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Student zone: Check it out please

As Yamabushi and Shugenja, we are all perpetual students. Therefore please check out this new addition to our website resources as it will contain some important and interesting information.

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New Student Zone

Yamabushi Ryu Students can now register to access the Student Zone of the site.

Please click here to register.

This is a brand new resource just for students, and shortly will include advice on training, courses, gradings, education and more.

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Leadership, Management and Organisation

Introduction.

The martial arts have their origins in the military, and they have adopted a very military type of hierarchy and strict discipline. Unfortunately, they have sometimes neglected to include important skills such as leadership, management and organisation or “LMO” which are the very life’s-blood of any group who wishes to operate effectively. These, then, are skills that are absolutely vital for any organisation and it is important that martial artists understand something about them.

It is for this reason that this essay has been written, to serve as an introduction to the skills of leadership, management and organisation, each of which will be discussed in turn, together with some basic information which, if implemented correctly, will make any martial arts club or organisation far more efficient and productive.

There will be a companion to this piece of work, entitled: “Command, Communication and Control” that will also be appearing on this website sometime in the near future, and you are all strongly advised and encouraged to read them both, as they each compliment one another in order to give you a much clearer understanding of these subjects and arm you with practical strategies you can easilly implement to initiate further improvements and make your life as a hard-working instructor that little bit easier.

 

Leadership

Leadership is a very rare and desirable quality. However, literally every instructor needs to be a leader as they are the ones who are responsible for guiding their students in their quest for greater knowledge and understanding. Neither is this responsibility solely confined to what is taught on the mat: As instructors, we all already know that we exert a huge amount of influence upon our students, and this extends well beyond the confines of the martial arts club.

The way we think, act and behave, the way we conduct ourselves, is vital to us setting the correct example for our students to follow. In addition, as our students begin to progress, we need to encourage them to contribute towards the effective running of the club, as this will both help them to feel a valued and appreciated “part of” rather than a simple “belonging to” type of person, and gradually prepare them for the day when they will be running their own club and/or arm them with important, transferable skills they can use in their daily lives.

Some people (extremely few) are borne with natural leadership abilities. Usually, these are what is known as “charismatic” leaders and other people are only too happy to follow them blindly and allow them make the decisions for them, be they good or bad. Most of us, though need to work at acquiring such skills, and learn more about them as we go along.

Leadership is a big subject, and their are quite a few different methods used in leading people effetively. However, the most important leadership styles will be discussed below.

 

Leadership Styles

The three main styles of leadership are as follows:

 

  1. Authoritarian/Autocratic.

This style is the one used whenever instructors tell their students what they want done and how they want it doing. This style might be utilised in certain circumstances even with quite advanced and competent students (when a senior instructor is teaching a new technique, for example) but it will more normally be used for teaching and inducting new students, as this will help them to follow instructions carefully and maintain their safety and security while practicing.

Using this style of leadership, however, certainly does not mean you should shout at your students, or make them feel uncomfortable in any way. Rather, it is about maintaining more control over what is going on for the benefit of everyone concerned.

 

2.  Participative/Democratic

This style involves the instructor including one or more students in the decision making process (such as when negotiating the curriculum for a short course on some specialist aspect, etc.). However, the instructor still maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style helps to involve and empower the students, who will immediately begin to feel more of a responsibility for their own learning. Therefore, utilising this leadership style is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength that your students will appreciate and respect.

This style will usually be adopted when you are dealing with the more competent students, and when discussing various matters with your senior students/junior instructors. Thus allowing them to draw upon their own knowledge, skills and experiences in contributing to the decision making process.

 

 3.  Delegative/Laissez-faire

This is where the instructor actually allows the senior students/junior instructors to make certain the decisions themselves by standing back, observing and remaining on hand as an advisor if and when required. It should be remembered, however, that the instructor is still responsible for any decisions that are made. This leadership style is only ever employed when the senior students/junior instructors are completely ca[able of analysing the situation and determining what needs to be done and how to do it. A senior instructor cannot and, indeed, should not, be expected to do everything, and must set priorities and delegate certain tasks to those best able to carry them out: This is as much a part of their training as any other technique they need to learn, and they must be afforded every opportunity of praticing being more responsible and in control.

This is not a style to use so that you can blame others when things go wrong, rather this is a style to be used when you fully trust and confidence in the people concerned. But, great care should be taken here, as this style must only ever be used wisely and well.

However, whatever style of leadership an instructor chooses to use in a certain situation, it must still always be remembered that the sign stamped indelibly upon the forhead remains, and it reads: “The buck stops here”. That is why an instructor has to remain on motivated, informed and on top of the game the whole time. After all is said and done, it is our head that is on the proverbrial block, no one elses.

