BOOK: Bokuden Ryu Jujutsu by Otsuka Nobuyoshi; Trans. by Eric Shahan

Bokuden Ryu Jujutsu: A Record of Intensive Lessons in Jujutsu with Additional Secret Teachings on ResuscitationBokuden Ryu Jujutsu: A Record of Intensive Lessons in Jujutsu with Additional Secret Teachings on Resuscitation by Otsuka Nobuyoshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Translator Amazon Page

This is a manual, written in 1916, of the Bokuden Ryu school of Jujutsu. Tsukahara Bokuden was a sixteenth century samurai and is one of the most famous of Japan’s swordsmen, having been instructor to a Shogun and a Provincial Governor, and the school of Jujutsu described in this book was said to have been founded by him.

The manual mostly consists of textual and line drawn descriptions of thirty techniques of the system, mostly throws and takedowns. Each page has an English translation appended to the original manual’s text and drawings. Most techniques are explained over two or three pages (i.e. two or three drawings.) The book also includes three resuscitation techniques and a few odds and ends. There is also a nice set of atemi maps – i.e. drawings showing various vulnerable spots on the body, and a brief biography (a few pages) of Tsukahara Bokuden.

The translator points out errors in the original and corrects them in the translation (e.g. there are a couple of techniques in which attacker and defender labels are swapped.)

If you’re interested in Japanese martial arts and the evolution of Jujutsu, I’d recommend this manual. There is not a great deal of fine detail to be gleaned, but the concise descriptions do offer insights into what is unique and what is common to the system.

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DAILY PHOTO: St. Anna and Katoghike Churches, Yerevan

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Photograph of St. Anna Church (larger and sand colored) and Katoghike church (smaller and darker) in Yerevan, Armenia.

PROMPT: Negative Thoughts

Daily writing prompt
What’s the best way to deal with negative thoughts?

Feel the feelings but cut short the rumination with the realization that negative thoughts are waking dreams and have no more inherent reality than sleeping dreams.

DAILY PHOTO: Equestrian Statue in Vienna

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Photograph of an equestrian statue in Vienna, Austria.

PROMPT: Love Now

Daily writing prompt
What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger?

Absurdity.

DAILY PHOTO: On the Road in North Vietnam

Photograph taken on the QL4D outside Sa Pa, Vietnam.
Photograph taken on the QL4D outside Sa Pa, Vietnam.
Photograph taken on the QL4D outside Sa Pa, Vietnam.

PROMPT: Followed Your Gut

Daily writing prompt
What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right?

I was hungry, so I ate some food, and I wasn’t hungry afterwards. It actually happens with regularity.

DAILY PHOTO: Rainy Day in the North Vietnamese Countryside

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Photograph taken in Cao Bang district of Vietnam on the road to Ban Gioc Waterfall.

PROMPT: Nominate

Daily writing prompt
Emperor Palpatine has announced open elections for a new Emperor — and he’s nominated Darth Vader. You get to nominate one challenger.

Let’s see. Someone fictional and from the future. I nominate Arthur Dent. #ArthurDentforEmperor

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes Atop Uttari Betta

Photograph taken on top of Uttari Betta (Hutridurga) in Karnataka, India.
Photograph taken on top of Uttari Betta (Hutridurga) in Karnataka, India.
Photograph taken on top of Uttari Betta (Hutridurga) in Karnataka, India.