The Path of Shugenja VIII (Revival)

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By request of the members of Bujinkan Macedonia, after a three year break, the leader of the dojo Igor Dovezenski decided the revive the legendary feat „The Path of Shugenja“.

Shugendo is an ancient Japanese method of exploring the relations between man and nature. Literally translated, Shugendo means “Way of training and testing”, in other words it is an ascetic discipline which has a goal to achieve self-improvement through retreat in the mountains, meditating under cold rivers and waterfalls, breathing exercises in unreachable remote terrains, and all in between to reaching unbelievable feats through testing of one’s physical and mental endurance. Those practicing this method are known by the name Shugenja, and the teaching is practiced in Japan to this day.
The founder of this teaching is considered to be En no Gyoja who lived near Kyoto in the 7th century A.D. Another name, by which the followers of this teaching were known, is Yamabushi or Mountain Warriors. They roamed the mountain tops of the Japanese islands, visiting and protecting the many temples.
These people, together with the deserting Chinese generals after the fall of the Tang dynasty, are considered to be the founders of the art of Ninjutsu.
The event is to be carried out on 24th September, and the route is already set:
Skopje – Hombu Dojo „Taiyou e no Michi“
Length: 62 km (according to the length of the highway)
Departure: Saturday at 07:00 o’clock
Return: only God knows 🙂
Important: every participants needs to undertake proper medical examinations before the beginning of the event.
Equipment: Take whatever you like. Everything is on your responsibility and conscience.
P.S. The possibility of encountering wild animals, rain and bad weather conditions, as well as other unforeseeable things isn’t excluded. Before applying, check the information on our website from the previous years.

The start of the second semester and enrolments in Bujinkan Macedonia

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The Organization „Taiyou e no Michi“ for the 21st year in a row opens the dojo’s doors to the new candidates that has the desire to enroll in the world of the Japanese ninja and samurai.

Even though the Dojo for classical Japanese samurai and ninja arts „Bujinkan Macedonia“ accepts applications during the whole year, the month September is the best moment to open a new page of Your life’s story.

We inform all interested that the first class for the beginners is going to be held at 1st September, starting at 20:30 o’clock, while  the advanced group continues its work one day later (at 20:00 o’clock).

For all those who are not yet acquainted with our work, the dojo is founded on 2nd July 1995, and for now is the only in our country acknowledged by the chief of Bujinkan, soke Masaaki Hatsumi.

Bujinkan Macedonia is considered to be one of the most dynamic clubs in Europe with many active members and with the most organized activities throughout the year.

Within the dojo there are many sections for adults (from 13 to 113 years old), and for children as well (from 5 to 12 years old).

Additional information about us you can read on the following link http://hombu.koryu.mk/article/show/474

About the instructor of Bujinkan Macedonia http://hombu.koryu.mk/article/show/478

About the schedule and the location http://hombu.koryu.mk/article/show/492

Please let us know if you have additional questions by our mail daito_macedonia@yahoo.com or phone number 075 564 011.

Summer Koryu Camp VIII has been held

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According to the words said by the participants of the
Summer Koryu Camp, one has the sensation 
that each consecutive event, from year to year, becomes ever more
interesting and better organized. That is an incentive to continue to hold and
raise the quality bar on this splendid event. 

This year thirteen participants again felt on their own skin
the dynamic training regiment characteristic for Bujinkan Macedonia  and for the Organization  “Taiyou e no Michi”, and two of
them came all the way from Romania, with the goal to feel even for a short time
the furious rhythm that we impose during the Summer Camp.

The topic of this year’s event, was the
samurai martial school Takagi Yoshin ryu Jutaijutsu, and also the oldest
documented Japanese martial art Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujustsu. We
can freely say that the participants of this camp completely surrendered themselves
and enjoyed in discovering the secrets of the two ryu-ha, but also in the
personal body transformation caused by the powerful Shinobi Taiso training
regiment, organized by the leader of Bujinkan Macedonia – Igor Dovezenski.

