Koppo and Kosshi

llong · May 24, 2006

Another beginner's question!

I hear the terms koppojutsu and kosshijutsu a lot, and I'm wondering what they mean. The idea of "bone breaking art" is apparently a mis-translation or something, but what is the feeling or essence of it? Is it part of the ryu? If so, which ones?

I went to a seminar this weekend where it was discussed, and much of it went over my head.

Thanks for what might be a dumb question!

stephenk · May 24, 2006

Here's an article my teacher (James Morganelli) wrote about a year ago or so....

Sorry about the formatting...

Koppojutsu and Kosshijutsu are basically understood as, “bone breaking and nerve attacks” - a translation we can thank for leaving many students battered and bruised.
Koppo and Kosshi are individual by nature, but similar to dualistic philosophies such as the Japanese In/Yo or Chinese Yin/Yang, where each supports the other through a symbiotic relationship. Representing this clearly is the spine, in which bony vertebrate envelop and protect the nerves of the body.
Study the anatomy of martial arts and one will inevitably recognize Koppo and Kosshi as the backbone of Budo.

Koppo
The Ko of Koppo and Kosshi is read Kotsu, meaning, “bone, ashes, spirit, or looks.” It’s used to make words like, Kokkaku, “framework or skeleton,” and Kotsuniku, “flesh and blood.” When paired with Po, you get something like, “bone law, bone method, or bone religion.”
If we expand on the original translation, “bone breaking,” we find Koppo far more concerned with breaking the opponent’s “bone structure,” or skeleton. This is done by using one’s own structure in a brutally efficient way - dropping it.
Juryoku, gravity, and giving way to it, are key themes of Koppo. Much more than simply hitting hard enough to break a bone, Koppojutsu generates power through skeletal alignment and acquiescence to gravity, rather than muscle tension. This re-understanding of one’s own framework can provide freedom from a reliance on power. Power to the martial artist is like alcohol to the alcoholic.

Kosshi
In Japanese Budo parlance, the Kosshi is known as the ‘small of the back’ and can also refer to an issue’s ‘inner meaning’ or ‘marrow.’
The Shi of Kosshi means, “finger, point, or indicate.” It can form words like Shiatsu, a type of massage, Shido, guidance or leadership, and Shiki, command or direction. This last word is particularly interesting for it sounds the same as the word for “consciousness,” the so-called sixth element of the Rokudai, about which Hatsumi sensei spoke in his 2004 theme, Roppo Kuji no Biken.
Place Ko and Shi together and they could be read simply as, “bone” and “finger.”
However, with some creative translating we can make the example, “spirit point,” which seems much more evocative of the kind of instinct needed to lay a path to survive rising danger. Whether “point” is thought of like, “indicate” or “moment at,” they both seem to provide interesting significance.
Unlike Koppo’s stable, ever present, and calculable law of gravity, Kosshi relies on less discernible, but no less substantive aspects. Jiryoku (not Juryoku), magnetism, is a key theme of Kosshi and is used to describe the ‘ties that bind’ attacker and defender. This attraction is due to the intent of the attacker and the defender’s ability to read and make use of it. Jiryoku creates openings in the opponent’s kamae that can then be entered. Instinctually knowing Taijutsu’s rules - balance, distance and timing - will allow one to recognize them in others and flex them as necessary to develop Jiryoku. When natural motion – moving only as much as you need - is powered by gravity (Koppo) it can open the door for the sophisticated Kosshi, allowing these refined attacks and defenses to work in tandem. This refinement is evident in the examples given to describe Kosshi such as Fusui, Japanese Feng Shui (that Chinese furniture placement stuff), and Kasumi no Ho, or methods of fog.
Fusui is made up of the characters for wind and water and can be interpreted as the process by which rain falls from the sky and rises from the earth to become mist or fog. As the Japanese Feng Shui it’s connected with the ‘natural flow’ of energy. Hatsumi sensei’s 2001 Daikomyosai was even named, “Budo no Fusui” or the “natural flow of Budo.” All of this speaks to dealing with opponents as mist, smoke, or fog, like the concept of Kasumi no Ho refers to. This feeling is perhaps the Ura to Koppo’s frame-like Omote and is akin to Shinobi Komi, “sneaking or stealing in.”

