Musashi
NINKAGE RYU
Sabutai Musashi
Sabutai Musashi began his training as a young boy in 1966 under Grandmaster
Yoshiaki Musashi from whom he inherited the title of Grandmaster and the
Ninkage ryu bujutsu style. Ninkage ryu is a complete martial arts system
that includes weapons like Iaijutsu, the sword art of harmonizing the
draw and cut (the iai arts within Ninkage ryu bujutsu are unique in their
movement and fluidity of form) and Kenjutsu, the art of the sword. Ninkage
ryu also incorporates bare-handed techniques and internal arts. Within
the internal arts are Kokyu no michi, the way of the breath: breathing
techniques that open the gateways to energy awareness; Mushin no michi,
the way of no mind: stepping outside the limitations of the conscious
mind; Ki ku no michi, the way of the spirit of the void: utilizing the
energies available, both internally and externally; Aiki no kime, focus
of spirit harmony: controlling the energy that commands the emotions;
Kokoro me no michi, the way of the mind's eye: using internal energy instead
of the eyes; and Mekura waza, blind technique: through the use of the
mind's eye, performing any and all martial arts techniques blindfolded,
without a loss of effectiveness.
Undefeated in bare knuckle, full-contact fighting, he was inducted into
the United States Karate Alliance (USKA) Hall of Fame in July 1992. The
United States Karate Alliance is comprised of the men and the women who
are and have been the most spirited competitors/fighters who have ever
put on a martial arts uniform.
A nearly fatal car crash in 1991 paralyzed his left side. The doctors
told him he would never do martial arts or even walk again. Despite this,
he has been teaching for thirty years. His pupils include the Army Special
Forces, Navy Seals, Marine Recon, police departments in many major cities,
bodyguards, teachers and students from a wide variety of other martial
arts, and all kinds of different groups of "non martial artists"
in everything from self-defense to internal energy studies.
Classes and Seminars Available: Iaijutsu,
Kenjutsu, Jojutsu, Tantojutsu, Taijutsu, Aikijutsu, Jujutsu, katamejutsu,
Koppjutsu and Go Dai No Michi ( Internal Energy System, blind technique).
Sabutai Musashi Shihan holds Master ranks in the following arts:
Iaijutsu - the sword art of harmonizing the draw and cut.
Kenjutsu - the art of the sword [sword and multiple sword combat].
Tantojutsu - the art of the knife.
Jojutsu - the art of the stick.
Taijutsu - the art of the body.
Dakentaijutsu - the art of striking.
Koppojutsu - the art of bone breaking and joint dislocation.
Jutaijutsu - the art of the supple body.
This major section of taijutsu contains all the grappling arts within
Ninkage Ryu. Jutaijutsu can be broken into three basic arts:
Aikijutsu - the art of the union of energies,
Jujutsu - the art of suppleness or gentleness,
Katamejutsu - the art of locking and controlling.
Go Dai No Michi - the Way of the Great Five - the energy system of Ninkage
Ryu.
Go Dai No Michi - the Way of the Great Five
The student learns about the five elements [earth, water, fire, wind and
void] and how they relate to and are part of our lives and our world.
The study of energies [internal, external, mental and elemental] and their
various
applications: martial, meditative, healing, growth, awareness, etc…
There are several realms of study within Go Dai No Michi among them are:
Kokyu no michi [ the way of the breath ]
The student learns the breathing techniques that open the gateways to
energy awareness.
Mushin no michi [ the way of no mind ]
The student learns to step outside the limitations of the conscious mind.
Ki ku no michi [ the way of the spirit of the void ]
The student learns to utilize the energies available, both internally
and externally.
Aiki no kime [ focus of spirit harmony ]
The student learns to control the energy that commands the emotions.
Kokoro me no michi [ the way of the mind's eye ]
The student learns to use their energy instead of their eyes.
Mekura waza [ blind technique ]
Through the use of their mind's eye the student learns to perform any
and all martial arts techniques blindfolded, without a loss of effectiveness.
Grandmaster Musashi is the only living master of the internal arts of
Ninkage Ryu. The energy arts of this system have produced amazing feats
in the past. For example, through energy projection alone paper has been
cut and people have been moved.
The internal arts take the student on a journey through the world of
energy. The student first becomes aware of the energies present both around
and within himself or herself. From that awareness grows a sense of "feel"
and the ability to manipulate both internal and external energy.
Kokyu no michi [ the way of the breath ]
The student learns the breathing techniques that open the gateways to
energy awareness.
Mushin no michi [ the way of no mind ]
The student learns to step outside the limitations of the conscious mind.
Ki ku no michi [ the way of the spirit of the void ]
The student learns to utilize the energies available, both internally
and externally.
Aiki no kime [ focus of spirit harmony ]
The student learns to control the energy that commands the emotions.
Kokoro me no michi [ the way of the mind's eye ]
The student learns to use their energy instead of their eyes.
Mekura waza [ blind technique ]
Through the use of their mind's eye the student learns to perform any
and all martial arts techniques blindfolded, without a loss of effectiveness.
Iaijutsu - the sword art of harmonizing the draw and cut.