The barely existent free time was used to
bathe in the nearby river, as well as exploratory expeditions on the golden
hills of Orljak. The friendships and mutual connections of the members of the
dojo are always an extra incentive to participate in the Summer Camp, because
nothing contributes to strengthened connection between the participants as joint
nine days of training in the valley bellow the mountain of Lipac.

Next year we promise an even better organization and even better
quality of training. The topic Is already known, and for those who want to know
more, they can visit our web page at 
www.koryu.mk.

Summer Koryu Camp VIII

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The most excellent, biggest, and dynamic of all yearly events in the
Organization “
Taiyou e no Michi” is nearly
here. In only four days starts the eight issue of our well known “Summer Koryu
Camp”.

The topic to be studied and practiced during this year’s camp will
be the traditional Japanese martial art Takagi Yoshin ryu Jutaijutsu, as well
as the oldest documented samurai school Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu
Bojutsu. As always, the instructor Igor Dovezenski will try to transfer to his
student’s part of his 28 years of experience in the field of Koryu Bujutsu.

For those who do not know, shidoshi Igor Dovezenski is the man who
in the year 1995 opened the first and to this day only dojo in Macedonia for
classical Japanese martial arts and whit that literally ‘brought’ them to our
country. Thanks to him thousands of our fellow citizens have been introduced
with the martial arts that once were practiced and used by the legendary
Japanese samurai and ninja warriors.

The camp will be held in the period between the 4th and
12th of august, in the Homby Dojo of the organization “
Taiyou e no Michi”, which is nested in the valley under the
mountain of Lipac.

Usually august is the only month when the members of Bujinkan
Macedonia take a rest from the exhausting training regime, but a part of them
always give priority to ferocious training with an even greater zeal in this
summer period.

Besides the great intensity by which our summer camp is known, the
great friendships and relaxation must also be mentioned, and so we are calling
all, regardless of their style or skill of martial art, to take part and become
familiar with our work from up close.

Only a few more days remain to register.

More information here:  http://hombu.koryu.mk/article/show/http://hombu.koryu.mk/article/show/656656

The seminar “Life in the Wilderness III” held

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After having previously mastered the
techniques of organized living in a community on low mountains and near rivers,
this year we dedicated ourselves to studying the skills to surviving as a larger
group of people in a forest.  And this
past weekend proved that some of the members of Bujinkan Macedonia are
unstoppably taking in all the knowledge that has been piling up through the
years in the instructor Igor Dovezenski, and who is always unselfishly trying
to pass on a part of his experience on to his students.

The seminar was held in the forest Mlaka,
in the valley under the mountain of Lipac and in two different locations. About
the feeling of being a part of this event, we will share part of the
impressions of some of the participants.

“We arrived at Homby Dojo at 08.00 hours,
and Sensei was already ready waiting for us. Before we started for the forest
he said that from all the excitement he couldn’t fall asleep and he could
barely wait for us. Afterwards I learned that a day earlier he had ‘caught’ a
stomach bug, but I didn’t notice any signs of weakens from him during the
entirety of the seminar.
When we found the location we were looking for, Sensei first held a lecture and
told us the most important thing we should know if we find ourselves in a
situation to organize living in a forest for a longer amount of time.  Our questions were answered in great detail.
After Sensei assigned different tasks, we went to work.  We arranged the sleeping pads, we readied the
fire, and we cleaned the field where we were supposed to camp for the next two
days. Afterwards we started to prepare the ‘lunch’. We dug a big hole next to
the fire and we filled it with 
potatoes which we subsequently covered in embers
from all sides. Immediately after satisfying our hunger we started to prepare
the next meal. As Sensei always teaches us, surviving quickly becomes a fight
for calories. When it got dark, we started to prepare for sleep. The watch was
set, and from all sides started ‘coming’ the sounds of the forest. The sun rose
and Vlatce started rousing us. After we were done with the mourning hygiene ,
we dispersed the camp and moved to another location. Sensei and Taki went to
find some ‘proteins’, and the rest of us started to tidy up our equipment and
the location. We cleaned the ‘proteins’ from guts, we cooked them and got them
‘inside’. Then Sense showed us how we can with primitive tools make bows and
arrows for a hunt. 


