The Kage Dojo 

Integrity The way of the Jizaikan.

Integrity: to adhere to moral and ethical principles, Soundness of moral character; honesty. Within the Jizaikan we strive to educate students in more than just a set of cool fighting techniques, we try to improve the person as a whole; mentally physically, and spiritually. To do that we need some guiding principles and that is why we choose the motto; Honor, Integrity, And Mastery. It identifies who we are and what we stand for.

The Jizai system not only has our Motto which was previously stated but also the 14 Part Code of Mindful Action which reiterates the principle of Integrity throughout. They don’t mention Integrity specifically but if you look deeply into the code you will see that is what they are talking about:

I respect the property and space of all; I avoid taking what has not been offered.

I thoughtfully express the truth; I avoid the confusion of dishonest words.

I promote harmony and positive momentum to bring out the best in everyone; I avoid causing alienation, doubt, and division among others.

I encourage all to speak purposefully from the heart; I avoid the dull contentment of gossip and small talk.

I work to build love, happiness, and loyalty among all the members of my family; I avoid putting temporary personal benefit ahead of the welfare of those I love.

I know you could probably place all 14 of the Code of Mindful Action on this list. The point is that Integrity is such an important part of the martial arts and especially the Jizai system that if you really consider yourself a student of  the Jizaikan then you need to ensure that integrity is a major part of your life. There is a saying “word is bond” in other words if I say it then I will do it. Not saying that you won’t miss the mark sometimes because you will, that is part of our journey; but you need to do whatever it takes to make it right so you can continue on your path to perfection. One of God’s greatest commandments is to love your neighbor as you do yourself, and LOVE is also about Integrity.

Ninpo Ikkan,

Michael Francis

May 9, 2009

I am a student. I go to Northern Illinois University.  I will graduate by the end of this month with a B.A. in Sociology. After that, I will attend graduate school at Aurora University to work on my Master’s of Social Work. I am also, obviously, a student of martial arts.

In my college life I have met with many professors who were brilliant minds in their fields. Often they will assign tasks or projects that are quite difficult to finish, so I will seek help from another person in my class. These people, who are at a similar level of understanding that I am can be a great help in figuring out what I can do to better understand the material, and if they just can’t seem to help, I can always go ask the professor.

What does any of this have to do with martial arts? Try comparing your studies in school (college, high school, or whatever) to your studies in martial arts. The professors or teachers are your sensei. The students in your current grade are the aiki ninjutsuka of similar rank that you hold. Your text books are the kuden

CDs and training DVDs, and your homework is training outside of the dojo on

your own. When it comes to being a good student in the Jizaikan, use the same

methods you did (or should have used) when you were in school. Here is some

advice I believe will lead one down the path of a good student in martial arts.

Show up for class. In order to graduate from any school, you have to at

the very least show up for class. This may seem obvious to many people, but

often times I see people who come in once every few weeks to brush up on their

skills, only to figure out that they’ve forgotten much of what they learned, because

they haven’t been showing up enough to practice it. Even worse, I have seen

students go to martial arts classes and seminars and not do anything once they

got there! They sit on their rumps or stand around idle watching others practice

and providing their own useless commentary on how the people who are actually

training could improve their technique. If you want to be a good student you have

to show up for training, and when you walk in you actually have to be mentally

and physically present in the training to gain anything useful from it.

Pay attention. How often have you observed people talking when the

instructor is trying to explain something? Are you guilty of it? I know I am. It can

be hard to catch yourself not paying attention; it can result from being tired or

from feeling like you’ve seen what the teacher is doing a thousand times and

there is nothing left to gain from watching him do it again. I’ve done this before,

only to be ashamed of myself later for realizing that my “perfect” way to do the

technique was not as effective as what the teacher was showing a moment ago.

So while it may be difficult for some, like me, it is important to be quiet when the

teacher is speaking to the class. Talking during the instructor’s explanations is not

only rude and egotistical but disruptive to others who need the information. Not

paying attention during physical training may lead to injury as well, so this is

especially important to remember. Just like when you were a student in school it

is important to not be disruptive in class.

Learn; don’t teach. Would you want to go to a school where the students

taught each other instead of learning from a knowledgeable teacher? Sometimes

I feel like I’ve walked into a school like that when I see students “correcting” the

mistakes of other students.

