Hidden Warrior Martial Arts

Welcome to Hidden Warrior Martial Arts!

The heart of HWMA is esoteric martial arts with a focus on Traditional Samurai, Ninja and modern combative arts. These arts have a very strong self developmental aspect and are not just focused on self defence, but the development of a fully actualized self (tatsujin). The aims of our classes are to help make you the best you can be, feeling empowered, confident and harmonious in all aspects of your life. The study of strikes, kicks, throws, ground grappling and weaponry are covered along with Yoga, Chi Kung and various forms of meditation to aid you on your journey towards Self Empowerment. Come train with us and see what it is really like to go beyond the physical!

Shihan Dan Ordoins Seminar at KMD 2011 – Part 4 and 5

I apologize for the wait between posts of the seminar, unfortunately I failed to put up the entry for the seminar last month so I am putting up the ones from the last two months. I hope you enjoy them, peace!

We briefly played with the concept of Shihodori when training with Shihan Dan. The concept is easy enough to comprehend, but requires practice of application. What Shihan Dan demonstrated to us was that any singular technique can be applied in multiple directions. These would basically be the four planes of movement we pay extra attention to in our Water syllabus. These are not the directions forward, back, left and right but the four dimensions between them. Applying the same technique across these four planes creates a very unique feeling for each of them. This is something very fun to play with. My Sensei then shared with us how one can use the shihodori concept and use those four directions to create infinite possibilities. These directions can be taken across different levels; high, mid-level, low and everything in between. I applied these concepts to my play for the remainder of the seminar.

The seminar began with us practicing sectional or isolation movement. The importance have the ability to mobilize specific body parts independently from others became apparent later on in the seminar when we were examining other waza when we practiced closing the distance on our uke. One of our first exercises with this concept was dropping back into a kamae while leaving our hands suspended at the same plane, kind of like a mime moving behind his glass wall. This concept became a fundamental factor for many of the other waza we played with throughout the day. Being able to move around a part of your body without moving it itself allows you to create an infinite number of illusions once applied; such as Shihan Dan’s three levels of punching (which I suggest you ask him to share with you because these concepts create feelings difficult for me to describe in words). Sectional movement gives you the ghostly ability to move around an opponent’s grip. They may hold your limb but as you let the limb rest where it is to create the illusion in their mind that they have it, you may move freely in and/or around the uke. This is something you must feel to appreciate, and once you do, you will feel as though you have gained some supernatural power. I have seen Sensei apply this concept many times and now I have this tool to incorporate into my waza as well. Sectional movement is something that I must incorporate into every technique I apply henceforth because it is a priceless addition to everything involving distancing and timing in combat. If you can achieve a certain level of mastery of sectional movement, once you have made contact with the opponent, he is now at the whims of your sorcery because the mind games have begun.

Life in every breath – RSR

Shihan Dan Ordoins Seminar at KMD 2011 – Part 3

As I have shared what I have learned about the importance of not being confined by kamae, in turn it is also crucial to understand the importance of good kamae. Sensei always stresses in class that kazushi is everything in our martial arts. The purpose is to maintain your kazushi through good kamae and to compromise your opponent’s. Standing in a stance is not truly having good kamae, but the ability to move between stances and all the while maintaining it. There will be no success in living in the ‘and’ without an adequate base. Achieving this correct kamae at all times will serve multiple purposes. While training with my brother at the seminar, I learned that when you maintain good kamae, opportunities open up to you. The opposite is true as well; if you are fixed on looking for a certain opportunity, you may have to sacrifice your kamae to get it. Maintaining a good kamae will allow you to take advantage of what opportunities are presented to you as opposed to looking for one, and in turn, sacrificing your stability and energy. I honestly feel that if you are too busy looking for what you want, you will not be able to see what you have. All of the above is true in combat and in life.

