PDA

View Full Version : How to treat weapons and equipment?



Fredrik Blom
6th September 2001, 13:42
Hi,

Over a period of time, I have been thinking about how different "groups" (lacking a better word) treat their training gears (i.e. weapons, hakama, dogi, etc.).
"Brought up" in a modern ecclectic western (insert Your take on it here) kind of ju-jutsu style, I didn't reflect on it much at all; we don't use weapons as means of defense (just defend against knifes, batons and guns), but though I always was taught not to toss these things around, there where never any formal kind of way to handle these items.
When turning my eyes toward aikido, I saw a bit of different perspective on these things. They had some ceremonials when stepping onto the mat with a weapon (i.e. bowing towards shomen/kamiza with the weapon held in both hands). After practise most of them sat down and folded their hakama quite exstensively.
And I thought "Wow, these guys have really adopted to a Japanes mentality and taken Japanese traditions with them"...
From this I have seen more traditional ju-jutsu schools tossing weapons around in the dojo, jodo people having more rituals and ettiquette (sp?) rules than I have a chance to remeber and koryu kenjutsu guys winding up their hakama after practise and dropping their bokuto to the floor (not tossing them, but not being to careful about it either).

So where am I going with this then? I don't really know actually; I guess I'd like to hear some feedback from Your perspective on things.

Just being curious I guess...

Regards,
Fredrik Blom

Walker
6th September 2001, 17:00
Of course you do what your dojo does. Want to fit in and all.
But I believe the traditional view would be for student’s to fold their training clothes properly after practice for a cool down period and transition between training and outside life. Not because their is any intrinsic value in training clothes and weapons, but good habits are good habits.
Now peasants will always behave like peasants so what can you do?:smilejapa

Jeff Hamacher
7th September 2001, 02:01
Originally posted by Walker
Of course you do what your dojo does.
excellent advice; if you've chosen your teacher well, then following their instruction and example is the obvious choice.

But I believe the traditional view would be for students to fold their training clothes properly after practice for a cool down period and transition between training and outside life. Not because their is any intrinsic value in training clothes and weapons, but good habits are good habits.
i agree with part of what you write here, Doug. good habits are good habits, and japanese thinking holds that one's appearance is a reflection of one's attitude towards the people one deals with.

i disagree in that i believe all of our training equipment has an intrinsic value and as such deserves our respect in much the same way as our teachers, partners, and dojo deserve it. clothing, if not taken proper care of, starts to look like crap. while some martial arts students i've seen take pride in wearing torn dogi or pleatless hakama, it kinda runs counter to this notion of "dressing properly". don't get me wrong; i'm not talking about dressing "nicely" for reasons of esthetic or ego, nor am i criticizing anyone for wearing dogi faded by constant use and washing, or even for patching up a tear in an otherwise useable hakama. the good habit of respecting your gear pays off in longer life, less money spent on new gear, and maintaining a standard of dress appropriate to the training environment. i don't see folding your clothing as a point of psychological transition from "training mind" to a "real world mind". care and respect for everyone and everything around us shouldn't disappear when we walk out the dojo door.

Fredrik, i almost find it hard to believe that some martial arts students drop, throw, or mistreat their weapons. both my aikido and jo teachers have been very quick to point out mistakes to students, and i've been on the receiving end of such advice more than once. i remember in particular a time when our jo association head was teaching me personally and ripped the bokuto right out of my hands with his technique, sending it skittering several metres across the floor. when i went to pick it up, i casually grabbed the "blade" and promptly met with a shout of, "What the hell are you doing!?! Get back here!!!" once i was standing in front of him again, he explained patiently but firmly that the weapon was "out of it's scabbard", so to speak, and the only "safe" place to pick it up was by the grip. the danger is only imaginary, but we must adopt the attitude that it is real. if the sword were real, it would far too valuable to drop or throw, and thus we shouldn't mistreat it.

in direct reponse to your question, Fredrik, i've seen Saito-sensei bow holding weapons in his videos but my aikido teachers have never taught me to do this. other than that, i've always been told to carry, hold, and use weapons as the potentially dangerous instruments that they are. as for jo, i have yet to learn the more elaborate rituals performed when exchanging weapons with our partner since i'm still working on the ZNKR jo seiteigata and haven't been invited to join the "koryu". however, even within the seiteigata there is a prescribed method of weapon exchange. this is simply a question of maintaining an atmosphere of shinken shoubu, where we must always be on our guard.

to make a short story long (:D ), respect for inanimate objects is as important as respect for living beings, in many ways. treat everything well, and by maintaining that good habit have confidence in the idea that you are developing for yourself a better character, which is kind of the point, isn't it?

Respectfully,

hg
7th September 2001, 06:26
It all depends ....
Folding up your training gear preserves the folds, especially in hakama, better, than just shoving it in the bag. A samurai has to be well-dressed (without folds in a hakama, you are no proper samurai), and economic (why iron the hakama if just taking a few seconds time folding it up can do the same ....). As far as weapons are concerned: Proper weapons (metal ones), are allways treated with respect .... Whether wooden ones are treated like that depends very much on the style, a bokuto is relatively a plaything if you have a 2.8-shaku shinken too .....But if all you have is a wooden weapon, you treat it with rather more respekt.

Best wishes
Hans-Georg Matuttis

fifthchamber
10th September 2001, 14:28
Hello,
I agree with all that has been said above me here and would like to add the sentances that my own Sensei Tanemura offered to the U.K. taikai this year. I cannot remember the exact words but it was along the lines of - Respect for weapons...and all living things...Is essential in your training. The weapon should be seen as a living extension of yourself. It has the capability to kill or to prevent death (obviously including Bokken and other Wooden weapons here) And without truly recognising this the student will have no real understanding of the depth of their training...or their capabilities. This leads to problems in society and for the student themselves-
My own Sensei in England also believes strongly that this respect must be formed by the class before we progress on to more 'advanced' sections of the Ryu...New students are taught first to breakfall and the Rei-ho (Bowing ways/laws) and when we use weapons these same principles apply...first the Rei-ho, and then the way to use the weapon.
Although not Japanese I feel that respecting the system, be it Japanese or Chinese, Korean etc..means also respecting the laws that have been passed down with the Kata, and using them to try and deepen the understanding of exactly why you are in training and why you do the things in training.
Abayo.
Ben Sharples
www.dickyjjamison.homestead.com/artwork.html

hyaku
15th September 2001, 01:51
I also find that looking after and preparing your clothing and weapons and dressing well is an intrinsic part of budo.

I spend a very long time ironing/folding and packing my clothing and rechecking my swords before a demonstration. It's an excellect mental preparation.

It's not a matter of looking nice. Your outward appearance clearly reflects the inner one.

Bearing this in mind I would also discourage anything too flashy. If you don't have a standard uniform then there should be one! We rarely see any difference what teachers and students wear. But the way a teacher dresses and deports himself usually stands out.

Dressing up in Japan could be compared to putting on your working clothes or a best suit. It's not a stage performance in a rock band.

As to weapons Iwata Norikazu Sensei MJER once commented on the fact that he admired a particular teacher that wiped his shinai down after a kendo practice just like a sword.

Hyakutake Colin