"The sense of community within the Bujinkan is important!" Masaaki Hatsumi-Soke
Greetings fellow buyu and welcome to the website of the 5th anniversary of Bujinkan Midwest Taikai! It is Zentai Martial Arts and Bujinkan Goshin Budo Dojo pleasure to host the 5th anniversary of the Bujinkan Midwest Taikai at the Hilton and Grand Wayne Center in beautiful downtown Ft. Wayne Indiana! It’s difficult to believe five years have passed since the Dayton Bujinkan Dojo first hosted this event in respects to Masaaki Hatsumi-Soke asking us to aid in the building and strengthening of the Bujinkan community in the United States and around the world. I think it is safe to say, “no one can do it all on their own” and because of this taikai has a pivotal function within the Bujinkan! Through the connection of taikai and the connections made through taikai may we gain a deeper understanding of Masaaki Hatsumi-Soke’s budo, meet new buyu and strengthen connections with old. As a veteran of four previous taikai I can personally attest to the benefits and opportunities of attending! You never know where great experiences and new connections may lead!
In honor of this 5th anniversary we have invited all previous taikai hosts to instruct, as well as many others! Please see the instructor’s page for more details! Remembering the taikai Soke taught here in the states, I wondered if the feeling of Midwest Taikai would be similar. I have been surprised to find that the feeling is very similar, and believe that is because of the many budoka who attend taikai with sincerity and dedication to the study of budo. Thank you all! Like Soke’s taikai, I hope these taikai will last twenty plus years as well! I do believe they can and will with the support this event has generated from the very start. As with all previous taikai, all proceeds will go to the building of a new hombu dojo in Noda City Japan; a place for all of us to study budo for many years to come!
So, what is the theme for this year’s taikai? 異体同心 "i tai dou shin" - "different bodies, same spirit”! The Bujinkan is unique in its allowing of stylistic development based on a strong foundation of ‘kihon’-fundamentals; for those who have been to Japan have seen firsthand the stylistic differences between the Japanese-Shihan. A Japanese-Shihan once wrote that he thought the most important lesson for beginners to learn is it doesn’t matter which, whilst still finding a flow of movement which is natural and works. So at this taikai we are asking the instructors to help us experience their personal taijutsu. Let’s push this taikai to the next level and inspire everyone to do the same! I personally believe taikai is a beautiful place to experience the countless flow of budo, to build connections, support the Bujinkan community and have a little fun! So please help us to make this a wonderful event!
Jay
Zimmerman - Bujinkan Goshin Budou Dojo
Nate Metz - Bujinkan
Zentai Martial Arts Dojo
You can find this event on Facebook as well.