Nagato sensei

Monday was our first training with Nagato sensei and it was a treat as always. There was only about 20 of us, enough to fill the dojo, but not enough to make it hard to move.

He began in typical fashion, choosing someone from the group to get us started. This initial question posed is actually an opportunity to ask a question of him; a physical question posed in the language of Taijutsu. I wasn't chosen yesterday, but suspect I will be soon.

Sensei's movement is his own. Of course, each of the Shihan have their own brand of Taijutsu, but Nagato's is so tactically efficient, cautious, yet brutal. We worked against a set of punches and moved in various directions always taking advantage of superior positioning.

"Make him feel like he can hit you," he said at one point - a heavy theme in my own dojo. He even said let the opponent get a piece of you (to help him commit to the attack).

After a break, Nagato got more creative, throwing his Uke by dropping beneath him and throwing him with both feet. He demoed with me at one point, pitching me over the top and hanging onto to me so I couldn't get away. In the ensuing flurry, I felt the sides of my head get slapped repeatedly. When I sat up I asked Mike my partner, "Was that his feet?" Everyone laughed.

Scott, another of my students now living in Japan, commented off-handedly at how hard the training was. "It's not hard," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's easy. It's only hard if you think it's hard."

We'll see him again Wed, Thurs, Sat, and hopefully Sunday.


After Nagato's class we went out for dinner, planning to train with Oguri sensei that evening. I believe Oguri is Hatsumi sensei's very first student.

We marched back to Hombu in an avalanche of rain; big fat drops poured on us. We were soaked by the time we arrived. Oguri sensei was there, probably wondering if anyone would show. With only a handful of us there, we started class.

Oguri sensei is quick and nimble, able to find obscure positions from which you can do little, but lose your balance and fall over. Kosshijutsu was the focus of the evening and he demonstrated various ways to use the opponent's anatomy against him with muscle grabs, kyusho, and handholds. All very interesting.

The rain kept up all through training. I went home in my gi pants.

Soke teaches again tonight.