Training
All quotes and italics aside, the above explanations beg one fundamental question: how do you train Koppo and Kosshi? Like many aspects of the Bujinkan, it’s not necessarily what you train, but how you train it. And I like to start where I usually start most of my training - kata.
Most kata are viewed as a series of techniques, which are, from a Bujinkan perspective, inconsequential, however, the principles underlying them are not. And in my estimation, principle is the fundamental purpose kata were written in the first place.
In a sense, the movements of kata are like poetry and can be appropriately interpreted for inspiration. In fact, it’s helpful to have a process by which you can investigate kata in order to train effectively. Like an archeological mystery, each movement can be dusted off and examined to better understand its placement in the ancient language of war. Koppo and Kosshi then become a kind of Rosetta Stone, translating that language into something we can understand.
I like to think kata have five distinct parts to better training. The Godai seem perfectly suited to interpreting them:
• Chi (Earth)
• Sui (Water)
• Ka (Fire)
• Fu (Wind)
• Ku (Emptiness)

Earth: A solid kamae
Koppo begins with good kamae. Bear in mind, there are many physical and non-physical aspects to kamae, but I’ll only attempt to describe several of the former.
Good posture and weight distribution are biggies. What is good posture? Stand with your back against a wall, making sure your head, shoulders, hips, legs, and heels all touch – this is textbook posture. As homework, try and maintain the feel of that, while taking Ichimonji no kamae.
I like to distribute my weight 60/40 – rear leg/front leg. I don’t much care for low kamae, so try keeping a distance no longer than your shin between your front and rear foot. From, say Ichimonji, one should be able to kneel and place the rear kneecap just behind the heel of your front foot, without moving your feet. This measurement should also keep you at a natural height.
If I’m taking Ichimonji, for example, I like to rest the elbow of my forward arm on the side of my ribcage rather than extend it out in front of me. My rear arm wraps around the front of my body. My rear hand becomes a lightly closed fist, as if holding an insect, and fits snugly inside the crook of the elbow of my forward arm – shielding my heart. My head is up and directly over my shoulders and spine. My pelvis is straight, not tilted forward. My heels are not directly aligned with each other, but sit just outside a strip of space about an inch wide, allowing ease of movement when stepping forward or back.
This should be enough for starters.

Water: An overwhelming attack
Soke has explained the feeling of Kosshijutsu to be like water’s overwhelming potential. If the Asian tsunami disaster has taught us anything, it is to be mindful of this devastating aspect.
The next phase is to examine the kata’s attack, which unfortunately is often overlooked in training as merely the catalyst of the defense and not held in the same respect. This is nonsense. Why would this information, written hundreds of years ago to document for posterity these ancient secrets of life and death come with an arbitrary attack? Kata contain not just principles for proper defense, but also proper attack. The better your attack, the better your training will be. I suggest keeping your weight on your heels when punching and sticking to the 60/40 weight distribution mentioned above. You should be able to pick up your front leg after you punch.
Keeping your weight centered is far better than tossing it forward into and through the punch. Remember: whatever you throw, you also give away (one of the various “Taijutsu Truths” I’ve collected over the years). Simply put, if you throw 100% and you miss, you are now 100% exposed. Nagato sensei has said he only ever uses 60% “power” in training (thank god). “60% is enough,” he would say. “60% might get you a “D” in school, but that’s still not failing!”