The iai arts within Ninkage Ryu Ninbujutsu are unique in their movement
and fluidity of form. The footwork is designed to allow the practitioner
to close distance to an opponent armed with a longer weapon. The body
movement accomplishes two objectives: 1] the shifting of angles keeps
the opponent from utilizing the reach or power of his weapon; 2] it gives
the practitioner the ability to perform powerful, compact, blending techniques
and totally vanquish the opponent. These movements and compact attacks
can be adapted to empty-hand combat or sparring.
Kenjutsu - the art of the sword [sword and multiple sword combat].
Ninkage Ryu Ninbujutsu kenjutsu stands out in a number of ways.
1] The use of a variety of blade lengths differs from the tradition of
each school having their own idea of the proper blade type. There was
a time when it was possible to tell what school a man was from by what
type of sword he carried.
2] The use of double blades, one in each hand, is a rarity. Even rarer
is the use of a variety of such combinations:
two long swords
one long sword and one short sword
two short swords
one short sword and one knife
[ two knives falls under tantojutsu ]
3] The specialty of rapid grip changes creates an ever-changing combat
distance making it difficult for any opponent to judge or adapt to the
timing and distance. This allows the practitioner to get within the effective
range of the opponent's weapon and still be able to utilize full power
techniques.
Tantojutsu - the art of the knife.
This art combines the movement and cutting techniques of the sword with
grappling techniques from jujutsu and aikijutsu. The cutting techniques
are of an incredibly wide variety. This is an extremely deadly art that
must be experienced to be believed.
Jojutsu - the art of the stick.
The Ninkage Ryu staff arts can be divided into hard and soft versions.
The hard staff, katai jo, utilizes the entire weapon as a striking surface.
The emphasis is on using the enhanced reach of the staff to maintain proper
distance while breaking the opponent down. The soft staff, yawarakai jo,
utilizes the weapon for grappling, throwing and controlling. Within jojutsu
there are several types of sticks that are taught:
jo - four foot walking staff
hanbo - three-foot stick (including canes)
hanjo - two-foot stick
tanbo - one foot stick
Each type of stick is taught both as katai and yawarakai. Both aspects
of the stick are normally studied at the same time giving the practitioner
a well-rounded and extremely useful understanding of this simple and endlessly
complex weapon.
Taijutsu - the art of the body.
Taijutsu encompasses all of the unarmed arts of the system and can be
broken down into three major sections:
Dakentaijutsu - the striking or hard style arts,
Jutaijutsu - the grappling or soft style arts.
Taihenjutsu - the falling and body control arts.
Dakentaijutsu - the art of striking.
The entire body is utilized to its greatest effect in creating power within
the art of striking.
The body weapons employed cover the head, shoulder, hip as well as the
entire arm and leg.
Overall, the techniques (waza) are very compact with the emphasis on efficiency.
The classes of striking techniques are as follows:
Atemi-waza - percussive techniques to weak or vital areas,
Ate-waza - crushing techniques
Shinkei-waza - nerve techniques.
Koppojutsu - the art of bone breaking and joint dislocation.
This is the main art in the realm of dakentaijutsu. It is the application
of the various striking techniques to the vulnerable structural targets
within the human body.
Jutaijutsu - the art of the supple body.
This major section of taijutsu contains all the grappling arts within
Ninkage Ryu. Jutaijutsu can be broken into three basic arts:
Aikijutsu - the art of the union of energies,
Jujutsu - the art of suppleness or gentleness,
Katamejutsu - the art of locking and controlling.
Contrary to popular misconceptions the "gentle, soft, supple"
arts of Japan are not mild on the opponent. If anything they are more
easygoing on the practitioner's body. They do contain numerous striking
techniques but utilize misdirections instead of hard style blocks.
The term ju (gentle, soft, supple, flexible) speaks of the concept of
a formless, free flowing response to any situation. Because of the lack
of static routines there is an almost infinite variety of techniques and
combinations possible within the soft arts.
Aikijutsu - the art of the union of energies.
The concept of aikijutsu is simple, all the elements and energies within
the movements blend together. There is the blending of the practitioner's
movements and breathing as well as the merging of the practitioner and
the opponent to form the technique. Many of the movements in aikijutsu
come from kenjutsu and are designed to counteract the use of the sword.
If an unarmed art can be used to overcome the sword it is obviously of
great use in any type of combat situation.
Jujutsu - the art of suppleness or gentleness.
Jujutsu specializes in compact techniques for extreme close quarter's
combat and is a compliment to jojutsu the way aikijutsu is to kenjutsu.
The techniques tend to be of a more physical nature than those of aikijutsu,
itself a jujutsu offshoot. The throwing and body dropping techniques can
be devastating. This ancient art was created with one purpose, to be able
to annihilate one's opponents.
Katamejutsu - the art of locking and controlling.
Katamejutsu techniques are focused on using your opponent's skeletal system
against them. The basic principles consist of joint locks, lever applications
and pain submission holds. It is a relatively simple art that lends itself
to numerous uses in conjunction with any other martial art in any kind
of situation.
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