 

Management

Management, although closely related to leadership is, none the less, also very different different in some important ways. Leadership is completely about people and attitudes and how an instructor can influence these in a strong, positive way. Whereas, management also has to include materials, resources and administative duties. In addition, there is the actual management of certain behaviours among your students and instructors such as the way they interact with each other, etc.

Management is fundamentally about doing the things which maintain and evolve the continuing effectiveness of the club or association. It is concerned primarily with processes for the management of peoples behaviours, materials and resources and also certain administrative duties, such as ensuring all grading records are in good order, etc.

This management process should also include things like performance management, absence management, discipline and recruitment etc.

As instructors, we can become better managers by simply making the time and effort in learning to do things the correct way ourselves. For example: When I was given  my first senior management position within a large martial arts organisation back in the 1980’s , I  took it upon myself to undergo some management training. I did this simply because I  took my new duties and responsibilities very seriously, and wanted to do the best possible job I could. Back then, such training was never even touched upon in the martial arts fraternity, and people used to stumble about and learnt as they went or, (as in my own case) sought out the training they needed elsewhere. Now, things are gradually changing for the better, and that is why I am writing this information down here for everyone.

Management, then, encompasses everything we do in order to deal with the day to day running of our club and/or association.

 

Organisation

Once again, organisation is very closely related to both management and leadership, but is certainly not the same. Organisation means the way an instructor uses their leadership and management skills to plan and implement the various action(s) required in order to get the job done. As far as the human resources side of things go, this means recognising, appreciating and (above all) utilising the talents of those around you. To clarify: Don’t just limit yourself solely to your senior grades, as they might not posses the particular skill sets needed to accomplish a certain task you need doing. In fact, a lot of the time, it would be completely unfair to assume they are able to do certain things simply because they happen to be a certain grade(this does, of course, change with the more advanced dan grades). Instead, broaden your horizons a bit and look at some of the other students and even, if you have juniors, to their parents/guardians.

Much of the time, this will prove to be a lot more effective and you will accomplish a great deal more, as well as helping everyone to feel valued and empowered by allowing them to contribute what they can when they can.

Delegation has always been an absolute imperative when it comes to getting things done and achieving important objectives. Allocating the right task to the right person means that everyone can move forward together far more efficiently, and this helps with certain other, equally important areas such as instilling enthusiasm, maintaining motivation, teambuilding and teamwork, etc.

Also, as you are doing this, everyone involved will be constantly developing not only their own skills and abilities, but learning about some new ones as well, all of which tend to be generic in nature and so can be readily transferable and put to direct use in other aspects of their lives.

When an instructor needs to get something done, the main points they should consider are as follows:

  • Clearly identify objectives that are both achievable and measurable
  • Prioritise, delegate and allocate 
  • Pick any team (s) required carefully from the talent-pool available to you 
  • Work to a strict deadline
  • Always have a contingency plan
  • Always work and behave like a closely-knit team 

The bullet points listed above will, if implemented correctly, help instructors to assist their club or association to move forward a a much faster rate by motivating and using the people around them in an efficient manner.

 

Conclusion.

Effective leadership, management and organisation are just as important for us as being able to demonstrate a technique well. They are as much a part of what we do as are our breakfalling or weaponry skills, and should be learnt and practiced accordingly.

This is true for all club instructors, but especially so for the more senior grades simply because they are climbing the ladder of initiation and promotion in our Ryu, and so are gradually becoming an integral part of the very fabric of the school.

That is why certain titles and senior dan grades are awarded solely upon merit. E.G.what a person has contributed to the development of the art and the furtherance of the school. Consequently, these higher ranks and titles are far harder to earn, and can take literally years to realise. However, this is the only way they can be earned. This is the same with literally all martial arts schools, and is also true of many other types of organisation, including the military. After all, if you are becoming one of the most important people in any sort of organisation, then you will need to be able lead, manage and organise accordingly.

LMO, then, along with it’s companion essay “Command, Communication and Control” or “3C” should be considered as actually making up an important part of the “grading syllabus” for any and all advanced ranks and titles.

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“Gi” (Decisiveness)

The seven points of the code: Yamabushido

To help explain and clarify our code, I have decided to pen a series of short articles for our website. I have chosen (very fittingly) to begin with an explanation of the following point:

“Gi” (Decisiveness). Definition: “To choose a certain direction and determine to continue upon it, even when faced with adversity.”

Being able to make decisions clearly demonstrates the strength of character that is so often associated with being a warrior, so it is fitting that we all encourage this particular attribute within ourselves. And, once a decision has been made, and a course of action decided upon, then we should strictly adhere to it, come what may and no matter what.

