Multiple Perspectives on Kaname

The teacher I'm training with right now had an interesting assignment for us a couple weeks ago in class. The theme for the year is kaname, and he wanted us to think of techniques or movements that embody what we think the kaname of this art is. Usually I hear things like kamae and kihon happo as examples of the kaname for a movement. But turning that around and looking for a movement that demonstrates the overall kaname? Definitely a nice little workout for my brain.

The yudansha (myself included) demonstrated techniques that each felt illustrated the key point of the Bujinkan. Almost all of us had our uke use the same attack to make our point (3 standard punches, tori moving backward for the first 2 and countering on the 3rd), and all the things we had to say tied into each other.

I asked the others for a description of what they think kaname is and how they demonstrated it. Below are their replies (modified for this post), as well as what I demonstrated.

1. Don't get hit; the goal is to survive, not to "win." Make sure you're getting out of the way of their attacks while making it harder for them to attack again (angling). Then disrupt their balance both physically (strike) and mentally (kyojutsu). This was demonstrated with the 3-punch attack, getting off line of the first two punches, and when the last one comes in, bend your knees to drop down while striking into the ribs. Then, because the goal is survival, check your surroundings and run if all is clear (including your attacker; if he wasn't fazed, then something else needs to be done to get you out of there).
2. Meeting aggressive "hardness" with "softness." Letting all that energy they bring you slide off, meeting them at zero, and doing something from there. My demonstration was avoiding a punch (moving only as much as needed), then doing whatever. What we did that night was an arm bar, but anything that works, works.
3. Looking at the kaname as survival. I demonstrated with the 3-punch evasion, looking specifically at the point at which you decide you can no longer retreat and have to decide to advance/move in.
4. Misdirection of intention, demonstrated from kumiuchi. Start applying omote gyaku with strong intention, then shift to some other kihon - we did mushadori in class. Only shift to the other if they focus on the first, though. If they don't react when you go for omote, go ahead and take it.

What would you say is the kaname of this art? And how would you demonstrate that?

Sanctuary

"A dojo (道場 dōjō) is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way".[sic]" (Wikipedia)

As many martial arts practitioners have discovered, the dojo is a place of sanctuary. It is a place where we can escape the world and its troubles for a couple hours, and just train. As far as I know, all my fellow students (including the teachers), would say without hesitation that there have been nights when the dojo was a true place of sanctuary from whatever hardships they were going through at the time.

The other night, I thought about the term "dojo" and recalled its meaning. "Place of the way." The origins for that are Buddhist, but my upbringing connects it to the Way. Before the term "Christian" came about, Christ-followers were called followers of the Way. Thinking of it in that sense led me to associate "dojo" with the sanctuary of a church, where the doctrines of the Way are taught.

Once my train of thought arrived there, I discovered there are actually a lot of similarities between the two.

Both serve as dedicated spaces for deepening our understanding of the respective "ways" (which are connected on a deep level I won't get into now). Both are led by teachers who are still students. Both emphasize that this is a place of training/learning, and the practice comes outside, on your own. A sense of family grows in both "congregations." Ritual and mindfulness/prayerfulness permeate both settings. Those are just the obvious points - I'm not even getting into the specific correlations between the budo philosophy and Christian faith.

One more similarity: Both these sanctuaries are very important to me. They are places where I can connect to something bigger than myself. Places where I can be challenged, and grow better for it. Places where, for a time, the focus is not on me or my stressors. The details are different, yes, but the outline is the same.

Thank you, Lord, for sanctuary.