to KNOW a form, the in’s and out’s than to know a lot of forms (sets/Kata). Sets are important, but they can only take one to a certain level you need to have a training partner to feel how things are going to really work. We also spoke about styles history, Shaolin, northern vs Southern styles.  Training methods, training that one get out of a technique beside the application. About the form/ set from our system that is from a famous bandit. Which Mantis system is more closely related to Tai Chi Mantis, in theory and application. Which is more closer in linage. How the use of the wooden dummy training in Wing Chun is different from Dummy training in Tai Chi Mantis. What is the difference between Seven Star and Tai Chi Mantis in appilcation. Which of the two is closer to Shaolin. Also how the 9th generation (mine) is not making any advancements in the art. With us it like a change of guard or going from a war vet serving President to a peace time President. The mind set, the culture the times are different. My generation is the last to learn from the old school masters.

It was an interesting late night session. They were still at it when I had to leave. They were moving over to the Wooden dummy as I was getting ready to head home. It was 11:30pm and I had a early morning Kung Fu class to teach.

Water…Plastic…death

Time to wake up to the truth…

Just because it’s bottled, does not mean it’s better.

This was your Public service announcement, from the Zen Network

_/|\_

Return to Roots

My last trip to LA was to clean out my Brother’s apt. He was still alive, it was weird. His main concern when I told him I was going to do it was to get his instruments. I did along with other misc stuff. A short time later a matter of two weeks if that he passed away. I have his Bass, I tinkered with it a bit. Not that long ago I purchased a new Bass for myself, which I wrote about just before doing some studio work on a audio book sound track. So I was not really that interested in his Bass. Anyway, It is a 6 string, this one of my brothers is a 4. I am finding though it is very nice. I plan on taking it to Japan as part of my musical gear.

A couple of weeks, well almost a couple of months really I went to church with Mum and came up with the idea of doing a song with Lil brother’s Bass for his memorial service. I figure my sister will spring something on me to do like a speech which I dislike. This way I’ll beat her to it and be in control. I’ll do a little tune on his Bass.

It is this Sunday, I have been practicing this week. My chops are really bad, I was ready to change the plan and back out of this more than a couple times. I found out this Bass is really nice after listening to it through an Amp rather than just feeling the action un-plugged. But that is not the point. I applied some Zen philosophy to my playing and uncomplicated what I was trying to do. Tune into the music not how I was playing and keep it simple and just play. I’m feeling better and the song is coming along to the point I feel like I can pull it off. Part of the thing is I’m doing a solo, it has been years since I’ve done that and even then with a guitar and a harmonica, not just a Bass and Harmonica. I found was trying to play to much to fill in the missing pieces.  Focusing on what I have, not what I’m missing made the difference.

I’m still a bit nervous because I know I will made some mistakes, and there is no band to cover it up. Also it will be the first time playing in front of my family and Mum’s church folks. It will make her happy, it will make me nervous. I think I owe it to my brother to ganbatte. It will be good practice also for centering and being calm under the pressure I will face in Japan. In a way it will be like doing Kyudo, focus on doing the simple form correct ( notes), not rushing, complete each part, being mindful, the arrow will find the target.  Just another form a training. Sometimes it is not that you make a mistake, like dropping an arrow,  it is how you handle yourself or the situation after you make the mistake. Yosh!

a Sunday before 83 days…

Tick tock on the Kyudo clock…

On Sunday I went to the temple. It was the day of New Year service at Alameda Buddhist Temple. There was a rare sighting of a Blasian couple there, one of us. They were young, maybe mid 20’s and had a very cute baby with them, they sat with the girl’s father. What was really unusual was one couple, brought their dog. I’ve seen this hound before there. He is very well behaved. I just think it is very different to bring your dog to church. I wonder if the Baptist churches would allow that. I would have brought Hanako to service with me when she was alive.

Service was short but not as short as usual, it did run over some which is rare. There was lunch served afterward because of the New Year event. I had planned on staying however once they said there was Prime Rib being servered I changed my plans. I had Kyudo practice anyway afterwords. Oh, one other thing that makes this “church” different is they had “wisdom juice” ( liquor) as Rev Sensei calls it served at the luncheon. That is really different. One woman said that another meeting, we do not have cast in stone rules, we have guides to live by. We strive to achieve these higher things, but we still enjoy things of life with moderation.

After I paid my respects where due, I sliped out to go to Kyudo practice.

Today in class we had a visitor form China doing Kyudo with us. He was not Chinese, but an American who lived and worked in China. He is studying Kyudo there with a Japanese Sensei. While in Ca he was making the rounds of visiting Renmei schools. I kind of got the impression that he was also teaching or helping teaching China, but I:m not sure since his skills were  not all that, maybe my impression came because he was a talker.

Since I arrived late I did not get much shooting time in. The morning practice at the house was all shooting at the Makiwara. I got there with about 30 min left. So I did a watch and learn practice rather than do the stringing and all. Once we went to the afternoon practice area we got dressed, and put up the targets. There we spent the afternoon doing Tai Hai. I kind of like doing Tai Hai, maybe because I have to, I get into it. It is tiring though. And now a couple of days later , my leg hurts. I guess I need to do it more around the house. I thought I was doing it enough to be helpful, but I guess not enough or my leg would not be sore. So I have some 83 days to get my leg strength better. Also my timing, I got the timing if I am in the first three of the group, but I am still unclear on the 4th or 5th person, that is the tricky part, when to knock. I now when the person in front the person in front of me does Hanare I stand, the rest is unclear.… 83 days and counting.