For example: A warrior in battle might be required to achieve some important objective which, although seemingly small and almost insignificant, actually plays a key role in the overall outcome of the action. The warriors ability to decide upon the best way of going about this, together with the courage and tenacity they show in carrying out there duty, can end up meaning the difference between realising a glorious victory or suffering a humiliating defeat.

This is a vital lesson for all of us, as it serves to illustrate the inescapable fact that, what even the least of us does, is still vitally important to the overall good: The most trivial act can sometimes have incredibly powerful consequences. That is why, whenever a warrior decides to do something, they do it with focus, concentrated effort and strict attention to detail.

So, then. Whenever a mountain warrior is required to accomplish some task, the mindset and attitude adopted should be one of:  “it is already done” rather than “I could do that” or “I might be able to do that” or even, “I will do that”.

We are all yamabushi and, therefore, family. We can trust and rely upon each other and have faith in one another. Because of this, whenever we are given an instruction or, if you prefer, a “direction” to travel in, then we should ensure that we accomplish this objective and know that this is pivotal to experiencing victory.

It is not for a warrior of the sacred mountain to be discouraged simply because they come across an obstacle in their path, no matter how big and/or insurmountable it might appear to be at first glance: There exists no obsticle that cannot be overcome by a yamabushi, simply because our borthers and sisters are around us always (even if, sometimes, we might now be able to see them) and will always be there to lend their efforts to our own until eventually the way is once again made clear for us to continue on our journey.

To help us understand and appreciate what is stated above, it will help if we adopt the following “3 R’s”:

  1. Resilience (keep going no matter what, overcoming difficulties)
  2. Resourcefulness (facilitate an effective solution by whatever means)
  3. Reliability (being depended upon to get the job done)

By adopting these, we clothe ourselves with this determined attitude of “Gi” in much the same way as we put on our budo “Gi” to prepare ourselves for the physical practice of our arts.

Certainly, that is the way I was taught, and is the way I continue to live my life. Gi, then, is an integral part of the way a warrior should conduct themselves when fulfilling their various duties and responsibilities.

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Graham Parrott Sensei becomes grading examinations officer

Graham Parrott Sensei, who has been associated with the ryu for well over ten years, has recently been given the post of grading examinations officer for the Northwest UK. Graham is an extremely loyal and hard working black belt, and is a familiar face at the regular advanced training sessions held at Dojo Shugenja. He is well liked by his fellow sensei who all wish him the very best in this new position.

Congratulations Graham!

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New instructor joins Shugenja

A very warm welcome to Aron Adams AIMAS. Aron is a black belt instructor in both kickboxing and self defence in Southampton, who has recently completed the IMAS instructors award. His name will be entered into the list of IMAS registered instructors very shortly,  and anyone interested in training in kick boxing or self defence in the Southampton area should contact this office for further information.

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Martial Arts as a Personality Cult.

The martial arts tend to have no shortage when it comes to loud, flamboyant personalities. While ego might have its place in life (especially when it comes to certain marketing and publicity strategies), it should also be kept firmly “in its place”, and never allowed to cloud the vision and judgment of a person to the extent that it all becomes a bit too much “about them” and not enough about the martial art itself.

A short spell of surfing on the web will easily demonstrate what I mean by this: It is possible to come across a lot of martial arts sites where the first page is completely dominated by a certain personality striking several poses, both alone and with others. Usually, this page will be quite a long, drawn out affair, and will include a great deal of information about the particular individual themselves, and also (hooray!) something about the actual martial art they are practicing as well. As you scroll down this page, you will, no doubt, be absolutely amazed at what this instructor has managed to accomplish in their lives, and be suitably impressed by their extensive list of achievements and qualifications.

Now that you have perused the home page of this website, and have come to know a little more about the meek, mild mannered and humble individual it belongs to, you feel ready to press on and explore the site a bit further.

You press the “About us” button, so you can learn a little bit more about the club itself, the association it belongs to and the type of training they offer. Immediately, you are greeted by yet another photograph of the instructor, either grinning warmly in a welcoming way or, (more often than not), standing sternly and gazing out at you with steely eyes. You begin to read the information, which tells you about how young they were when they first started training, and their early experiences being trained by numerous top-class instructors.

It goes on to explain that this club had been opened by the instructor as they had been told by those same top-class masters that he/she was the best student they had ever had and it was important to share this rarest of gifts with others in order to demonstrate the “proper” way martial arts should be practiced and taught. The rest of the page is, again, filled with some more photographs of this instructor being trained and receiving certificates and awards from various people.

