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Many people that try Ninjutsu, often find that there are techniques that seem to be unworkable, or beyond their grasp.

Some of these people will eventually give up their training, for they will feel that they can not perfect (or understand) what it is that they are asked to do, however there are also those that will find that given time, they can do all that is asked of them.

There are in my mind just two words that make this difference, Basic's and Timing, those of us that continue on with our training, even when things seem difficult, (and there will be a few of them) find ultimately that it is our Basic's that create all of the techniques that we practice, and that it is the Timing that makes it work.

So let us take a look at our Basic's and Timing individually, I will start with the Basic's and my views on them:- time and time again in our training, we will be reminded by our instructors to practice our Basic's, and mostly we will be asked to practice the Kihon Happo, and Sanshin No Kata.

Now I have to agree that these are the Basic technique's that are taught within the Bujinkan, but one may ask are they the main Basic's, and by this I mean what are the Basic's of these technique's that can be used in all of the techniques we employ?.

Well! in my opinion, the Basic's behind the Kihon Happo and the Sanshin no Kata, are the stance's that we are taught, and the abillity to move freely from one stance to another.

So Basic's can also mean our stance's (or footwork) and when we are asked to practice them, we should do so with the intention of moving freely, from one stance to another in a continuous flowing motion, this I might add, is also a form of Sanshin! IE:- a natural free flowing movement.

To give an example of this, lets look at the technique Ichimomji from the Kihon Happo.

The defender stands in Ichimonji (back stance), when the attacker punches to his head, he slides back and to the right (or left), at an angle of 45 degrees and blocks the punch, while simultaneously moving into Doko Ichimonji (yet another stance) as soon as the block is finished, he moves forward into Jumonji (yes, another stance) and strikes the attacker on the side of the neck with a Shoto style strike.

So as we see, inside one of the basic technique's there are three of the basic stance's, and when the whole technique is performed in one continuous movement, it is said to flow, which is a form of Sanshin.

So when your watching your instructor demonstrate a particular technique, look carefully for the stance's used within, so as to give yourself a better understanding of how to execute the technique yourself.

Lets now take a look at timing, and how it affects the way a technique is performed.

Timing is quite simply the abillity to move at the decissive moment, ie the point where the attaker is totally comitted to his punch,kick or grab.

Timing is something that will improve as you progress in your traning, as you move up through the grades.

So lets start with beginners, i once heard a foolish person say "beginners have no timing", nothing could be further from the truth,as that missguided statment.

If we look at two beginners executing a technque, we see that as the attacker moves so does the defender, they move in time with each other, and therefore they must have timing!!, as they progress though the grades,

we start to see that as the attacker moves, the defender waits just that little bit longer before he makes his move.

This is still timing, but now the defender is learning to use time, to his advantage, ie:- to time his responce to the point where the attacker is totaly committed.

So in reality when we refer to timing, we are refering to the ability to use time (as in the time it takes for the attack or situation to reach us) so as to lead the attacker(s) into thinking they have actually hit us.

So The effect that correct timing has on the way a technique is carried out, is that it can create confussion within your attacker, leading him to think "where did he get to", (or words to that effect) and while he is thinking this, you can be doing almost anything to him.


	Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu Kakusu Yama Dojo home Contributors Page \| Coming Events \| Dojo List \| Photo Gallery \| Article & Contributors Archives \| Contacting The Kakusu Yama Dojo \| Ninjutsu & Other Martial Arts Links Contributors Page BASIC'S AND TIMING Many people that try Ninjutsu, often find that there are techniques that seem to be unworkable, or beyond their grasp. Some of these people will eventually give up their training, for they will feel that they can not perfect (or understand) what it is that they are asked to do, however there are also those that will find that given time, they can do all that is asked of them. With this in mind, what is it that can make such a difference?. There are in my mind just two words that make this difference, Basic's and Timing, those of us that continue on with our training, even when things seem difficult, (and there will be a few of them) find ultimately that it is our Basic's that create all of the techniques that we practice, and that it is the Timing that makes it work. BASIC'S So let us take a look at our Basic's and Timing individually, I will start with the Basic's and my views on them:- time and time again in our training, we will be reminded by our instructors to practice our Basic's, and mostly we will be asked to practice the Kihon Happo, and Sanshin No Kata. Now I have to agree that these are the Basic technique's that are taught within the Bujinkan, but one may ask are they the main Basic's, and by this I mean what are the Basic's of these technique's that can be used in all of the techniques we employ?. Well! in my opinion, the Basic's behind the Kihon Happo and the Sanshin no Kata, are the stance's that we are taught, and the abillity to move freely from one stance to another. So Basic's can also mean our stance's (or footwork) and when we are asked to practice them, we should do so with the intention of moving freely, from one stance to another in a continuous flowing motion, this I might add, is also a form of Sanshin! IE:- a natural free flowing movement. To give an example of this, lets look at the technique Ichimomji from the Kihon Happo. The defender stands in Ichimonji (back stance), when the attacker punches to his head, he slides back and to the right (or left), at an angle of 45 degrees and blocks the punch, while simultaneously moving into Doko Ichimonji (yet another stance) as soon as the block is finished, he moves forward into Jumonji (yes, another stance) and strikes the attacker on the side of the neck with a Shoto style strike. So as we see, inside one of the basic technique's there are three of the basic stance's, and when the whole technique is performed in one continuous movement, it is said to flow, which is a form of Sanshin. So when your watching your instructor demonstrate a particular technique, look carefully for the stance's used within, so as to give yourself a better understanding of how to execute the technique yourself. TIMING Lets now take a look at timing, and how it affects the way a technique is performed. Timing is quite simply the abillity to move at the decissive moment, ie the point where the attaker is totally comitted to his punch,kick or grab. Timing is something that will improve as you progress in your traning, as you move up through the grades. So lets start with beginners, i once heard a foolish person say "beginners have no timing", nothing could be further from the truth,as that missguided statment. If we look at two beginners executing a technque, we see that as the attacker moves so does the defender, they move in time with each other, and therefore they must have timing!!, as they progress though the grades, we start to see that as the attacker moves, the defender waits just that little bit longer before he makes his move. This is still timing, but now the defender is learning to use time, to his advantage, ie:- to time his responce to the point where the attacker is totaly committed. So in reality when we refer to timing, we are refering to the ability to use time (as in the time it takes for the attack or situation to reach us) so as to lead the attacker(s) into thinking they have actually hit us. So The effect that correct timing has on the way a technique is carried out, is that it can create confussion within your attacker, leading him to think "where did he get to", (or words to that effect) and while he is thinking this, you can be doing almost anything to him. By Mike Preston (1st Dan) Like to see your own article on this page?. just E-mail it to me at:- [email protected] back to top