December 31, 2023

Martial Arts Health & Age

As a martial artist, we start where we are and make improvements every day in eliminating weakness.

Days become months, months become seasons, and seasons become years.

It’s not a race, but a journey.

Certainly there are philosophical, intellectual, and spiritual aspects to the martial arts, and while some arts can be more physical vs. others, the physical-body component of the arts cannot be dismissed.

Your physical body is the vehicle to experience and navigate the martial arts.

You need to be working on, building, and maintaining your body.

Make small adjustments to your body and build on them gradually, just as you are doing in the martial arts.

Physical exercise- weight lifting, hiking, resistance training, movement to build muscles.

Endurance exercise- running, swimming, and other physical sports that get you moving, movement to build endurance and stamina.

Flow exercise- Yoga, stretching, light walking, movement to move the muscles and body in a soft relaxed way.

Work on making your diet the best you can.

Drink more water.

Make these changes and build on them in support of your martial arts, a holistic approach, do something fun and engaging.

Don’t neglect the physical training and aspects of the martial arts.

See you in the dojo!


The aim of the Bujinkan Shinmyoken dojo (war god hall school of the life giving sword) is to understand nature and the movement of being zero through taijutsu- martial ways of using the body. The school exists to create and transmit this feeling and method through the experience of isshi soden- one to one transmission.

Located in Westchester New York, the Bujinkan Shinmyoken dojo is a martial arts training group founded in 2005 with the aim of coming together as martial arts friends to study the Japanese martial arts of Masaaki Hatsumi through the movement lessons of the Bujinkan dojo and the expression of budo taijutsu.

Classes are held on Saturday Mornings from 9-11 AM at a local park in Yonkers New York easily accessible by car, train, and bus. Additional training times are held for workshops and seminars each quarter.

Training is supervised by Fred Feddeck (shidoshi) who has been studying Bujinkan budo taijutsu since 1993.

The transformative effects of the Bujinkan come from the purity of its warrior movement, the movement-philosophy found in taijutsu (body art). This art offers the tools of movement to assimilate the skills needed to meet the challenges of life and prevail against those changes, a movement guide to take control of one’s destiny.

Questions, feedback, and inquiries may be directed to the group here: bujinkanshinmyoken@gmail.com.

The Bujinkan Shinmyoken Dojo practices the Japanese martial art of budo taijutsu as passed to us through Masaaki Hatsumi sensei. It is through the movement-philosophy of taijutsu, as passed down through eight hundred years of warrior movement that we explore these lessons for the here and now of today.

But what is taijutsu?

The easiest and most natural explanation would be to come and participate in a class so one can experience the transmission directly (isshi soden).

With that framework what can be understood intellectually is expressed through s system of movement, used as a vehicle to understand self through martial movement.

Training begins with junan taiso, martial arts stretching, and the re-alignment of the body to a natural state. Methods of undoing the defects of time that one has “learned” and accumulated incorrectly along the way through life. Increasing body capacity and taking stock of where one is currently in order to build and improve on the body’s natural movement capabilities.

The next level of movement development transmits how to generate and use correct body alignment and mechanics in a martial way- it teaches one how to move the body correctly using our unique movement of taijutsu. Methods to illustrate this include ukemi taihenjutsu, kyu kamae, kihon happo, and san shin no kata, illustrating the path of heaven (sky).

Once one has a firm grasp of how to use the movement-philosophy of taijutsu correctly the study of the path of earth begin, how to prevent correct movement through the use of distance, timing, rhythm, and balance. Methods use to show this anti-movement include the gyaku gi, nage waza, hajutsu, and shime-waza.

Those two path lead to the path of man (human), the blending and interplay of the dragon (ten) and the tiger (chi), the interaction between people in a martial arts situation. This jin ryaku no maki section of training offers us glimpses with what is possible, making the impossible possible, as expressed through koku, renyo, seion, gekkan, musan, etc.

The integration of these three aspects of training (tenchijin ryaku no maki) leads to the complete human begin (tatsujin) and the ability to navigate situations in a natural manner.

Yet again, these are just words trying to capture the movement-philosophy of taijutsu, the best way to feel and experience this expression is to take up the training and commit to the warrior path.    






 email contact: bujinkanshinmyoken@gmail.com