Shihan John Cantor 15th Dan, began Bujinkan training in 1986 after retiring from national and international competition in rowing. In 1990, he travelled to Japan and began training with Hatsumi sensei. In 1991 sensei asked John to form the first foreigner’s dojo in Japan. During his 13 years as the dojocho of the Kokusai dojo in Osaka, John gathered extensive experience from many shihan - both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ - and like many of his peers, exemplifies the ideal ‘to keep going’.  Nicholas Lynn 11th Dan arrived in Kobe in 1991 and soon joined  John in the growing international dojo. Both shihan treasure the memories and connections made with Hatsumi Sensei and the many practitioners from Europe, America, and Japan who they had the honor to train with. They trust that passing these on to their countrymen will enrich their lives and encourage all  buyu - martial friends - to delve deeply into Bujinkan training.

 His introduction to budo began with Shotokan karate in 1985. In 1986 he started Bujinkan training. In 1990 he travelled to Japan to study Japanese language, culture and train.

Nicholas’ experience includes 11 years in Japan where he worked as a chemical engineer. He is fluent in the Japanese language. During his time in Japan, Nicholas broadened his experience in the japanese warrior arts and maintains an interest in chinese acupuncture.

Since returning to Sydney both instructors have co-founded the Hunters Hill Dojo. They've also returned to Japan to train with Hatsumi-Soke and Bujinkan Shihans - Nagato, Noguchi and Nagase Sensei.

John Cantor and Nicholas Lynn opened the Bujinkan Kokusai Hunters Hill Dojo in 2003. The dojo welcomes men and women with an interest in developing fighting skills.

In the beginning new students can expect to be paired with an experienced senior student to learn the basic movements that initiate every training session. This movement is grouped into the Kihon, Sanshin, and Torite katas.

The katas ignite training and a session flows through the movements of techniques studied from each of the nine schools - followed by multiple variations - with and without weapons.

These techniques - waza - derive from the scrolls that support each school incorporate in Bujinkan training. After practicing a waza, students attempt to catch the feeling of the various henka - variations - that flow out from the inspiration ignited. It's through this learning structure that students from beginners to the experienced employ and expand all their martial skills to become true artists.

The instructors encourage self-discipline and mutual regard for the health, welfare and a student's skill level. New students are requested to watch the more experienced, and engage in activities in a similar fashion.

The dojo upholds the following rules

- Know that patience comes first.
- Know that the path of Man comes from justice.
- Renounce avarice, indolence, and obstinacy.
- Recognise sadness and worry as natural and seek fudoshin - the immovable heart.
- Do not stray from the path of loyalty and love, and delve deeper in to the heart of budo.

Bujinkan Kokusai Dojo - Sydney

http://kokusai.com.au

Traditional Martial Training

- Kobudo

Kotō-ryū Koppōjutsu, Gyokko-ryū Kosshijutsu, Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentaijutsu, Takagi Yōshin-ryū Jūtaijutsu, Kuki Shinden Happō Bikenjutsu, Gikan-ryū Koppōjutsu

- Ninjutsu

Togakure-ryū Ninpō Taijutsu, Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō, Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō

Many people in the 80's, and their trainers, sought inspiration from martial works such as the Hagakure, Go Rin No Sho and Sun Tzu's Art of War to adjust or empower their work activities. They felt that a warrior's strategies, aimed at winning battles, offered support for their busy lives.
Today, following trends, the books gather dust on shelves. Many people enter courses that aim to chisel their bodies, help them control their minds, and offer insight into spiritual matters. Gyms, Kickboxing, Aerobics, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Meditation, and New Age programs abound. Martial Training - the father of the aforementioned practices - remains practiced by only a few. Yet unchanged through the centuries, Bujinkan's Budo continues to offer its students power in all their pursuits through mastering combat arts. A responsible, battle-oriented perspective on life helps forge an unequivocal understanding of today's world.

Bujinkan students train in Taijutsu arts. Taijutsu - all body movement - training draws on techniques from 9 Japanese warrior traditions. These pass on combat skills through controlled simulation. Traditional techniques - waza - exercise a range of combat skills. Instructors encourage students to develop latent talent in henka - variations. Training emphasizes coordination, distance and balance to effectively deal with attacks.
Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu

The techniques of Budo are all highly polished masterpieces. However, if you learn or memorise them, everything stops. You end up feeling trapped, and it has the opposite effect from that intended. Once you have learned a technique, you need to forget it. If you remember and recall it, it loses its authenticity. Learning a technique is not the end in itself, it merely indicates where you need to start. It is only by discarding memorized techniques, stripping them down, that you can discover a way forward to the next masterpiece.

In genuine Budo, any conventional common sense about martial arts (fighting) that you might have learned in the past can actually get in the way. This is because common sense prevents you from changing. In real life, people who live beyond the bounds of common sense attack you suddenly, with scant regard for any rules of combat. You can hardly call yourself a martial artist if this throws you off balance.

Above all, it is important to maintain equanimity. You should be able to change any part of your life quite normally and naturally, just as your heart beats. Otherwise, you will end up stuck in your ways and unable to make your way through the world. By leaving behind adherence to forms... your spirit will become more flexible, your 'capacity' as a martial artist will grow, those around you will be able to produce free, ever changing techniques wherever and whenever you choose.

Soke Masaaki Hatsumi 34th Grandmaster of the Bujinkan's Togakure Ryu

Soke - Head of the Tradition - of the Bujinkan - Warrior God Hall

Born 1931. After progressing through various martial arts, he found his life's mentor, Takamatsu Toshitsugu, and studied under him for 15 years, becoming the 34th Grandmaster of Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu and eight other arts, which he unified into the Bujinkan system. While traveling around the world, teaching thousands of individual students as well as law enforcement agencies, he received numerous accolades from politicians and spiritual leaders of many nationalities. He has worked as a professional osteopath, acted in a popular television series, and as author of many books on Ninjutsu, was for many years Chairman of the International Department of Japan Literary Artists Club.

Photo: Shihan OZ TAI KAI

Comments (0)