Fight Clip Club

This is the video Kevin put together from the Boulder Quest Center's Youth Sword Camp. Bonzuko's own Jenn helped the kids out the last day of camp with choreography tips and a theatrical sword drill that they then used to build their very own swordfights. Enjoy!

Three Rules For Actors, and Everyone Else

A while back, I wrote about how the Three Rules from Acting training (objective, tactics, obstacles) served as guidelines for writing strong prose—I renamed them the Three Rules for Protagonists. As I did so, I noticed that the Three Rules also apply to the martial arts. Having recently weeded through a bunch of old MFA musings re: the Three Rules and Mamet’s “Where Do You Put the Camera?” it hit me that his theories of simplicity in filmmaking had everything to do with warriorship and the Three Rules.

Whew. Let me begin my explanation with a Mamet quote (from the abovementioned piece):

“As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want something. As long as the protagonist is clearly going out and attempting to get that something, the audience will wonder whether or not he’s going to succeed. The moment the protagonist, or the auteur of the movie, stops trying to get something and starts trying to influence someone, the audience will go to sleep.”

As long as an action fulfills the protagonist’s objective, then it’s a strong choice. If it’s merely interesting and only interesting, it will not actually be interesting to the viewer. The same holds true for writing: the minute a writer stops writing beautiful, interesting prose and concerns herself with “what do I want” (Rule 1), she will begin to write gripping works of whatever genre. Mamet calls this “uninflected” which I love as a term for this idea of unadorned, simple, compelling work.

How does this relate to warriorship? In the martial arts, it’s easy to fall into what I call the “coolness” trap; it’s the same trap both actors and writers fall into. It’s irresistible to the ego to write interesting stuff; to be interesting onstage: in other words, to appear cool. The ego doesn’t want to look boring or plain, it wants to look cool. It seems contrary that the least interesting choice is actually the strongest, and that the less information you give a reader/audience, the better they will get into the story. The exact same thing happens to a martial artist: we see so much over-the-top action in films that looks so cool: wire-fu, elaborate long fight sequences, sleek catsuits, macho setups for sport fighting like cages. The problem for the artist’s ego is that the really cool-looking stuff of martial arts is in fact the least effective in a real fight. Same for an actor, same for a writer. And now I’m writing this, it occurs to me that we could probably say this for any art form…

The Three Rules For Warriorship:
1) What do I want? (Objective) –do I want to attack or defend myself? Do I want to cause harm? What specifically do I want to do, physically? How do I want the fight to end?
2) What do I do to get what I want? (Tactics) –What actions specifically do I need to achieve my objective? Weak or waffly (or “cool”) choices here will fail, in a much more obvious way than just a mediocre performance or piece of writing. In a martial arts situation, a weak tactic leads to a smack in the head or even a fatality (or a lost match, if we’re talking sport martial arts).
3) What stands in my way? (Obstacles) –is my opponent’s guard up? Armor or weapons involved? Are there innocents anywhere? Is the law on my side? Is the space restricted, either physically or otherwise?

What’s the conclusion here? That good art should be “uninflected, … requiring no additional gloss” (Mamet again). Keep it simple. Which, of course, is the most difficult thing about mastery. For more of Mamet's words of wisdom, check out his book On Directing.

Image is Jenn and Boaz doing a theatrical thing in a martial arts studio. Go figure.

~Jenn

Lightsaber finale

Boaz and I had the opportunity to perform our lightsaber fight for the Boulder Quest Center testing community and their fan clubs last night. It was fantastic to be able to do it with Duel of the Fates playing and a live audience that wasn't fellow students who've seen it a million times before. We had adrenaline and joy. Here's a still photo thanks to Marcus and family. Video to follow. ~Jenn

Fight Clip Club

Ninja jump from the BQC. Keegan, you put your hand down. Does that count? :)

Come to NinjaFit Fridays if you want to learn stuff like this. ~Jenn

Thursday and Friday's Exciting Events

Thursday the 30th is the last day of the summer lightsaber class (sob). We'll be filming all our fights, though, so stay tuned and you can see the results of our 8-week session up here soon afterwards.