“Okay”, you think to yourself, “maybe I should just try another button”. You click on the “News” section this time and are surprised to find out just how much is going on. ‘Sensei receives rare honour”, “Sensei awarded 20th dan by Jedi grandmaster” and “Sensei speaks about the importance of humbleness and humility”, etc. Then you see a special subheading proudly displaying the legend “click here for video”. In anticipation, you click on this and are redirected to a video featuring this instructor explaining how, although s/he is one of the bestest martial artists that have ever lived, and has won over a thousand “Death matches” in the “tough backstreets of his/her hometown” (actually, probably a farm cottage in rural Wales) they have never allowed (nor would they) their superior talent to “go to their head” in any way, shape or form, and still considers themselves to be completely “normal”  and just “like everyone else”. As I always say “theres nothing like modesty” and, sure enough, this is nothing like modesty.

Exasperated, you glance once again at the navigation bar in the hope of finding what you are looking for. Surely it cant all be this shallow and meaningless, you must have missed something. And, as you stare unbelievingly at your computer screen, you can see that you have, indeed, missed the most important tab of all entitled: “About your instructor”!

This is a very sorry state of affairs indeed, and in no way reflects the meek and selfless attitude a warrior should always try and display. But, in a way this is to be expected, as these people are, quite obviously, not any type of warrior.

Nor is their massive ego trip solely confined to the web: If one is curious enough to visit their club you will see that most, if not all, that goes on in and around it will tend to revolve around them, with their students being little more than simpering psychophants who dance around their false idol, hanging on every word they speak, swallowing every opinion expressed and readily adopting any “philosophy” muttered. It is easy to identify these people, as their martial arts have become an “unhealthy” obsession rather than a positive way of life.

The few hours a week they spend training actually defines them, as they have allowed themselves to become completely brainwashed. Consequently, their lives are now no longer truly their own. They now eat, drink and sleep the dojo and the doctrine that is spouted by these megalomaniacal instructors. The only people they mix with (outside of work) will be people from the club and, even when they are not together, they will probably spend hours at the computer chatting about what they have done/will do next lesson upon the clubs blog,  saying how great everything is. Literally every scrap of their spare time will be occupied by their martial arts, with the only authority figure they will ever listen too being the instructor themselves: And thats just the way this egocentric person likes it.

So, we can see that while the instructor themselves might have some very serious issues, the students have a much bigger ones, as they are gradually becoming more and more dependent to the point of obsession, and this is never a good thing.

A martial arts instructor needs to have good technical competency, reasonable teaching ability, a strong personality and good leadership skills. But, they also need to realise that it is about the art, not them. And about their students, not them. As instructors, we exert a huge amount of influence upon our students, and there really is no way of telling exactly how far this reaches into their lives and what effect it can have upon their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.

As yamabushi, we need to always remain true to ourselves, and not be too swayed by what other people may say about us, lest we come to lend these opinions credence and actually start to believe we really are something extraordinary and terrific for, as the legend goes: “There be monsters”

The Mountain might stand with it’s head high in the clouds, but it’s feet always remain firmly rooted to the ground. There is no need to “bring someone back to earth” if they remain in constant contact with it. Our job is to become better than we are and to be all we can be, and to help our students do the same by setting them the right example and leading them in the right direction.

While meekness, mildness, humbleness and humility might not be part of every warrior tradition, they are most certainly a part of our own mountain warrior tradition. Indeed, these   are qualities we should clothe ourselves in and wear every single day of our lives. For, It is said that the first step to becoming truly wise lies in recognising, understanding and accepting that we actually know nothing at all.

Just as kindness becomes power and gentleness becomes strength, so too, does the admission of our ignorance become a gateway to attaining true wisdom.

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Important! Please note: Instructors Assessment Day date subject to change

The date for the next assessment day for candidates of the IMAS instructors award has had to be changed. We will inform you as to the new date as soon as we can.

Apologies to all for any inconvenience caused

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Brown belt essay, By Adam Boardman

Introduction to some of the traditional historical, philosophical and technical influences upon our martial arts

Jujitsu – (gentle art/techniques) is a Japanese martial art and a close quarters way of defeating an armed or armoured opponent without using or with short weapons. Jujutsu was developed among the samuraiof feudal Japan as a method of defeating an armed and armoured opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon because striking against an armoured opponent proved ineffective. Early practitioners learned that the most effective ways to defeat an enemy were to use pins, joint locks and throws, these techniques were developed using the attackers energy against them.

