JOHN EVANS
John Evans began practising yoga and tai chi in his teens. At Oxford University he trained in Shotokan karate and after graduation went to live at an Anglican monastery where for 5 years he continued studies in tai chi, Sanskrit and yoga. In 1981 he went to Japan and began studies in Mikkyo (esoteric Buddhism) and Kurikara Ryu Heiho near Mount Takao with Fushi Sensei (Murana Masayuki). – an independent gyoja or yamabushi. The yamabushi (mountain ascetics) instruct through a systematic and progressive training in the mountains called shugendo, “the path of training and testing”.
After 3 years of intensive practice Fushi Sensei introduced him to two of the most senior teachers of sword schools in Japan, Nakamura Taizaburo 10th Dan of Toyama Ryu and Nakamura Ryu Battodo and Danzaki Tomoaki 9th Dan, head of the Kenshukan Dojo where he studied Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido and Shindo Muso Ryu Jodo. He also trained at the Kashima Shinto Ryu school under Yoshikawa Koichiro.
“On the first day of training, sword and human meet as alien objects; over time they become one living thing. Eventually, the blade will magnify and project the actions of the body, reflect mood and mindset, and ultimately point the way to the core of being.”
John Maki Evans
In 1987 his training regime of swordsmanship and Shugendo was profiled in a 30 minute NTV programme in Japan entitled “Igirisujin no Mushashugyo” (An Englishman’s Warrior Discipline). In 1992 he published Trog a book of poems about shugendo (ISBN-10: 0-935086-20-X)
Following his return to England in 1993 he founded the Fudokan dojo in London. He teaches Nakamura Ryu Battodo and Kurikara Ryu Heiho and received his 7th Dan in 2008 from the International Battodo Federation.
His book Kurikara – The Sword and the Serpent* was published in 2010 by Blue Snake Books. He is a Senior Advisor to the SMAA (Shudokan Martial Arts Association)
NAKAMURA RYU
The Nakamura Ryu school of swordsmanship was founded in 1952 by Taizaburo Nakamura, one of the greatest swordsmen of the modern era, a combat veteran, instructor of close combat and lifelong researcher of traditional swordsmanship. Like Miyamoto Musashi, he abhorred the artificial and impractical developments in many sword schools and sought to recreate a school of genuine combat swordsmanship.
The heart of the Nakamura school is Happogiri – the eight ways of cutting. Although several sets of kata (forms) are taught they are regarded as merely examples of possible scenarios. The goal is to attain a state of natural, spontaneous movement and instinctive handling of the sword through which one can utilise the eight basic techniques with complete freedom. The principles used to attain this goal are circular trajectory (enkeisen), correct and responsive handling of the sword (tenouchi) and natural footwork (shizen ni aruku shisei). Mastery of these allows one to transfer power from one movement into another and one cut into another.
“The modern martial art of aikido logically applies rounded, circular movements in all aspects of its technique, from throwing to receiving a foe’s attack. For the sword techniques of the Nakamura ryu too, an effective circular motion making use of correct blade angle and cutting trajectory is a defining characteristic. Another unique feature of the discipline is the logical nature of how the blade is stopped or realigned after making a cut, utilising the momentum of the blade to flow into an attack against the next enemy.
Furthermore, in the Nakamura ryu we train not only in solo kata against the air but also practice tameshigiri against straw, bamboo and other simulated targets, aiming to polish technique so as to avoid errors in the cutting angle. We also aim to unify the student’s heart and mind with his ki and all his physical and mental powers, and to foster and nourish the spiritual aspects of his training.”
From The Spirit of the Sword. Nakamura Taisaburo (1980). Translated G.Poffley (2013). Blue Snake Books.
KURIKARA RYU
“When you reach certain discernment of the principles of swordsmanship, and can easily defeat one opponent you can defeat any and all. The mind is the same in defeating one, a thousand or ten thousand.”
This discernment proved applicable to all arts and disciplines, and to reflect this, the kanji Hei (military) was sometimes replaced by Hei (peace). Heiho systems utilise philosophy to understand the flow of forces and events so as to act with success. This understanding must be embodied and comes through a reconfiguring of the habitual patterns that restrict the workings of body and mind. Because of its comprehensive analysis of the elements of the body-mind and their relationships, and its sophisticated methods of integrating them, swordsmen found Mikkyo, the most valuable of the philosophies present in medieval Japan. Mikkyo explains the workings of both the cosmos (macrocosm) and the individual (microcosm) as a play between two entities portrayed in the model of the Dual Mandala. The Womb mandala embodies the world of natural manifestation and the Vajra mandala embodies the world of wisdom and consciousness. Enlightenment is seen as a process of fully manifesting and then integrating these two mandalas within the self.
For the practical purposes of the warrior the dual mandala was encoded in a simplified form – the Kujiho, the ‘method of nine characters’ that also incorporates Taoist elements. The nine characters denote nine vital currents within the body through which the ‘great’ elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether interact with each other and with the sixth element, consciousness. These nine currents work in one way during normal activities and in a very different way during contemplative practice. The active mode is described by the Womb Mandala and the contemplative mode by the Vajra Mandala.
When the body-mind engages with the outer world in physical or mental action the operation of these currents is represented by eight dragons, these govern the movements of the limbs originating from eight gates in the body and are coordinated by a ninth dragon power in the core (Kurikara). In the contemplative mode all these powers are withdrawn into the centre and subsumed in a central flow. The stages of training in Kurikara Ryu Heiho involve a systematic mastering of these modes.
This mastery is achieved in three phases – SHODEN (beginning) , CHUDEN (middle) and OKUDEN(deep). Each of these phases is divided into three steps that parallel the dan gradings in Nakamura Ryu Battodo. Each step is governed by one element, one of the nine guardians and, with one exception, is predominantly Yin or Yang in nature. When a student is close to the required level they undertake a Seigan (a vow of commitment) to train daily for a set period in a particular kind of training. For some stages the seigan involves a period of Sangyo – mountain training.
