I completely agree with Big Will. Kokū is sometimes known as the shihan killer. There was a american guy training and that used to be on MAP that tested it on a lot of the shihan in japan, full speed. I believe he was also into MMA and BJJ and trained with the Machados. There was only one guy that could make it. A couple of extra points: I see you taking 7-8 steps while you opponent takes 2-3 That impossible to pull off in real life. You have to bring it down to 2-3 steps, there is a process for that but its hard to put in writing, it requires very precise movement. The alignment of your foot and knee is wrong because you keep twisting you hip. This can lead to serious strain on your knees and will lead to knee problem if you continue training like this, maybe not soon, but in 10 years most likely. Its common in most BJK dojos and that is why knee problems are the biggest injury among the longer training practitioners. It also shows that when you learned kokū you were not correctly thaught how it relates to the weapons like spear, bo and sword like Will already suggested.
Few quick points. Kamae-it doesn't start from ichimonji, it's Gyokko Ryu shoden after all. If you take ichimonji, make sure not to move your rear hand up and down, the kamae is set when you take it. The shuto should be downward not upward. The beginners version has you do a normal Jodan uke, followed by the shift back in and shuto but as you advance, the front hand does a nagashi to bring his attack to your waiting counterstrike, hence the name of the technique. Your arms end up like jumonji so your right elbow is protecting your body and left hand your face. Don't push his right hand away with your left as you strike with the right shuto, you want the opposite effect(drawing it in). Kick Wait for the kick and counterkick in accordance to the technique name. Counter kick is more of a lift(like a bunt) than a big production that would be too slow. The step behind you is yoko aruki. The issues with the front foot shift was dealt with already, I concur. The point of this technique is to lead them into nothingness, so he has to think he's hitting/reaching you. On the last boshiken, don't sink your hips lower than they start, as your foot lands you sink once and stay level as you hit him. Attacking Form The uke shouldn't square his body up to do the kick, but stay bladed. There is no grab attempt after the shuto, just the kick. Progression You keep pulling your right arm back oddly in the first couple takes, not sure why. On second glance it is dealing with the grab attempts, which don't make sense in the context of the original technique. If he punches twice and you are pushing his right hand out wards like that, the force of your strike + push give him more momentum to pivot his waist and hit you with. By pushing, your left hand is out of position and can't recover in time to deal with follow up strikes. Trying to use your right arm only in response to his punches is similar to the arm pull back you were doing earlier and not effective. If you were in the right position after the shuto, it wouldn't be necessary. When he kicks with his left foot, you still cross step and kick his leg as before but cross in front of your body instead of behind.
Just my view on this, and I’m not saying if this is right or wrong, But just how I do it. Looking at what we did in the Kihon Happo, namely the koshi kihon sanpo (Ichimonji, Hicho, Jumonji no kata) Koku seems to bring them all together in one form. I start from ichimonji (Gyokko Ryu style) and then when the attack comes in as PR said, I move into Jumonji as I strike the lead arm. This does two things. One it forces uke to attack with a kick to my lower torso, and second it protects my upper torso in case he kicks high or punches, or i’m a little late in my tai sabaki and fail to avoid the high kick. As I’ve set him up by presenting a target I kind of know where his attack is coming. I then avoid and do a keri gaeshi with hicho. So all three kamae and kata are covered. I then attack with boshi ken. I’m not going to give any opinions on the videos but they looked good to me.
Amasingly productive thread this far! :wow: Most points have been covered allready so I only wanted to comment on one thing (which I think PR allready was hinting at). Dont drop your hands down to waist level! Try to keep kamae all the time. You move from one kamae to the next and try keeping your guard up. The hands return to the position by the elbow as soon as they dont have better things to do. Also, like benkyoka mentioned, try not bending at the waist but keep your back straight. Regards / Skuggvarg
Reiho: shouldn't joryaku kata begin from tenryaku uchu? Zanshin: casually walking away from the end of the kata. And come on Bujinkan, drop the t-shirt look!
All very good , not much to mention as almost everyone covered many ideas , so I will ask , these two things guys, 1. the shuto should come down and " smash " the arm -opponent s balance -spirit & and you end up in jumonji like Kamae, waiting for next attack , covering and 2 your height seems to move up and down a lot in the vids, Regards Greg
If the reiho is traditional, there is only one direction the shuto can come from and that is downwards. The kamae after the shuto isn't the official jumonji that everyone knows but your arms are crossed and it is more sideways so to speak. You don't want to kill him with the shuto but use it to capture his balance and attention for an instant. It's not Koto ryu or Kukishin so the idea isn't to smash or break but to lead him into nothingness(a trap) and spring it. You should be light and elusive showing openings that really aren't there, not stomping around like you are in kacchu(armor).
I'd love if other ninjutsu guys would like to contribute videos to this thread, that would be AWESOME!
Well, I think that there are both aspects to Kokū. In the densho text it does say that the arm should be broken by the shutō – which is open for interpretation of course. But I think this photo speaks clearly on the pain that should be caused
Sure pain, probably some numbness too(and the important momentary shock to his system or plan of attack). However, look at the kanji for koku. It is simple and spelled out. You aren't trying to break his will in an aggressive way, you are leading his attacks into nothingness and letting him get caught in traps. If you compare Gyokko ryu techniques to Koto ryu for example, you get a much more nebulous feel whereas Koto ryu is more tangible and hardcore(this is feeling, both hurt obviously).
Very nice thread Dunc, thank you, well done!! I remember Soke teaching Koku at the Hombu at the beginning of 2001 I think it was, and Nagochi help me with the understanding after the class as it was all a bit of a blur at the time. The version he was showing was start in Kamae Tenryaku uchugashou and Tori should have a feeling of receiving, then when uke attacks you move into tenchiinyo no kamae with the thumb pointing to heaven, this is to give your attacker the feeling of where he is about to go, the shuto should be diagonally down so as not to not give your attackers momentum to hit you with the other hand, the kick should be perpendicular to their kick to capture it and the boshi ken should be down diagonally to their belt line so as to drive them to the floor. This should be practiced until the kamae are understood then it can be done without the kamae, or the kamae just in the mind.
Ateji common in the ryu-ha densho then? Doesn't surprise me at all. And yes folks I am back by popular demand, well ok two people but I'll take what I can.
I just spent a small fortune on a card and some flowers and chocolates, spent an arvo saying a eulogy, releasing doves and balloons. And your back!!!!