Jujitsu originated during the Sengoku ( country of war (civil war)) period in 1532 and was founded by Hisamori Takeuchi, Hisamori combined different martial arts being used on the battlefield and combined them for close quarters combat situations or as defence against long weapons such as spears or swords using daggers (Tanto) and other small weapons. In the neighbouring nations of china and Korea where there martial arts focused on striking the Japanese however focused heavily upon throwing and immobilising there opponent as strikes were ineffective to armoured enemy’s on the battlefield.

During the early 17th century strict laws were imposed by the Tokugawa Shogunate to reduce war. During this period weapons and armour became more of a decorative item so hand to hand combat became more popular as a form of self-defence and more techniques were made to the new situation of unarmoured opponents. The strikes were focused on vital body parts such as the eyes, neck, shoulders and the back of the head however during the end of the 17th century/early 18th century striking techniques were reduced as they exerted too much energy and were considered less effective, instead striking became primarily for distraction and a way to unbalance your opponent. During this period of peace time Jujitsu schools would challenge each other to duels this became a popular past time for warriors under the peaceful government from these duels Randori was created to practice without the risk of breaking the law, the various styles of each school evolved from combating each other without the intention of killing others.

Japanese culture and religion have become intertwined into the martial arts. Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism and Confusion philosophy co-exist in Japan.

Jujutsu expresses the philosophy of yielding to an opponent’s force rather than trying to oppose force with force. Manipulating an opponent’s attack using his force and direction allows jujutsuka to control the balance of their opponent and hence prevent the opponent from resisting the counter attack.

There are many types of Sport Jujutsu. One version of Sport jujutsu is known as “JJIF Rules Sport Ju-Jitsu”.

Sport Jujutsu comes in two main variants: Duo (self-defence demonstration) where both the Tori(attacker) and the Uke (defender) come from the same team and demonstrate self defence techniques, and Fighting System (free fighting) where competitors combine striking, grappling and submissions under rules which emphasise safety. Many of the potentially dangerous techniques such as scissor takedowns, neck locks and digital choking and locking are prohibited in Sport Jujutsu.

Many martial arts have been influenced or developed from Jujitsu such as; Aikido, Bartitsu, Hapkido, Judo, Brazilian Jujitsu and some Japanese karate styles.

 

Yamabushi – (one who lies/hides in the mountains)

The Yamabushi are mountain hermits and monks who have a long tradition of being mighty warriors endowed with supernatural powers. The Yamabushi began as Yamahoshi, isolated clusters of mountain hermits who followed Shugendo a search for spiritual/ supernatural powers through asceticism ( a lifestyle characterised by abstinence from various worldly pleasures) and Tendai a sect of Buddhism. In their mountain retreats the monks studied various martial arts to defend them selves from bandits, other monks and samurai and to improve one selves mentality and spirituality.

The Yamabushi became renewed for their magical ability’s and occult knowledge; they were sought out as healers and mediums, although Shinto (the indigenous spirituality of japan) shrines had reserved this role exclusively for maidens (Miko). As the Yamabushi reputation for mystical insight and knowledge grew the organization grew tighter and many of the masters of ascetic disciplines began being appointed to high spiritual positions in the court hierarchy. During the Sengoku period the Yamabushi could be found in the armies and advisers for nearly every contender for domination over japan.

 

Shugendo

Shugendo is a highly syncretic buddhic religion/sect that originated In pre feudal japan, in which enlightenment is equated with attaining oneness with the kami. This perception of experimental awakening is obtained through the understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature, centred around ascetic.

 

Saitō no Musashibō Benkei 1155-1189

Benkei was a warrior monk who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty.

Stories of Benkei’s birth are varied but many give him the attributes of a demon, a monster child with wild hair and long teeth. At an early age he joined the cloister and travelled amongst the monasteries on japan. During this period the Buddhist monasteries of japan were important centres of administration and culture. At the age of 17 he left the Buddhist monasteries and became a Yamabushi. It is said that Benkei posted himself at gojo bridge in Kyoto, where he disarmed every passing swords man but on his 1000th duel he was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune a son of the warlord Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Henceforth he became a retainer of yoshitsune.

During a two-year ordeal after Yoshitsunes older brother turned against him Benkei accompanied Yoshitsune as an outlaw in the end they were both encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate. As Yoshitsune retired into the castle to commit Seppuku (ritual suicide), Benkei fought on the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune, it was said that the soldiers were scared to cross the bridge and confront Benkei as all the soldiers that did met a swift death in the end the soldiers found that the arrow riddled body of Benkei was still standing having died in the standing position know as the standing death of Benkei.

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Congratulations

To all who graded on Sunday.  Fantastic effort by all!!!!

Senior Grades