Friday the 31st is Test Night at the Boulder Quest Center. Highlights will include Jenn and Boaz's lightsaber fight, Kim & Jenn showing the groud flow, and of course much fun belt testing as usual. This will be the last test for Kim & Jenn before their Black Belt. Spiffy!

INFO:

7/30: lightsaber class finale; 12"30-2pm; PE 103 on Auraria Campus

7/31: BQC Test Night; adults & youth testing + demos begin at 6pm

Images are Jenn and Kim in April's BQC test, and Jenn and Boaz creating their lightsaber fight, in class in June.

Ninja Assassin

Here's the new trailer, full of super Matrix-esque, shuriken-flinging action. Looks like fun! Thanks to Boing-Boing for pointing the way to this site. "Insanely awesome," indeed.

NinjaFit in the News (again)

Check it: http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2009/07/2009-07-22ninja.html

Now let's get the students rolling in, folks!

~Jenn

Blog-to-Blog

What a rhizomic world of writing the blogosphere is. Here is a link to a Stephen Hayes blog post that was actually mostly written (translated) by Kevin. We're all writing about ninjas, all the time... :)

~Jenn

Image is Jenn and Mr. Hayes at his most recent seminar at the BQC.

"Only a Ninja..."

Tonight's Exciting Event

Tonight is the last Friday of June, and so the BQC is holding the best party in town--Testing Night (with potluck after)! Come cheer on all levels of To Shin Do-ers as they attain new belts, uke for others, or as in Kim and Jenn's case, move ever closer to Black Belt status. It's a good time. Adults and youth begin their test at 6pm. To get you lovely lurkers excited, here's the highlight reel from last month's test (Jenn's bus demo not included):

Black Belt Cloud

I just love word toys and language games. This new Word Cloud thing is delighting me no end. It's actually a good writer's tool as well, in that one can see which words one uses most often. This is the word cloud for my To Shin Do Black Belt essay and written exam, including the two addenda posted here on Daily Cross-Swords in the past. It's an unusual, interesting way to read.

~Jenn

To be a single stick player

Check out this link from stellar blog boing-boing: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/06/how-to-defend-yourse.html

Sherlock Holmes definitely was a bad-ass. However, one should always get real historical education before one begins a new martial art school based on an "authentic" system. Martial arts systems are so organic and honestly influenced by everything around them.

Workout of the Week

Hey you lurkers, where have you been every Friday evening? If it wasn't at Ninja Fit class, read this article from the Daily Camera and feel ashamed! Team Bonzuko is proud of the praise Jenn received from Aimee Heckel of the Daily Camera, who reviewed her Ninja Fit class as the Workout of the Week. Many favorite quotes. Here's one:

"This is the only class I can honestly say I would ever do on a Friday after work, because it felt like an extension of happy hour -- literally, not with alcohol -- yet it's a great way to get in a workout before the night's debauchery."

Image is Jenn and Mary at the BQC: publicity shot for Ninja Fit.

Ninja Fit takes place Fridays* 5:45-6:45 at the Boulder Quest Center.

*Except the last Friday of the month, which is testing night.

Level Up!

Once again, Jenn has leveled up her ninja guy and has now achieved Brown-Black Belt in To-Shin Do. This means she's this close to a To Shin Do Black Belt. This close.

Highlights of the evening included:

• A priest who's also learning to be a ninja. I know! Does there need to be a movie, or what?
  
• Young Keegan levels his ninja guy up as well


• Jenn's demo takes place within the confined space of an RTD bus. Kim is extra-creepy as a weird fellow passenger, and we find that headphones are a pretty good kusari fundo


• Jenn and Kim are both injured, and yet kick ass nontheless. Think Yoda in Star Wars Episode 2. Hobble in, fight like a badass, hobble out. That's how ninjas roll.

Congratulations everyone, and thanks to our fans and ukes! And Marcus for manning Jenn's Blackberry! Images are from Jenn's demo. Don't it look like a bus?

Friday's Exciting Event

It's going to be the last Friday of the month again, and that means it's Test Night at the BQC!