Fire: A searing disruption
Next is the disruption to the opponent’s, or Uke’s, attack. This is similar to interrupting someone as they’re speaking – once they finish, you cannot interrupt them. Likewise, it is helpful to disrupt Uke – break their kamae – before they have finished moving.
Changing from a stationary position to breaking your opponent’s kamae involves not shifting your weight, but dropping it. Shifting is too slow, dropping is not. Drop or fall away from the attack, striking your opponent in the next beat.
The Kosshi allows you to gain the strike in the first place. Moving at the last possible instant draws the opponent’s attack – the Jiryoku. You’ve allowed the opponent to form a connection – their own intention - and can use it against them to draw them just past their balance, striking them in a way that destroys their kamae and pins them in place.

Wind: A transforming counterattack
Uke must now recover from Tori’s disruption by retaking kamae and counterattacking. Changing like the wind changes direction, Uke must re-structure themselves – realign their form – in order to press their attack. To retake kamae that has been lost, one must start where posture starts, in the spine. This part of kata training also holds a limitless variety of options for dealing with and repairing broken kamae. Exploration is the only means of discovering them.

Emptiness: An instinctive counter defense
Tori must now capture the moment with an appropriate counter defense to Uke’s new attack, breaking their kamae for good. To gain the crucial opening that spells life or death, present oneself honestly. The Kosshi, or Jiryoku, magnetizes that moment creating a new space – a false space – ever real to the opponent. It is within this false space that one must trap the opponent. This cage can then be entered to destroy or preserve the opponent at will.
Keep two things in mind:
1. Choose a direction.
2. Keep moving.
By choosing a direction one can respond to fit any number of circumstances. Continuing the movement allows one to stay ahead of danger.

Koku
Since this is the year of Kosshijutsu, most folks are working on the kata Koku, from the Gyokko Ryu. Koku can be translated as “empty space” or “air, space, or sky.” Reversing the kanji changes the pronunciation slightly, as well as the translation – “emptiness, void, or vacuum.”
The movements of Koku are basically thus: Tori faces Uke. Uke strikes with a punch. Tori avoids and strikes Uke’s punching arm. Uke kicks. Tori avoids and kicks the kicking leg, downing Uke with a strike to the ribs. Now, there are plenty of things that could also be said, but this is the bare bones of it.
What I’m searching for even before the initial punch is an opening. (Pic. 1)
By moving at the last possible moment, I place that sense of urgency into the opponent, who thinks, “If I just move a little more (chase him), I’ll get him.” This is the Kosshi at work.
By moving naturally – falling – I can take up the space around the attacker’s arm, dropping a shuto onto their lead punch, sending it inside dead space (the Koku). (Pics. 2, 3, & 4)
This takes their balance, destroying their initial kamae. Uke must then retake kamae by drawing their rear leg to meet their forward leg. Only then will they be in a position to continue the attack by kicking. (Pics. 5 & 6)
However, after dropping the shuto, I’ve adjusted my own kamae to fit the new space, thereby keeping and maintaining my distance. So, when the kick is thrown, I’m already in a position far enough ahead to see it coming and dodge. (Pic. 7 & 8)
Kicking the kick from a position of safety and following it with an unseen boshiken to the Butsu Metsu or floating rib, breaks Uke’s kamae for good sending him sprawling. (Pics. 9, 10, 11, & 12)
When training kata, it’s important to deliver responses spontaneously, even though movements are prescribed. Each punch, kick, throw, or step is individual, only when strung together do they form a course leading toward principle.
Be mindful not to turn an entire kata into one technique. Training to react thoughtlessly, rather than respond appropriately is like letting go of your ship’s wheel, sending one off course into the sea. This is a sea not of uncertainty, but worse, confidence, where forcing techniques to work, instead of simply letting them happen at the right time become instilled. Overconfidence from this style of training underlies a connection to the opponent, your own intention that can be felt, countered, and defeated.

