„If you can do MUTO DORI, you’ll be able to live a happy life“ – Dai Shihan Nagato Toshiro
Observing his movements, this statement truly resonates. Whether Uke attacks with or without a weapon, Sensei moves effortlessly, without attachment or a specific plan / strategy, allowing plenty of opportunities to unfold naturally.
During training, he also shared that Hatsumi-Sensei advised him to embrace weakness or as he said become weak (Yowai – 弱い). As he embraced this, his techniques significantly improved.
While this might sound straightforward, the greatest fear for many us is to appear weak in front of others. This fear can cloud our taijutsu, leading to errors corrected through force. However, as we persist and “survive” training after training, our confidence and mastery of correct movements grow, enabling us to move naturally without being constrained by thoughts of technique, right or wrong, our surroundings and so forth. The first time we come to feel this is after passing our sakki exam.
These reflections stem from his teachings and actions during class—just my way of processing the insights.
Additionally, he mentioned that this approach of training was a personal lesson from Hatsumi-Sensei to him (口伝 Kuden). The weak for example need to become strong – the other way around – learning both aspects is essential. But in the end, we have to figure out our way, he said. There is no universal way for everyone, just keep going.
Anyway, the answers are in front us. Our teachers live the talk and we simply need to look / listen to their stories about their “timeline” of training and growth, then it’s mostly obvious what we need to do and what „sacrifices“ need to be done, in order to improve and be able to do the cool stuff.