Unless the head of the dojo or another qualified teacher asks you to teach

someone; don’t. You signed up for martial arts to learn martial arts, not teach

them. When you become qualified to teach individuals the other teachers will ask

you to assist with instruction. Even if your intentions are pure, students often do

not want to be taught by other students. If another student asks you for your input,

then you can give it to them. It is ok to help with another person’s technique if

they ask you for it, but no one wants to be corrected by a person who cannot

even do the technique properly himself. Sadly, I see students in our dojo trying to

teach other students even ones with higher skill and rank than they have without

being qualified to do so or asked to do so. It is like seeing a 5th grader trying to tell

a senior in high school how he should write his paper for English class, when he

himself can barely even spell! If you manage to see someone making a mistake,

ignore it, unless your partner’s action is dangerous.

We are responsible for our own training. A person who makes mistakes

should ask his or her teachers for help in correcting whatever problems are present.

If you want to ask your training partner for input on how effective your technique

seems, that’s fine; but leave the technical explanations on how to improve

to the people who have been authorized to show you. If you happen to find yourself

on the receiving end of a student trying to instruct you when you know they

shouldn’t be, politely tell them that you would rather have an instructor show you

the proper way to do it.

Study! This refers back to my article a couple months ago entitled “Make

the Material Yours”. In that article I mention how important it is to take notes and

study the offered training materials in order to properly learn the art. In addition to

that I would like to say how very, very important it is that you attend the seminars

with Mr. Maienza. As the founder of aiki ninjutsu, no one is more qualified than he

to assist you in learning our art. It doesn’t matter where you are on the warrior

journey; you can learn very valuable information at these seminars whether you’re

brand new or a twenty year veteran of martial arts. Some people can breeze

through school without having to study much, but do you just want to pass, or do

you want to excel? Only those who take the time to actually study something

really become good at it.

Whether you are trying to graduate from school or earn your next rank in

the dojo, the learning process depends on you. Show up to class regularly, and

when you do show up, be ready to train. Do not rely only on the information other

students give you, and instead seek answers from qualified teachers. Do not

hand out “helpful” tips when you have not been asked. After all, the person you

are helping may know more than you do or is likely to simply become confused by

what you say. Remember to study the material and practice at home. You alone

decide how much effort you will put into your training and if you behave properly

within the dojo and remember to focus on learning, then your training experience

will run more smoothly.

March 18th 2008

What it must be like to sore above everything, to see for miles in every direction. To be able to see the movement of the smallest animals as they go about their business. The eyes of the eagle are some of the most acute in the entire world. These magnificent birds can even see ahead and to the side at the same time. This gives them a view of not only where they are going but also what might be attempting to intercept them. An eagle has vision 4 times that of a human with perfect eyesight. This enables an eagle to see a rabbit moving at almost a mile away.

So why am I talking about an eagle’s eyesight? The reason is I believe that we should have that same acute vision. Not so much with the outside world but with examining ourselves and the decisions that we make. Have you ever noticed how we interact with others if there is a disagreement? We immediately believe it is the other person’s fault or that their side is wrong. How often do we look at ourselves first to see if there is any fault? We walk through life believing that we have the inside scoop on what is really happening in the world being completely oblivious to the fact that we might be the problem or a major contributor to the problem. This seems to me to be one of the major flaws that led to unhappiness and disagreements, the inability to critically examine oneself.

So if we are really upholding the principles that the Jizaikan were founded on, then we would look a little more critically at ourselves and the things that we do. Without this critical look can we truly say that we are in the continuous pursuit of perfection? Take the time during your meditation to use the eagle’s eye to examine how you treat your co-workers, kids, family members, spouse, or neighbor.

I recently did a self evaluation, not because I wanted to, but because I felt that I had too. I had been dealing with someone that has a mental disorder, and the things that person was doing was completely contrary to what they were saying. I found myself getting more and more upset at the seemingly erratic behavior of the person. At that time I felt it was very important to take a look at myself and why the behavior of this person was affecting in that manner. To my surprise I found that I needed a little bit of cleaning up in certain areas in my life. Not to say that the things that I did could have changed this other person but it I could have controlled my response to the other person. Understand that anytime you allow another person to get you upset then you are giving up control to that person. We all know that this is not the way that ninja go about conducting their lives. Ninja are always in control of themselves, and use this control of self to affect others in a positive way.

Remember that only by using the eagle’s eye to examine ourselves to we continue to grow toward perfection which is the Jizai way.

Ninpo Ikkan,

Michael Francis

December 02,2008

We who are part of the Jizaikan organization know we must train everyday to prepare for a battle that we pray will never come. We endure pain, discomfort and sometime injury, all to ensure that we are able to protect ourselves and our families. I have recently been reflecting on the fact that often the battles that we deal with are not in the physical realm but the mental and.

