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BUNBUN SERIES By Mike Finn - Leading World Authority
The Journey... the Path...
& the Destination
Part 1
I began martial arts around 1954, went by train across Siberia to Japan in 1968, there I studied with many of Japan’s leading masters. I could not afford to go back to Japan till the 1980’s and at that time continued my studies. In total (in lay persons terms) through endeavour and hard work, I qualified in Japan with 40 black belts in 10 martial arts, this was both my great personal achievement and my curse. On my return to Britain in the 1970s my knowledge and qualifications were met with vehement hostility in the martial arts world, this led to a whispering campaign directed at discrediting those qualifications, which in truth were so easy to verify. If I had known the result I would never have sat any exams in Japan. After all, a belt is something you wear round your waist, but training with Japan’s leading masters and attaining their knowledge is both enduring and incomparable. In this series I will talk frankly about martial arts, the masters I have trained with and the truth about martial arts training.
Martial arts is a tapestry of choice, there are skills for all temperaments and dispositions, yet many can not accept that there should be free choice. Dogmatism and totalitarianism pervade the martial arts world, this is a sad fact, however, the hidden matrix of training is the same throughout the various skills, as are the ultimate goals. In this article I will look at the words of Martial Arts Master Tomoaki Danzaki, who told me that above all, martial arts training should encompass humanity. One evening after an Iai lesson I sat on the tatami in the home of Master Danzaki, drinking Nihon Cha and discussing the changing
The illustration reflects Miyamoto Musashi’s duel to the death with Sasaki Kojiro, on what came to be known as Ganryu Island
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domain of martial arts. I mentioned my several years study in Jojutsu under Master Takaaji Shimizu in the 1960s, and he told me that both he and Nakayama Hakudo had been pupils of the same master in the early days, and how Master Hakudo had used Jo principles in his kendo. He spoke very fondly of the great Nakayama Hakudo, for whom he had immense respect, explaining that he was present when the great master passed away, and added, that even then master Hakudo was passing knowledge on to him. Master Danzaki believed that the ultimate training endeavour should be directed towards humanity. This is far from
Shows the book, written by Master Tomoaki Danzaki and endorsed and presented by him to Finn Sensei when he attained his Zen Nihon Kendo and Iaido Renmei 3rd Dan