''The essence of Shinto Muso Ryu Jôdô''

(Suburi, uchikomi, honte-uchi, gyakute-uchi, hikiotoshi-uchi end makiotoshi)

How to get profiency in Jodo?

The fastest way to proficiency in jôdô is to have a good working knowledge of

the twelve jôdô basic movements (kihon). All of the jôdô kata (pre-arranged
combative forms) are based on these basic movements. Therefore, it goes
without saying that a jôdô practitioner will not progress very far without a good
understanding of and practice of these movements. Of course, you are doing
them regularly at the beginning of you're training I hope. All jôdô training
should start with this exercise. Why then, are there not more practitioners who
have ‘expert’ proficiency in jôdô? There is no answer to this situation, or maybe
there is? I'm still thinking about this.

First of all, Slow = smooth and Smooth = fast! It’s important to understand this,
practice slowly at first. Let your body learn the proper motions and actions
before you expect proficiency. The key is developing ''muscle memory''. The
neural pathways required to internalize new physical activities are formed more
quickly when the movements are slow and very deliberate. This is the
development of physical skills.

Your movement needs to be coordinated, so that you do not waste energy and
lose your feeling for the movement by making a lot of excess movement. The
essence of uchikomi is to make big movements, a big circle. The hip moves
forward in order to build up the tension. Then wait, that’s very important. If you
don't wait, the jo will be faster than the hip and it will not stay behind. It is like
throwing a ball: the movement originates from the hip. This is where the speed
and thrust are produced. Only when the hip is in place, the throw follows.
Without the hip movement, the throw is completely different. Even if you move
the hip fast, it not the same.

So, the hip moves forwards, but the arm still stays back. That’s very important!
Again, wait. If you don't wait, it will be like showing your opponent your
intention. Most students leave the hip behind, and try to make a cut from there.
As a result, they bring their shoulder forward during the movement.

The front hand always remains in the centre. In honteuchi, gyakute and
hikiotoshi turn your hip and don't bring your front hand off centre. The back
hand will always be delayed, but the front hand is straight. Remember: these are
all hip movements. If you don’t understand this you will not be able to do the
kihon.

The purpose of uchikomi is to understand, and first of all experience the

working of Hasuji. For this the position of the hands on the weapon ''tenouchi''
is important. Nishioka Sensei explained it as follows.
With the Te-no-uchi in honte, the thumb and middle finger form a ring. With the
Te-no-uchi in gyakute, the thumb and the index finger form a ring. These
positions of the hand and fingers you also find within the Asian meditation
practices, where honte (thumb and middle finger) stands for mildness and
gyakute (thumb and index finger) stands for power. Honte = cutting, Gyakute =
striking.

To make optimal use of the jo, you do not use (arm) force. Instead you make
use of the weight of the jo and of the gravity force. Therefore it is important to
recognise both principles, so that we can learn to use each of them in the right
way.

NB: for the Te no uchi for ken, both hands are in honte position.
Try to see the relation, and understand that uchikomi is inseparably connected
with your training. Without it you will never understand the concept of
''Hasuji''.

‘Honte and Gyakute’

by Nishioka Sensei,
(Adapted by K.Bruggink)

In iai the terms Junto and Gyakute are used. In kendo Honte is called Kirite.
The names may differ from dojo to dojo, but they all mean the same thing.
There are two ways of holding something;
1 The object held goes across the life line with the wrist bent. This one is called
‘honte’.
2 The other grip goes sideways, along the head line, with the wrist almost
straight. This one is called ’gyakute’.
These are the two characteristic grips within Jodo.
In our daily life we grip onto many things around us. It would be hard to
explain why we have a grip on something in the specific way that we do. This is
because this type of action originates from the subconscious: these are
conditioned movements.
There are many ways of holding a Ken, Jo, Bo, So (yari or spear), Naginata
(halberd) or a gun, tennis racket or golf club. It also depends on the purpose that
we use it for: cutting or striking.

The Jo is held in 2 different ways: Honte and Gyakute. The ken in one way:
Honte.
Only after he turned seventy, Sensei realised the enormous importance of the
grip. It was not possible for him to see this at an earlier stage. An important
aspect of learning things is that we need to understand what we do and be able
to explain it. And the other way round. What we need is a clear explanation
about what we train.

When Nishioka Sensei speaks about Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo, he finds it

important to explain what we train and how we train it. Both the text above and
the text below are the personal ideas of Nishioka Sensei.

Not only the names of the grips are different. Also the kamae differ from person
to person. The personal technique is called ‘Te-no-uchi’. This is one of the most
difficult things to discern. Even when we observe more critically, it is hard to
see, the reason being that Bu- jutsuka don’t hold the ken permanently the same
way. Their grip changes constantly.

Recently, I’ve learned that only few people know exactly what Te-no-uchi of
honte and gyakute is. E.g. Some jodoka , even with ample experience and a dan
degree, assume Gyakute-seigan with the front hand in gyakute, which is natural
and correct. However, their hind hand, which has the role of Jikute (the spill,
the leading hand) inadvertently goes into honte grip. This is incorrect. They
should both be Gyakute.

In the case of Honte-uchi and Hiki-otoshi-uchi, the te-no-uchi of both hands

should be honte, but with surprisingly many people the Te-no uchi does not
change into honte.
With Hiki-otoshi-uchi, Jikute is Gyakute when it is commenced, and it has to be
honte during the cutting.
Many people can wield the jo, but their te-no-uchi is not perfect. It is important
to perfect our te-no-uchi of honte.
Many hold the ken in gyakute while making a cut or while performing
tameshigeri.

Conclusion: the grip can be Honte or Gyakute. There is no other way. These
two concepts need to be clearly distinguished.