Bonzuko's own Jenn will of course be there, this time doing her test demo which takes place on a bus! Come see! Potluck after!

When: Friday May 29, 2009 at 6pm

Where: The Boulder Quest Center

Image is from last month's test: Jenn and Kim doing a back-to-back joint free response. Good times.

Farewell to Mr. Falls

Jeff has been one of my favorite folks to beat up at the Boulder Quest Center, and now he's off to do missionary work. So close to your TSD black belt, man! And we had what would have been the funniest demo ever performed there all set up. Darn, we should have filmed it that evening, huh? Ah well. :) We'll miss Jeff and his lovely fiancee Victoria very much. Here's to you guys. God bless. ~Jenn

Image is Jeff and Jenn in their interactive version of the Sentoshi Sword Series, Part One. See this link for full video.

This Weekend's Local Fun

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which in Boulder means the Creek Festival, the Bolder Boulder race, and Jenn's parents' anniversary. Lots of excuses to party, basically. But then, in Boulder we always welcome any reason to enjoy a microbrew outside. Heck, we don't even need a reason.

This Weekend's Events:

Friday: NinjaFit at the Boulder Quest Center, 5:45-6:45pm. Last week, Aimee Heckel from the Daily Camera came in to sample the class and write a story on it. Rumor has it that this Friday there'll be a photographer to add to her story. Come by if you want to be fit and famous!

Saturday and Sunday: Boulder Creek Festival: see Jenn help out the Boulder Quest Center with some demos on the stage. Shop at artists' booths and eat good foods.

Monday: The Bolder Boulder: an annual footrace in Boulder. Celebrate by raising a mimosa to the TV footage of our beautiful city. Or, okay, you can walk or run it if you're local and you want to...

Image is Jenn's parents celebrating their anniversary last year.

Black Belt Questions: Addendum

Mary Casey had some questions about the Black Belt answers I illustrated earlier here in the Bonzuko blog. She and Kevin asked respectfully that I reiterate and expand on certain aspects of my previous post, and I am happy to oblige, both for their and my illumination.

Question One came across to the Caseys very differently than my intention. Here is the essence of my previous answer: My knowledge of technique detail is quite good. That's it. I didn't mean that I had nothing left to learn. Martial arts is a lifelong study, and it's only after a lifetime that one should ever claim mastery (which I certainly do not). My knowledge of the little details of ninpo technique has added to my continuous learning anew through To Shin Do. The biggest difference I can relate as far as my first day at the BQC compared to my previous training boils down to zanshin. I look at the video of my shodan test in ninpo taijutsu and any number of test videos in TSD and the difference is enormous. I don't have samples for you lovely lurkers other than the two images here (and those hopefully should say something towards this paragraph). I have a lot more firm warrior spirit, I stay "in character" and I have much more confidence now than I did then. My knowledge of detail has just been a helpful step in the right direction, and a way to train from square three or four instead of one. As far as physically, I am more fit and my kamae is consistently stronger now than it was then.

2. I have re-posted two pictures: one from my shodan test in 2003, and one from the recent SKH seminar at the BQC, here in this post so you can see the difference.

3. In my earlier post, I postulated that I disagreed "with the 'no grinning' clause" in the Black Belt Quality handout. I didn't go on to averr that I assumed the handout referred to goofy laughter and not the sort of joy I wrote about. I think we all agree that goofiness with a lack of focus isn't warriorship. Real joy is. Suppressing laughter is just as detrimental to good training as is a distracting joker. Hopefully all you lovely lurkers assumed that also, but it's nice to say it outright and be sure.

