lA 2A

lA-4AThe movement DAI JODAN KIRI a ROSHI. Cutting tram above and lowering the body. The hips are also lowered with the hands. This isa very powerful cutting movement and creates a very strong koshi and centre. We keep the hands open in Shintaido. 4A is applied to theBokuto.

BOJITSU and SHINTAIDOby KEN WAIGHT

1 have had several enquines aboutShintaido and its relationship toBojutsu. A some of the readers ofthis magazine might have noticed,1 have mentioned it in previousarticles and al 0 we had a mailarticle published last year. 1 amonly going to try briefly to explainhow Shinraido i related ta theMartial Art without getting tooinvolve d hi torically. Shintaido is anew movernent art. It wa openedto the public about ten years ago.Ir is now practiced in America,England, France and Brazil. Thesegroups are ail quite srnall and inexperimental stages. Why wasShintaido created? Or maybethrough what aspirations? Thatwould be rather a long and difficult

question and one 1 am not fitted toanswer. 1 hope this will revealsomething though. It was createdthrough the matrix of Martial Artswith the awareness of a changingconsciousnes and society. Evenfrom pre-war times it is obviousthat there have been extremechanges in our world due to com-munications, technology. How thencan a modern person relate to oldsystems and ways in such a rapidlychanging world? This 1 think wafelt deeply and gave great inspir-ation for the creation of Shintaido.

To capture the heart (1 mean thisword in its deepest sense) of theseold ways would require a veryspecial type of person and schoolto study at. It would also take a

long tirne if the e above conditionswere available. Take for exarnpleschools of Zen and Confucionismwhich influenced the early schoolsof Budo. The concepts, language,rnethods used are so alien to ourmodern ways and thought as to beof another world. Go to any oldtemple or shrine and see youngJapanese walking around and youwill understand, or look at a modernab tract painting or assemblage andthen an early Italian work. Theconcepts, 'terrninology', etc., werebrought forth through a differentculture and consciousness. Thishighlights very briefly the problemsof understanding and relating OUf-

selves to old ways. Today the factthat we do have much information

International Budo- December 19782

and technology doesn't necessarilymean that we have understanding.Our knowledge deepens along withour being and this develops ourunderstanding. We develop ratherone-sided in this era.

One aim of Shintaido was toreveal some of these great dis-coveries which would be moreunderstandable to our present age.These truths, which had beenlocked away either in secret choolsor just by the fact of distance intime and consciousness, had becomequite obscure. AIso, today's life incities and towns is particularly un-unified and farther from nature.Shintaido approached these prob-lems in a dynamic way to give birthto a new understanding. Truth flowsthrough the evolution of life and isexpressed in many forms. At differ-ent times this awareness is greater

th an others. What sorne ancientshave seen and recorded are greattreasures for our modern age toreftect on; it is a question of under-standing them. Particularly theMartial Arts lend themselves tomisinterpretation. A person canonly understand them at the levelof his being and not of his know-ledge. We must take great care todevelop al! sides of our keiko. If westudy Martial Arts a a sport, whichthey are becoming, that is fine, butwe must then remember they havebecome another thing than that forwhich they were created. It is evi-dent then that another form shouldbe made to express their originalaspirations. l wish to add that forpeople who are beginning or look-

International Budo- December 1978

3A

4A

1B-6BThis is Jodan Kiri Harai. A movement 1have explained before in Bojitsu. Here Voucan see the application to both Bo andBokuto.

1B

3

ing for a school to take great carein their choice. People tend to usethe word 'sensei' very lightly here.Beginners are u ually dazzled bytechniques, some instructors mighteven be very proficient technically,but this doesn't mean they aresensei, and in fact many people oftbis order are still in the first levelof Keiko. Also, people seem tomake their own style or chools(ryu in Japane e), without great

38

thinking. The different ryus III

Japan were often brought about bya deep struggle with the originalschool plus in pirations t o furtherit. It was not an easily accomplished

thing and only the geriiuses ofMartial Art were able to do this.Unfortunately, our history of thearts is short here and we fall fouIof hallow insight.

4

28

48

International Budo- Oecember 1978

58

1CAn application from part of the basics ofShintaido.

International Budo-Oecember 1978

You might have seen sorne of theforms in earlier photographs. 1have put them in an order so as tobe able to relate them to each other.This doesn't mean that we studythe forms in Shintaido to use forthe boh or bokutoh although thatis possible. I have only given a fewof the forms we study. Sorne ofthem have no visual relationshipbut can be applied through thefeeling and movement discoveredin them.

If anybody wishes to ask anyfurther questions in more detail,you can contact me and 1 hope 1will be able to answer them. Ouraddress is in the back of themagazine.

5