Last night I went to the Tuesday night martial arts (Bujinkan) class for the first time. Unlike the small, four-person or so Sunday class, there were about fifteen or so participants in the dojo, most with black belts.
I felt a wee bit intimidated sitting there in my white belt (lowest possible level), but as usual Brian made me feel all confident and safe. He’s good like that. I worked mainly with him as my partner, and a couple times with Rebecca. Both of them tell me that in spite of their years of experience, they still feel like there’s a lot they don’t know.
The instructor is an unassuming-looking middle-aged fellow named Dale. To look at him you wouldn’t know he’s a tenth-degree black belt and one of the most highly ranked Americans in the world in this martial art. In fact even while teaching, his movements and demeanor all looked very relaxed, and yet they were perfectly placed. He was not at all one of those aggro martial arts teachers. But this discipline is just nothing like that.
I felt dorky and clumsy when we all broke off to work on the exercises Dale showed us. But I think my kicking is getting better, and I am very slowly starting to learn to disrupt my opponent’s balance. Working one-on-one with Brian has totally helped, too.
In a couple weeks I think I’ll probably go to the women’s self-defense class that Dale’s wife leads. They even have one of those big foam suits that a guy wears, so you can really let the punches connect.
kunoichi
to toot dale’s horn – he’s currently ranked at 13th dan (13th degree blackbelt – unless there has been another promotion that he hasn’t announced). Two of dale’s students (one of which still teaches in the bay area – jeff, the really tall guy) have been promoted to 10th dan by Soke Hatsumi (the main dude). One of the best aspects of this art is the idea that we are constantly learning from one another regardless of rank. Working with you gives me an opportunity to see how the techniques work for your body which can only add to my understanding of the principles.
Also, there is no big padded suit for the guys who help with the women’s self defense classes… they’re really big guys who show up to proove that you don’t have to be big to toss them around or escape from their grabs and attacks.
I’m really glad you went last night I know it can be intimidating when you’re starting out but you are doing really well. Thanks.
Re: kunoichi
Oh! I got that ranking off of his website and resume. I guess he needs to update that…
And it’s actually kind of cool to know that they don’t use the padded suits — I thought that was standard in these things, but I guess it only is in WIMP WUSS CLASSES. Heh.
Brian, you have helped me a lot. I am happy to hear that I am helping you too. 🙂
Re: kunoichi
Most places where rank is mentioned it says ‘ranked above 10th dan’ because 5th and 10th dan ranks are two of the important milestones in bujinkan training. The fun part about bujinkan rank is that people are (usually) very humble about it and don’t run around saying ‘do it this way because I outrank you!’
Padded suits are good if you’re going to be all out sparring. We do a fair amount of striking and techniques that turn on the pain but if you dig under the surface of those techniques you can see that the idea is really to use body mechanics against a person. It’s best to show people the principles first and then add on the extra fun stuff that makes people say ouch.
maybe you should come to class tonight! *wink wink, nudge nudge*
Re: kunoichi
Aw baby. My entire house is a big mess because I am a lazy bum. I seriously had planned to stay in tonight and clean so that I don’t have to do it this weekend. Bah. CURSE MY TIDINESS! AND LAZINESS!