Bōjutsu: 第八法 Dai Happō Preview

From https://www.rojodojo.com A preview of My #Bujinkan #Bōjutsu video covering the 九字の形 Kuji No Kata, 第八法 Dai Happō. These kata are found in a 九鬼神流 Kukishin Ryū 棒術 bōjutsu book by 木葉幸四郎 Kiba Kōshirō published in 1937. Kiba Kōshirō was a student of Takamatsu Sensei.

We did our warmup with 棒振 bōfuri in 左回り hidarimawari and using the 逆手 gyakute grip. We used this spin to move into 棒打型 bō uchi gata. We strike to 面打 men uchi, 横面打 yokomen uchi, 胴打 dō uchi, 脛打 sune uchi, 突 tsuki and finish with 跳上 haneage to 下段 gedan.

I also demonstrated the proper hand placement on the bō. We use a 六尺棒 rokushakubō which is a description of length. Roku means six, shaku is an old unit of measurement in Japan. When you place the hands on the bō, you divide it into thirds, two shaku on either end, and two in the middle. Once you start spinning the bō, your hand placement is mostly in the center, giving you three shaku on either side. This changes as you adjust for distance and striking.

After the warmup, we began 第八法 Dai Happō. It starts from 逆天地人之構 gyaku tenchijin no kamae. You deliver two downward strikes to 面 men as you rotate the bō. Then a sudden stop to the rotation leads to a 跳上 haneage to 下段 gedan.

The first two strikes are 虚実 kyojitsu. They might be real, they might not. You should play with this concept and sometimes try to hit your opponent. See how he reacts. Then see if you can draw this same reaction with your fake.

After the kyojitsu, there is a stop to the flow that comes as a form of 青眼 seigan. The description of the kata doesn’t specify it, but the seigan is very useful. It is a valuable guard position, but it also may threaten with a tsuki. You might even drop the tip of the bō to cover or strike kote, before your haneage.

The method of 跳上 haneage described in the text for Dai Happō can sometimes feel a bit slow, or like it is telegraphed. So I demonstrated a method to haneage straight out of seigan that is quick. In this henka you don’t switch sides. This works better with a neutral distance, but if the opponent is retreating or aggressive, the distance changes.

I finished with a very surprising 跳上 haneage. During my bōfuri and kyojitsu, I have a sneaky way of receiving the bō with my left hand. I receive it in a 十文字 jūmonji grip. Then I can project the end of the bō back up and at my opponent very quickly. I even showed this as a method to draw another weapon during bōfuri.