The Dojo

For most of us we live a life of frustration, anxiety, agitation and addiction. Sometimes it just feels so futile and meaningless. Our brief years of life are filled with difficulties due to circumstances of war, pestilence, famine and many other disturbances. We want a high standard of living within a complex stimulation of the senses, which ultimately makes us less sensitive and in need of even more violent stimulation. We crave distractions of sights and sounds, of thrills crowded into the shortest possible time. We live lives that consist of doing jobs that are boring in order to earn a means to seek relief from our hectic and expensive pleasures. We justify our lives so that we may rear a family because we don’t know what else to do. Either we have faith that there is a life after death or feel that the whole thing is so futile that we spend our whole life pretending that it isn’t. I am not making any secret claims to some mysterious knowledge. I like you are trying to understand the great mystery of why we are here and have chosen a path that seems to suit my personality and give me hope that there is a reason to it all.
At times of expanded consciousness, I understood that that I am a perfect spiritual being living in a body of meat. I am not only attached, but very dependent on this body for the time being. My reasons for getting involved with martial arts, was for the most part an effort to remove fear from my life. Later on the reasons changed as I matured and noticed an underlying pattern that transcended style, label and physical attributes which has kept me going along the path towards protecting the body I have become so dependent on. The Dojo is a place where I can help others motivated by the same concerns for themselves and their families.

Accidents Happen

Some people enter the Dojo empty allowing me to fill their cup; others whose cups are full can still have fun. Either way we can enjoy our time together. I can stop worrying about making it too easy or extremely hard for my students. This I realize is really just part of my own quest anyway. I will share what I can, giving the student some ideas to contemplate. I can help to motivate them and encourage them to work hard. Yet, in the end my words are meaningless as wind in dry grass. Some are capable of hearing the rhythm and not fixate on the notes, of seeing the spaces between and enjoying the time of being present, others collect Kata but are never present. There is no need to memorize the song, but why even listen if you cannot relax and enjoy the process? We have all heard ourselves humming a tune and wondered where we have heard it. Technique when applied correctly is just like that forgotten tune. We can chose to make an accident happen, but when the accident just happens, that truly is the highest level of skill expressed in martial arts.

Fudo Myoo

Fudo Myoo is a wrathful deity. He is portrayed holding a sword in his right hand and a coiled rope in his left hand. With this sword of wisdom, Fudo Myoo cuts through deluded and ignorant minds and with the rope he binds those who are ruled by their violent passions and emotions. He leads them onto the correct path of self control. He is also portrayed surrounded by flames which consume the evil and the defilements of this world. He sits on a flat rock which symbolizes the unshakeable peace and bliss which he bestows to the minds and the bodies of the Buddha. Fudo Myoo transmits the teachings and the injunctions of Buddha to all living beings and whether they agree to accept or to reject these injunctions is up to them. His blue/black body and fierce face symbolize the force of his will to draw all beings to follow the teachings of the Buddha. Nevertheless, Fudo Mayo’s nature is essentially one of compassion and he has vowed to be of service to all beings for eternity.
Fudo Myoo also represents his aspect of service by having his hair knotted in the style of a servant: his hair is tied into seven knots and falls down from his head on the left side. He has two teeth protruding from out of his mouth, an upper tooth and a lower tooth. The upper tooth is pointed downward and this represents his bestowing unlimited compassion who are suffering in body and spirit. His lower tooth is pointed upward and this represents the strength of his desire to progress upward in his service for the Truth. In his upward search for Bodhi and in his downward concern for suffering beings, he represents the beginning of the religious quest, the awakening of the Bodhisattva and the beginning of his compassionate concern for others.
His vow is to do battle with evil with a powerful mind of compassion and to work for the protection of true happiness.

10 Keys of Control

As we follow our opponent’s energy we must find a way to neutralize or deflect then change or reverse their attack. We do this with the 10 keys of control. Most people think of physical direction. There is up and down, left and right or any angle in between as well as forward and backward. If we add in the dimensions of space/ time, and creation through intention we approach a level of control of any situation that transcends blocking, punching and kicking to rudimentary and vulgar forms of interaction. Juppo Sessho is a means of training our awareness to be everywhere, linking our physical body to the universe. We must first receive our attack from a neutral place of no mind. Being soft we adhere to our opponents raising energy with automatic motion and peripheral awareness. We relax and allow our waist to turn, our joints to sink and a unity to form. As we follow the intention of our attacker we appear and disappear with artistry and precision, stepping consciously with peaceful or wrathful gaze. By borrowing and sinking we momentarily root to deliver power of central equilibrium. Using the energies of spiraling and explosive force we uproot and open, we split and we interrupt. The transference of power is only after drawing in your opponent both mentally and physically we borrow their strength and as if shooting an arrow or like a dog shaking water, strike, throw, or cut.

Taking the Martial Path

One of the conflicts that arise in taking the martial path is that at some point there is realization and even an impulse to shrink from the violence we see in the human condition. Although we are trained to perform violence when required and confront death in order to transcend the limits of worldly existence there is a dramatic moral crisis that is central to developing the faith needed to perform our sacred duty. There is a paradox that interconnects disciplined action and freedom. We must explore within ourselves concepts such as duty, discipline, action, and knowledge to allow for our ultimate understanding of phenomenal existence. Our freedom lies in disciplined action that is both performed without attachment to the action itself while being dedicated with loving devotion to those we hold dear. How can we continue to act in a world of pain without suffering and despair and enable ourselves as warriors to control our passion and become men of discipline? The real battlefield is the human body, where within this material realm we struggle to know one’s self.

Introduction of the Author Leon Drucker

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leon Drucker and I have been studying Martial Arts since 1964. My Judo Black belt was received in 1971 by the Legendary Judo Master Professor Takahiko Ishikawa. My 46 years of martial arts experience includes training in Kodokan and Kosen Judo, Jujutsu, Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, and Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. I have studied Koryu Bujutsu and Budo Taijutsu both in the U.S. and Japan. I have also been licensed to teach Ninpo Taijutsu, (The Art of the Ninja) having received my masters license in 1995 from Grandmaster Hatsumi personally. Today I am one of the most senior instructors of traditional Japanese Kobudo (Old Style Warrior Arts) outside of Japan and one of the very few instructors of Kosen Judo in the world. I have been teaching Mixed Martial Arts (Ultimate Fighting) at my school in Milford, NH for over 18 years. My coaching has produced some of the top fighters in New England including several MMA Champions. I have also cornered, coached and advised a who’s who of MMA Veterans and Champions. I was one of the first martial artists sanctioned by the New Hampshire Boxing Commission as a referee, judge, corner and cut man for Mixed Martial Arts. My School Myofu An Dojo is also headquarters to the International Kosen Judo Federation.
During my last trip to Japan in April to train with some of the last masters of Kobudo and Kosen Judo I was promoted to Renshi and asked to specialize in one particular area of study. Since most of my expertise is in Nei Waza or ground fighting I have decided to focus on training the next generation of nei waza experts through the formation of the International Kosen Judo Federation, Seminars and Blogging.
The blog also gives me an opportunity to tell my story. This is the true story of my 46 year journey through child abuse, heroin addiction, dysfunction and violence to mastery of the martial way. Each encounter whether negative or positive can be an opportunity for us to reevaluate our path, make changes if necessary, or provide us with that missing piece of the puzzle that can move us closer to the great mystery of why we are here. If we allow ourselves the time to reflect we can see that indeed every encounter is sacred and could hold the key to deep understanding of who we are and our place in the great universal intention that we are all part of.