Finding Koppo & Kosshi
A castle is built structurally sound and designed in such a way as to provide ample stability against the harsh beatings of the seasons and its own use. If Koppo is the framework of that castle, then Kosshi is how it is used, the internal design of the rooms, plumbing, and of course, the people going in and out – the flow of life inside the structure.
A Koppo attack on that castle might entail destroying one or more of its foundational supports, thereby weakening the others to collapse the entire framework, hence the castle’s structure is used to destroy it. However, a Kosshi attack might be to toss a smoke or gas bomb inside or into its ventilation system, again using its own structure against it. Setting fire to it is another example.
Koppo defenses might be pits, trenches, tripwire bombs, or barriers – layered security an enemy would have to knock out or circumvent to overcome. Kosshi defenses might be smoke or chemical weapons, even disinformation regarding troop strength and location causing panic and or confusion in an enemy’s camp.
The differences between the two concepts can be explained in stark contrasts, but constantly seeking that line of demarcation and avoiding a unifying theme to use both Koppo and Kosshi, will trap the practitioner in technique rather than grant them freedom through principle.
Allow yourself to understand the feel of each style, focusing on their knack rather than labeling one or the other. Koppo and Kosshi are different and similar. Their defining characteristics and overlapping qualities are evident not in their techniques, but their principles, as well as the principle in which they are used.
Ultimately, do not try too hard to define where Koppo ends and Kosshi begins. Remember, this is art, martial art, but art nonetheless. Attempting to define each concept through its separate techniques is like trying to find where science and spirituality unite. The cold facts of science can explain the how of our earthly existence, but only faith borne of spirit can anoint us with earthly purpose.
A great example of finding Koppo and Kosshi occurred recently, when a peer of mine was having difficulty training with a visiting practitioner. “He sucks! He’s no good!” he said. “Every time I try to hit him, he wet noodles on me, then complains I train too hard. I’m not getting quality training! I’m wasting my time with him!”
When training with someone in the above scenario who in your opinion is lacking in ability or just simply “bad,” rather than resign yourself to a lousy training session, try this instead: make them better. When subtlety is called for, instead of railing against your partner for what they are not doing, place them in a position to do just what you want.
By closing your own openings, tightening your kamae, and attacking or defending with cautionary vigor, one can transfer a sense of urgency into your partner, “forcing” them to move where they need to and ultimately take a more realistic approach to training.
I’ve used this tactic many times to not only protect myself against overzealous training partners, but also bring out a deeper understanding of the feeling of Budo in newer students. This is Koppo and Kosshi at work.
If this somehow fails, just keep Nagato sensei’s words in mind: “There are two kinds of people you do not want in your dojo, people who are really good and people who are really bad, because you can’t do anything with either one of them.”

The Life of Budo
Budo only lives when you treat it as something that can die.
It takes those, specially chosen, who have been touched by more than labels, or the inheritance of scrolls, or the approval of governing bodies to make real Budo exist in the hearts and minds of those destined with its faith.
These few individuals are privileged with sight of the brightness of hidden jewels and mentored in ways much of the world would rather forget, to its detriment. For their teachings might ultimately preserve to our collective humanity its sacred martial ethos.
Illuminating that hallowed wisdom, collated from ageless bloody conflict, is not just for the sake of history, but for the sake of history yet written.
These Budoka, chosen, gifted, and willed are to shape the message and sharpen its comprehension as a rightful and true ancestral gift - a gift that values life above all other intrinsic ideals. End
Click to expand...

www.sgtidojo.com

Dale Seago · May 24, 2006

Excellent essay, Stephen -- thanks for sharing it, and to James for writing it!!

Dale Seago · May 24, 2006

llong said:

I went to a seminar this weekend where it was discussed, and much of it went over my head.
Click to expand...

Well, you did describe yourself as a beginner, so that shouldn't be too surprising.

If you have a shidoshi you train with regularly out there, I'd think that with James Morganelli's essay as a guide he or she should be able to physically answer your questions on this subject.