The second day ended with ‘breaded’ snails which were very tasty” – Todor
Angelovski

“I’ll start from the end. While returning
home I got to thinking how few have the opportunity in a time of peace and
prosperity to taste how it feels to organize life in the wild and to survive in
some seriously hard conditions. When you don’t have access to 99.9% of the
resources you have at your disposal while in the city. To understand this
feeling, meaning to feel it on your own skin, it is necessary to go out in the
field and to experience directly how hard it is to survive outside of a
populated area.
This kind of seminars I will always support and I will try to take part in as
many as possible, because in this way not only are many useful techniques
learned, you also learn to appreciate life in its entirety. And not only your
own, but those of the people around you, and the life of all the plant and
animal life around you. Only in moments like this we can understand that we are
not the center of the Universe” – Vladimir Antovski   

 

Life in the Wilderness III

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After
the two seminars held on the topic “Life in the Wild”, during which members of
Bujinkan Macedonia studied the techniques of organized living in a community in
the wild, it’s time for the third.

During
the first two events the instructor Dovezenski taught his students how they can
live a long period in a group if they take shelter on a mountain below 1000
meters,  as well as organized living by a
river.
During “Life in the Wilderness III” members of Bujinkan Macedonia will have the
opportunity to learn the techniques of group survival in a forest.      

As
was announced during the first seminar, the warriors from the dojo will face
each year a different terrain meaning different geographical survival
conditions.

The
seminar will be held under the guise of a natural catastrophe or some other
event that necessitates a retreat to an inaccessible location and organization
of everyday life for an extended time period by a certain group of people. By
mastering these new skills, members of the dojo will be capable of taking care
of their family and providing it with the basic needs for life in the wild in
case of an emergency.       

The
year before last we started to write a new chapter of history, and this year we
continue with the third part. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn the
techniques of living in nature which in case of a natural disaster or some
other catastrophe will be more than required .  

In
the seminar may take part all members of the dojo Bujinkan Macedonia/
Taiyou e no Michi regardless of their title or experience.

Required equipment: everything
that can be used to survive in nature and will fit in your backpack.

Day: 23/23 July (2016)

Location: Mlaka – in the valley
below Lipac

Program:

Saturday:  07.00 – starting from Skopje

Sunday:    18.00 – coming back

Registration and information
through inbox, telephone or through the Forum.

p.s. Staying in nature brings
certain dangers. All participants come at their own risk. Do all necessary
medical checks before registering to participate. 

„Sui Ren“ seminar held

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Shidoshi ho Marko Opachikj practically „wrote“ the report for the web-site this time by sharing his impressions of the yesterday’s seminar on our Forum.


„I recall of a story that once Sensei told us, while he was in Japan he visited a holy place and suddenly and uncontrollably he started to laugh from happiness. I’m talking of that laughter, when your heart and soul tremble as if you have experienced the supernatural. In some way I feel the same myself. Maybe some will think: ‘It’s just a river, training in the water, and that’s it.’ But Sui Ren for me is really emotional, and I still cannot figure out why. Maybe it’s that way because it’s taking place exactly after five years from the last seminar, and at that time I was younger and everything looked surreal to me. Maybe because Sui Ren is a method that the ninja developed to perfection, and that impresses me. Maybe because it is in water, and it’s a real challenge to endure seven hours in such environment. Many of you won’t ever understand that you could make so many exercises in one river. To ‘invent’ so many ways to  hide yourself. All those stories that Sensei told us during the seminar were unbelievable, but all these year that we passed that legendary river too. The notion that every year the seminar takes place at a different location only contributes and increases the excitement. We left our youth on that river and I’m proud of it and don’t regret even a second, just the contrary. I thank Sensei that he made me ‘stuck’ the whole night writing a densho for hours.

