Month: May 2016

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.

On the three-day event participated several students of Katori Shinto ryu Macedonia, as well as one student of shidosha Erik Louw from the Netherlands.

Teacher Louw  during the seminar passed down techniques for simultaneous drawing and cutting with a Japanese sword (iaijutsu/battojutsu), including combat with a katana (kenjutsu). He didn’t leave out the techniques with a long staff (bojutsu), as well as naginata kata.

As always, the teacher Louw unselfishly and carefully transferred his knowledge in his distinctive manner – through humor and laughter.

The free time during the breaks was used to visit the Osogovski Monastery and Kriva Palanka, as well as the Kuklica site, and the ancient city Kratovo.

Until our next encounter…

Furthermore, this is the third visit of our country by the teacher Louw, who is one of the rare carriers of the title Menkyo for Katori Shinto ryu.

At the seminar we will be training sword-drawing techniques from a sitting (iaijutsu) and standing (battojutsu) position, as well as techniques for staff combat (bojutsu) and halberd (naginatajutsu).

All interested can contact us on our e-mail: daito_macedonia@yahoo.com

This past weekend the first of a series of intensive seminars on “Shinobi Taiso’ has been held, under the leadership of the leader of the Organization „Taiyou e no Michi“– Igor Dovezenski. Three students of Bujikan Macedonia decided to study this system in which are incorporated many traditional Japanese methods created with the goal to help with the myriad of physical dysfunctions caused by a misbalance in the muscular system of man, and also different disruptions of the flow of energy in the body.

Right after the end of the first part of the course, the participants shared their impressions on the internet Forum.

“I have been part of Bujinkan Macedonia for a long time and have attended a lot of trainings, seminars, at home, as well as foreign ones. I have been a participant in summer camps, I have experienced and been through all kinds of challenges in the dojo. I have learned so many things and have met so many people and can I really ask myself after all that: `Ok then, is it worth it? Is it lost time, can I have done something smarter?` This weekend with Sanja and Dame attended another seminar where we were met again with the incredible knowledge of Sensei. The topic of this seminar was how to improve the quality of life, how to prevent injuries, but also how to return balance to the locomotor system. Sensei has delved into this in maximal detail, precise and even on a academic level. Introduction to the system that moves our body, its natural positions and what causes injures, furthermore why man in the modern age has a misbalance in his muscle structure, what our modern way of  life is like and what are the consequences of the technological advantages which we use every day.  We got a answer to all these questions, all though It is my opinion that two days is too little to go over all of that and everyday constant research and further knowledge is needed. One of the most important things I learned during the course is that man must have perfect knowledge of his body and to take care of it the best he can.  I think that we are alienating ourselves and that we are completely in a state of self conflict. We are all fooling ourselves that we are busy with important things, and actually that which is really important we’re casting aside, we forget it, we ignore the signals for help that the body sends and in the end we become sick. I hope that I will be able to pass all of the lesions provided for Shinobi Taiso and that I will be able to help the people around me.” – Vladimir Antonovski

“We dedicated both days to a very detailed theoretical and practical studying of the movements of the body. Firstly Sensei explained to us what it means and how it comes to debalancing of the muscles and how the modern way of life (mis)impacts the disturbances of the locomotor system of man. We had the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the functions of the skeleton, to determine all the way that a certain part of the body moves and to pick appropriate exercises which will serve to strengthen or stretch the muscles ( depending on the needs ). In the practical part we practices a lot of the techniques along with the appropriate variants, by also keeping track of rhythm, breathing, balancing the left and right side, duration, but also we learned how a complete class should look like.  

We studied the disorders which are most common on people, the ways to diagnose them, and according to that how to treat them.  

We split the exercises in accordance with the type of problem we are dealing with and how to treat it, and them in accordance of the conditions we are under. For example while we are at work, how we can while sitting on a chair go through a series of exercises, and also exercises with a ball at home, exercises on a wall and so on. The seminar war very interactive and we immediately got an answer form Sensei to all our questions. At the end each of us got a task to hold а class.”-  Sanja Simonova

“I am still unsure if I pointed Vlatce, Sanja and Dame to further delve into Shinobi Taiso, or, alternatively, the system for helping physical dysfunctions, and their prevention- chose them. Anyway, I am happy that my longtime students, after they start mastering the basics of kobudo, are starting to slowly “specialize” in separate skills. I hope that the three of them will walk the Path to the end.” – Igor Dovezenski