4. Lastly, Kevin-san asked that I respond a little about the difference between my ninpo training and my To Shin Do training. Particularly getting a TSD black belt as compared to my ninpo taijutsu black belt. This is a pretty involved answer, and I'm not sure I may not want to post a whole new post just about this. Certainly I touched on what a TSD black belt means to me in my essay for those testing me. As far as the difference in training... One of the differences I've noticed most has been in the level of detailed correct technique (ninpo) and a general capacity for strength and quality (TSD). I would not say either way is better, but that my experience with both has added to my improvement and excellence in both. Ninpo was steeped in kata (what we called kihon) rigorous practice and especially lots and lots of ukemi (what we called taihenjutsu) practice. If I had one wish about TSD it's that it had more emphasis on all taihenjutsu from day one. In ninpo, we did all break falls and all rolls every class as a warmup, and I sincerely think that's some of the most valuable training anyone can have. If I had one wish about ninpo, it would be more free response, or what ninpo folks call randori, as soon as an intermediate level or further was reached. Though free response in the dojo is still a relatively staged experience, it still gets one in a different emotional space than kata practice, and I have discovered it's likewise invaluable.

5. Now that I'm practicing in the upper levels of colored-belt TSD, I get a taste of the best of both worlds. I'm starting to be asked for more detail in my practice along with the demands of free response at the drop of a hat. All ukemi (taihenjutsu) have been taught at this point in my TSD practice so I can have more experience with all of them.

6. In conclusion, I am proud and happy with my TSD experience, and look forward to my next test and especially the test after that. I also appreciate the warm and supportive network the Quest Centers offer to all their practitioners. In addition, I bow to the Genki Kai for the amazing new world of martial arts they introduced to me and others through the ten years I was with them.

Please, comment here if you'd like to discuss this and/or related topics further. The martial arts (especially IMO the ninja arts) are a constantly relevant, organic practice. I welcome your comments, and I hope if you want to hear more about any of this that you'll speak up and ask. ~Jenn

April's Test highlight reel

Here 'tis: thanks to Kevin for editing it up!

To Shin Do Black Belt Question

As I compile thoughts and inspiring quotes for elaborating on the last question on the To Shin Do Shodan written test, I realize much of what I'm writing would be of benefit to you lovely lurkers who come here to read about the movement arts and how they shape our world.

Why do you think that you should receive a To Shin Do Shodan black belt?

The center of my answer is that I've earned it. How so? To elaborate, I went to the "Black Belt Quality" section of the Special Testing Procedures handout to see if I could positively, honestly live up to the elements of black belt quality detailed there. I've condensed and answered them below. The image is from my Shodan test in ninpo taijutsu, August 2003.

• I understand the purpose of the technique / can demonstrate knowledge of technique details. ~I can say with confidence that my understanding has been there from day one (probably because of ninpo training), and my knowledge of details is vast. Any details I have missed, I make a point to focus on and refine in training. It helps that I'm not starting from square one.
• I rely on unified body movement / retain control of my balance. ~In the past, when I've observed myself in photos and videos of myself moving, I notice that I tend to get cut off at the waist. The cause of my lack of focus on my lower body is no doubt due to my bad knees. I have seen this improve more and more, until the most recent footage I've seen of my movement has shown centered balance, bent knees, and aligned spine for optimal power.
• I demonstrate mental focus /concentrated fighting spirit. ~Look at the picture in the Nexus post below: that's focus. I practice zanshin consistently. However, I must respectfully disagree with the "no grinning" clause I see on this handout. On the contrary, the joy and laughter I foster when teaching or practicing is an essential facet of warriorship. It's one of my best attributes, and is central to being a ninja. Shoto Tanemura said that the heart of a ninja should be "as peaceful, joyful, and lovely as that of a flower" (Ninpo Secrets). Stephen Hayes said it plainly in the recent Nexus interview: "it's fun; there's a lot of laughter." I'm all about laughter as power.
• I am ever carefully observant of safe and controlled technique practice. ~As a Stage Combat instructor, safety is key. So is doing techniques correctly as far as execution/effect. The balance of these two things makes for a good partner either onstage or on the mats.

To close, here's a verse from an old handout from Shoto Tanemura:

If one holds a sword,

one's spirit should be like a sword,

If one holds a staff,

one's spirit should be like a staff,

If one holds nothing but air then

one's spirit must be as air.

Nexus article

Nexus magazine interviewed Stephen K. Hayes when he was out here last for his seminar at the BQC. It's a great article--read it here. But most importantly to Team Bonzuko's own Jenn's giant actor's ego, the second of two pictures featured in the article! Fierce! Okay, well, she was concentrating. Very hard. What?