'Course, that still doesn't mean you'll fully understand it. By way of illustration, a few weeks ago one of my students returned from a trip to Japan. (There's a fairly constant stream of people from my area going over throughout the year. First thing that always happens when they return is that, whatever their level, they become the instructors for at least a class or two.)

In his first class on his return, he was showing something from a very crowded Hombu training session where everyone was packed together like sardines. So the attack was starting at very close range, and everything took place within a very small space. There was no specific "technique" that was supposed to be done, this was about a "feeling" or "approach"; and my student did it with proper Shinden Fudo ryu "feeling" and principles.

That gave me a good opportunity to help everyone contrast and compare certain things between Shinden Fudo and Gyokko ryu, because in a Hombu training session back in December we'd dealt with the same kind of situation, same packed environment, same initial attack. . .but from a Gyokko ryu perspective. In fact, this same student had been in that session as well.

So I went back and forth between the two a few times for everyone to observe -- no "form" or "technique" for either approach. Then a woman in the class, a black belt who's trained with me for several years, said, "I can't see any difference". The yondan who was my uke at the time said, "Well, it sure feels different on the receiving end!!"

So I had to go around the class doing both approaches to everyone; and even those who couldn't yet see or do what I was getting at could tell that the feeling was totally different between the two.

So don't be surprised if you end up in that sort of situation: Differences in koppo & kosshi may not be anything you yourself can understand in an intellectual way, but you should be able to feel it.

maf · May 24, 2006

thanks for posting the artical stephenk, it's given me a little bit more a deeper look into koppo and koshi, it's made me take a different look at certain techniques.

MadMonk108 · May 24, 2006

骨法

骨 means bone, skeleton, or frame.

法 means method, law, or Dharma.

骨指, Koshi, includes the same first Kanji, for skeleton, or frame. The second character, 指, can be read as finger, or to point.

Dale Seago · May 24, 2006

Yes, as Shidoshi Morganelli's essay points out in the second post in this thread.

MadMonk108 · May 24, 2006

Dale Seago said:

Yes, as Shidoshi Morganelli's essay points out in the second post in this thread.
Click to expand...

Yup.

Just thought someone might want the characters. It makes research a lot easier. I also think the additional clarification "frame" may give some insight.

You don't have to thank me. :Angel: You're welcome.

Tengu6 · May 24, 2006

The article by James Morganelli is titled "The Backbone of Budo part 1" and appears in the Spring 2005 issue of Bujin-Kan (www.bujinmag.com). Part 2 appears in the Summer 2005 issue. James has great insight and is able to translate his thoughts to his writtings very well. I always look forward to his articles.

Markk Bush

llong · May 25, 2006

Thanks Dale and all for your comments!

That article was great. I've subscribed to bujinmag for quite a while, but didn't recall seeing the article.

(General Note: Beginners really should re-read article/books that come their way periodically, because each time they will pick up more and more.)

Tengu6 · May 25, 2006

llong said:

(General Note: Beginners really should re-read article/books that come their way periodically, because each time they will pick up more and more.)
Click to expand...

That is good advice regardless of your level of training. Hatsumi Sensei has said that the letters that Takamatsu sensei wrote to him continue to teach him to this day.

Soke's books are written in the same manner, they may mean something different to us when we re-visit them in a year or so.......and again, and again. This is such a goft from Soke, as you develop "Budo Eyes" his words will continue to teach us as we re-visit them. On that note, I highly reccomend Ben Cole's book "Understand? Good. Play!", it is hard to get right now but will be back in print in 2007.

Sorry if I drifted off topic.

Markk Bush

xen · May 25, 2006

really enjoyed reading that, it should be copied to one of the stickies.

llong · May 27, 2006

Thanks everyone for their comments; this is very helpful for a beginner.

I also notice that Gyokko Ryu is often labelled "Kosshijutsu" while Koto Ryu is labelled "Koppojutsu", so I think the article is helpful for distinguishing between the two Ryu.

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