Life in every breath – RSR

Shihan Dan Ordoins at KMD 2011 – Part 2

There is a time between moments – between point A and point B, between here and there, you and I or then and now. Within this “and”, there is a sense of suspension and uncertainty, where the possibilities of what may follow are endless. I understand how one can become caught up with being in stances because as a fresh Earth rank, although I can trust my strong stance, I must learn to move past being confined by it. Shihan Dan uses the term “living in the ‘and’”, meaning staying in that state of constant change, as opposed to hunkering down into a kamae. Shihan describes stances as brief checkpoints within the constant “and”, similar to when Sensei Richard Ramnarine, says in Hoshindo there are no stances, only positions. I noticed when playing with this concept that when one is moving between the stances there is a lull or what seems to be a slight fog because of the uncertainty of where one will end up. Once an uke has stopped their movement and is now in what would succeed the “and”, there is a sudden clearing. When facing an opponent in a stance, it is quite easy to see their balance, positioning and intent. If the person before me is not in motion, I no longer have to adjust my perception millisecond by millisecond to judge their balance and positioning. Once a kamae has been “locked-in”, the haze of battle and the unknown is momentarily lifted to allow the opponent to see the situation more clearly. Shihan Dan shared an essential tool with us that we can utilize when playing in the “and”: never totally committing to any one technique. If you apply a lock, strike or throw, it should be done to the point where it serves its purpose and then you must move on to the next position. You can lock-on a technique but once you have fully committed to it, your only choice is to complete it because you have sacrificed your option to move freely in and out of it. This only enhances your opponent’s sensation of drowning in the “and” as he is the helpless victim of multiple techniques in succession, making it nearly impossible to adjust to the attack. A discovery that my friend Rustam Mann, shared with me was that you can create the illusion of being in a stance and still keep your uke suspended in the “and”. He accomplished this by going into a specific kamae and maintaining the slightest, smallest constant movement. Even if the movement is so subtle that one may not see it, the feeling of the void is maintained. When playing with this concept, I found it very important to keep the opponent in a period of stasis and not allow them to adjust to you as you are consistently moving through the void. This is precisely what Richard Sensei means when he tells us to adopt no stance as our stance.

Life in every breath – RSR

Shihan Dan Ordoins at KMD 2011 – Part 1

On the weekend of May 21, 2011, Kage Musha Dojo had the pleasure of training with a true Budoka, 15^th Dan in Bujinkan, Shihan Dan Ordoins. Meeting people like Dan Ordoins reminds me of the most important, yet sometimes invisible factors that we require in our training. How can the path of a martial artist allow one to grow past the boundaries of life we commonly confine ourselves to? I find it very interesting how the more dangerous a human being is, the more humility they seem to possess. Regardless of the magnitude of martial prowess that Shihan Dan possesses, he does not allow you to feel a sense of inferiority. You feel as if you are in the presence of an old friend from the moment of introduction. Even though he is a 15^th Dan, his aura of humility is ever present. Shihan references Hatsumi Soke when sharing any knowledge he has. I have observed that sometimes individuals attain a certain rank, they begin to pass on knowledge as if attained on their own but Shihan referenced Soke so much that it felt more like we were all training amongst one another and not solely under him. You can truly see that Shihan does not present himself as a Grandmaster of the art but a medium to Hatsumi Soke. The purpose of this piece is not to flatter but to understand the spirit Budo. If you cannot “make your warrior’s walk, your every day walk”, the road to mastering martial arts and your own life will prove difficult. What is the purpose of training in martial arts if it will not benefit you in every aspect of your life? To understand this notion, one must examine the conduct of individuals such as Shihan Dan Ordoins. As I have learned from Hoshindo, our waza is not where the importance of the art lies, but in the principle the waza is trying to teach us. These principles transcend combat and if you allow them to, teach us about ourselves, our relationships and how to ultimately achieve mastery of our lives. This is the first of eight instalments and each will focus on a specific principle Shihan Ordoins shared with us. I am truly honoured to have been given the opportunity to write about this seminar and share our experiences with you over the next couple of days.

Life in every breath – Rupinder Singh Randhawa

Hidden Warrior Martial Arts – Kenjutsu

Old roots, new leaves.

The infantile feeling of moving into a new element is very exciting. Today’s training was my first introduction to the “Water Stance”. It is a new movement, a new attitude and a new feeling as opposed to Earth but it is also closely related to something which we are familiar with in Hoshindo; our Sanshin no Kata. Since Sanshin is the base of all our taijutsu we practice it as a part of our initial routine every training day. At first it may seem strange that we have been drilling Sanshin every day for about a year and it is only now that we are learning a movement that is essential to every part of the kata. The way I see it is; all the basic movements of Sanshin have been ingrained in me but after today, one simple lesson has improved my Sanshin tenfold.

What I understand from this is the value of cherishing the tools you have. We come across something new and what we feel to be “better” and too often we drop everything we have acquired up to that point. We have all attained so many priceless lessons throughout the course of our lives that we do not even acknowledge. The key as you progress is to build upon and work with the abilities you already have. Of course we must drop bad habits, smooth out our own edges from time to time, but that in the end is also building upon and working with what you have. Progressive growth involves being able to distinguish the useful from the useless and recognizing your weaknesses. It is wonderful when someone decides to turn a new leaf but it is tragic when they lose everything they’ve gained when doing so. Sensei gifted us with the knowledge of Sanshin yes, sure it wasn’t perfect but we have Sanshin. Now that we have this raw clay and moulded it into an abstract shape with our hands, Sensei has handed us a chisel. I am very excited to see what tool we will be given next once we finishing chiselling our work.

Life in every breath – RSR

Hidden Warrior Martial Arts – Stopping Kicks & Crucifixion

Hidden Warrior Martial Arts – Effortless Taijutsu: Way of the Gentle Fist

Hidden Warrior Martial Arts – Throwing into Rolling