As I go through changes in my life I am reminded of the fact that our martial system prepares us not only for the physical assaults that so often happen in this world but the mental assaults that happen on a daily basis. We are bombarded with visual and auditory advertisements and promotions, which can be contrary to our belief system. We are in a battle with what we believe we should be and the beliefs that others have of what and who we should be. We are also battling our own view of ourselves and who and what we really are and should be.  What I am saying is that we need to face the fact that the majority of our struggles will not be physical but mental and spiritual, and that we need to prepare for that and not lose sight of it.

When dealing with these mental and spiritual battles one of t he best things to remember is that you always have a choice in what you do, think, and feel. It always makes me laugh when I hear someone say that another person made them mad or upset. Think about this for a minute. A friend of yours call you a name, what do you do, laugh probably. Now someone that you don’t really care for calls you the same name, what happens? More than likely you get mad and want to say something mean and nasty back to the person. So at that point you made a decision to get upset at this person, now the decision might be subconscious, but understand that you did make the choice.

The reason that I made this point is so you understand that you are in control of yourself at all times in your life. The things that you allow to get you the most angry are the things that you make a choice to get upset about. When it comes to your emotional well-being make the choice to be in, and under control at all times. The Jizaikan is about maintaining control of yourself physically, and mentally. The physical training makes that side of it very apparent but the mental side is not always easy to see. Understand that the physical training is a representation of things that happen on the mental and spiritual side of things. The same principles that you use during your training are the same things that you can apply to a mental or spiritual challenge also.

Ninpo Ikkan,

Mike Francis

11/8/2008

I do believe I am not mistaken when I say that the vast majority of people

who train in martial arts do so for personal self-protection. Although the threat of encountering such violent situations are slim, we surely all agree that they are still a possibility, do we not? In order to better prepare ourselves for such situations we train in all sorts of techniques and strategies, but have you ever thought you might be training yourself to fail? 

    “Dojo-itis” is a term used to describe the complacency that a martial artist sinks into, while he or she is training. The name of this condition comes from the idea that a person who trains unrealistically in the dojo may develop certain patterns, that impede his or her progress as a martial artist. More often than not, people suffering from dojo-itis tend to not be aware that they have it. Thankfully there are a few consistent symptoms that will help you realize if you are suffering from it or not.

POOR MECHANICS

The first bad habit to pay attention to is the use of poor mechanics. Using

too much muscle, bending your back, or using “happy feet” (i.e. shuffling footwork as opposed to the proper pivoting action) are all examples of poor mechanics. Poor mechanics tend to come about because we may be tired, bored, or just plain ignorant of the right way to do it. If we train improperly on a particular technique then there is no doubt that if we try to use that technique in a real life or death situation we will likely fail at it.

    To rid ourselves of poor mechanics is really a matter of serious repetitive

training. We must do our best to not be sloppy when we train, because it not only does us a disservice, but it also provides poor feedback for our training partners. If you have difficulty with a technique, ask your teacher to assist you in doing it properly. If it is a matter of being tired, remember that if you are attacked it will most likely be when you are exhausted or not feeling well. Training when tired is an excellent time to check one’s self for errors since being tired will exaggerate a person’s technical flaws. If your mechanics are bad simply because you are bored with the technique then your problem may most likely be intention.

POOR INTENTION

Sending no intention or sending the wrong kind of intention can also be a

cause of dojo-itis. We are all guilty of occasionally attacking our training partners without any real intention to hit them, or we do not continue to attack them after they respond to the initial attack. It happens. What’s important is that we don’t want to be that way all the time. Sending poor intention does not give one the feeling of being in a real fight, which is essential for serious training. Without the proper intention, both attacker and defender will become complacent and their abilities will start to suffer.

    Sending the proper intention does not mean you actually have to smash

your training partner’s face. It does, however, mean you should aim for whatever you are supposed to be attacking and keep attacking until you are put on the floor or told to stop. When training, put up enough resistance (against those who are ready for it) to make your partner understand that the technique works, but also be compliant enough so that they can do it safely. No one wants to train with an overly uncooperative training partner, which brings me to the final symptom of dojo-itis.

INFLATED EGO

We all have egos. It is part of being human. Over my past sixteen years of

training, I have seen many martial artists, myself included, become complacent in their training, due to their own arrogance. An over inflated ego, may lead us to believe we are more powerful than we actually are, and can cause training partners to resent us for our attitudes. An inflated ego can lead a person to believe that they don’t need to train on a particular technique or basic movement; because he or she may feel that it has been mastered. This makes one’s training less effective and may set one up for failure.

    We must rid ourselves of our false confidence, and recognize that we should always be learning. If we rid ourselves of our egos, we can take an honest approach to the training at hand. Again, this will happen to each and every one of us, and what matters is that we should be able to catch ourselves in this state of overconfidence and be able to correct our thinking.