I won’t ‘reveal’ here the techniques that we practiced, because you need to come and train hard in the water for yourself to find out the fortitude and the patience that are the most important for Sui Ren. I hope that we will have the honor the next year too to participate to an event like this, which in my opinion, needs to be kept alive, and to learn as much as we can from our Sensei’s knowledge, which is amazingly vast!“

Sui Ren

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Five years exactly from the last official Sui Ren outdoor seminar, the leader of „Taiyou e no Michi“ revives again this once regularly held event in Bujinkan Macedonia.

We say „official“ since the last several years the members of the dojo had the opportunity to practice the techniques of Sui Ren (training in water) during our summer ninja camps.
Moreover, this skill was mandatory in the past for all Togakure ryu shinobi warriors, and was consisted of techniques for swimming quietly, silent movement through rivers and lakes, crossing water surfaces using unconventional means, combat, breathing underwater etc.
The event will take place at the river at the base of the mountain Lipac. All students of the Organization „Taiyou e no Michi“, or the dojo Bujinkan Macedonia have the right to partake.
Date: 10.07.2016 (Sunday)
Location: Dolno Proodishte
Program:
09.00 o’clock – departure from Skopje
10.00 o’clock – arrival
10.30 – 17.30 – theory and practice
18.30 – return
The organizer holds the right to change the theme of the seminar only if the weather conditions are severe for a several hour training in water.

Ninja Kids invaded the Hombu Dojo for the second time

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On Saturday, the Ninja Kids of Bujinkan Macedonia invaded the Hombu Dojo of the Organization dedicated to the study of classical Japanese martial arts „Taiyou e no Michi“ for the second time.

In this conquering mission 22 children participated, from the youngest section of the only club in our country that nurtures traditional martial arts from the Land of the Rising Sun.

During the event, which is organized twice a year – in spring and autumn, the youngest students of Bujinkan Macedonia had various activities throughout the day. Under the leadership of Todor, Taki, and Sanja, the children had a Gyoko ryu lesson where they practiced Sanshin no kata, and they listened to several lectures on the subject: „Togakure ryu Ninjutsu“.
The head instructor of Bujinkan Macedonia, Igor Dovezenski, held a kenjutsu training session (Japanese sword fighting), and before that the children had the opportunity to have a look at the Hombu Dojo, which at the same time represents a small museum where you could see different objects and tools used by the Japanese ninjas and Samurai from the Middle ages. 
The kids had an organized visit to a small sheep farm too, and also had a homemade delicious lunch made using only fresh produce directly from the garden located by the dojo.
The kids used the free time to play different games, but also to eat the ripe sour cherries that they picked from the trees that grow everywhere around the Hombu’s yard.
At the end, we would like to add that the children were supervised at all times by the watchful eye of a doctor, who was hired by the Organization „Taiyou e no Michi“.  
The next conquering mission of the Ninja Kids for the Hombu Dojo is due in autumn.

Sunday Yumi Ya seminar held

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Yesterday in the region of Mlaka in a valley under the mountain of Lipac, a one day seminar was held on the topic: Yumi Ya (the art of shooting with a bow and arrow). On the seminar four members of Bujikan Macedonia were present who had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with one of the oldest weapons known to any people on the planet.
The event began with a small lecture on the history of the Japanese bow, and afterwards we began shooting with the so called Hankyu or Half-bow. It is a shortened version of the Japanese long samurai bow, known for its excellent performances. 
Besides shooting from several different positions, various shooting techniques were practiced while moving, running, but also techniques of firing an arrow at great ranges.
In the end we agreed that this seminar will continue to be held, always in the same time of year, meaning the month of May.