    Dojo-itis is a disease shared by many martial artists. It can be a very

debilitating condition that affects the way we train. Only through refinement, focus, and humility will we be able to cure ourselves of it. The next time you feel yourself becoming sloppy with your technique or your thoughts begin to wander away from the training you should be focused on, take a few seconds to collect yourself and come back to your training with a fresh perspective. Don’t let preconceived ideas get in the way of training. We lose a thousand times in the dojo, so that we may win once on the street. As serious martial artists, we must train as though our lives depend on it; because someday, it very well could.

Lee Scott

10/2/08

Since this site is still in its infancy I felt that it would be a great time to break open the vault.  Since we have many talented instructors and students that have contributed much to the Jizaikan, I will dig into the archives on a regular basis. Hopefully the information continues to hold on to its timeless nature.

Never Stop Being A Student

When was the last time you trained with your teacher? For some of you, this answer might be easy to come up with because you were at the dojo last night for two hours. For others, it might be harder to come up with a date because you have been distracted by life and it has been a few weeks if not months since you last seen your instructor.

I have learned from personal experience and professionally, from running a dojo, that the darker the color of your belt the less students end up training. There always seems to be a lot of hard work put in on our quest to get our black belt but once that goal is attained our attitude seems to shift. Once students tie that black piece of cloth around their waist, they tend to spend less and less time at the dojo and when they do attend they end up spending their training time talking with other students or coaching instead of actually training. Is this because they feel that they have learned everything there is to learn and their cup is full?

Shodan, 1st degree black belt, translates as "initial level". This signifies that a student has the basic skills necessary to begin their actual warrior training, so why do so many people stop their training at this time? In the Jizaikan system you are considered a marital arts enthusiast until you pass your Sandan or 3rd degree black belt test and become a warrior. This is when you will receive your warrior name. So don’t stop short of your goals because you have attained the first mile marker on the warrior path!

I am lucky now because I have the opportunity to train with my teacher at least once a month for a couple of days and also when I travel to the Hombu Dojo 2-4 times a year, for a week or so each time. As an owner of a martial arts school, it is very hard to get away from the duty of teaching so that you can be a student. This role in life makes it even more important that you make time to train with your instructor because you are passing information onto other students and you have the obligation to lead by example as well as stay ahead of them on the warrior path.

I have found that the personal training that I have with my teacher has taken my warrior training even higher levels then I once thought possible. I wish that I had the opportunity that my students have to train with my teacher multiple times per week.

Group classes are designed to let the student practice their fundamental skills and techniques with other students. These classes do not allow the time for students to have the one-on-one personal training with their teacher to help them work on individual areas and needs. In my opinion, if you want to live the warrior life you need to have a minimum 4private lessons per year with your teacher to make sure you are progressing towards your goals most effectively.

I know that I have shared Kuden "oral transmissions" with my students in private training that I have not shared with my scheduled classes. My training with Kancho Thomas Maienza has taught me things that I once believed were nothing but fantasy and lore associated with martial arts and the ninja. None of the information I have been taught from these lessons has been taught in our regular classes.

I have found that teaching and training is not the same thing. It is important for your personal growth to always be the student even when others call you Sensei or teacher. If you are a martial arts instructor and haven’t trained with your teacher in the last 3months then how can you expect others to follow you? What would you think of your students if they only trained with you once or twice a year? Would you consider them true martial artists? Would you want them to teach you? To be an honorable teacher with integrity and always working towards mastery you must practice what you teach!

To release the warrior within and be the best person you can be, you need to live life with an empty cup and learn everyday!

See you at the dojo!

Michael Eichenberg, Warrior’s Edge Martial Arts, Naperville, IL

09/29/08

Practice Makes Perfect?

All of us have heard the saying “practice makes perfect” But is that really true? We all know that you need to practice to improve, that is with everything. The more we do something the better we get at it. But what happens if I practice something in an imperfect way? If I practice on Ikkyo but I never “enter in” or a cross punch and never get my feet and hips involved in the punch.  I can practice these techniques for years but I will never come close to my potential because I am not working on the things that really make the technique work.

Within the Jizaikan organization turning practice into perfect practice is what we are trying to do. We require that everyone has a teacher. Without spending time training with a qualified instructor you are just spinning your wheels. A lot of the things that we need to correct we don’t see without someone pointing them out to us. Within the Jizai system your instructor is one of the most important people because he will help you to turn practice into a practicing for perfection.

NInpo Ikkan,

Mike Francis