Sansho 2

Greetings Aikijo experts,
Does anyone know of a "cheat sheet" or video clip (free and downloadable preferably) of Chiba Sensei's Sansho 2? We are learning it at my dojo and I want to print one out to keep with our 31 count jo kata, 36 jo defences, kumi tachi and other cheat sheets. Also, Sancho 3 would be nice, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

thanks in advance!

Melissa
www.tenzanaikido.com

OK, I get it. This is one of those top secret Samurai things. Well, I'll just write my own cheat sheets and send them to the next person who inquires.

Melissa

LOL! It's possible that nobody is currently reading the forums who trains in Chiba Sensei's weapons style.

I'm sorry for not replying sooner...

I have this written down, however, in my experience, even in Chiba's program, since the set is usually taught as a whole (made up of three parts) and not by the individual techniques, folks come to name the techniques differently (since they can often go without names) and so one person's writing is not going to be another person's writing. This goes doubly true for things like transitions, etc. - where I've seen folks pretty much do anything they want and/or have seen being done elsewhere. In short, you could have one written version of the form and that could be totally different from the one you are doing. Does that make sense? I believe you are training out of Bookman Sensei's dojo - and from what I've seen of one of his Sansho sets at the AikiExpo - it is bit different from what I was being shown by Chiba Sensei when I trained in San Diego. Some of that goes with what you were shown and when, etc. Life.

If I were you, though I'm certainly willing to pass along my written version, I would ask your teacher or a senior student from your dojo for such a list - that is probably going to be your best bet for matching names to techniques and for having the types of transitions that are particular to your teacher's understanding of the sets.

In my lists, I don't think I have the transitions written in, since we use videos as training supplements and not just the texts, but if you'd like to have the list of techniques that I have, feel free to email me - you can get my email from our dojo web site (see signature below). One thing to note, Sansho 2 had an extended ending added on a little bit ago - folks that trained before that with Sensei but that did not train with him come like the last ten years or so often don't have this added ending. (another reason to ask your teacher or a senior student from your dojo).

Thanks,
dmv

PS: Another great option is to get the Summer Camp Weapons tape at Haywood University - it has Sensei going over Sansho 2 on there (with the ending I am referring to up above).

Thanks very much for the thoughtful reply.

Bookman Sensei is indeed my sensei and has taught us Sansho 1 and 2. I think the version he did at Expo was pretty true to what we learn however he may have thrown in some alternate endings as he did with the Kumi Tachi.

In writing out the Sanshos, I found that the "pet" names we have for certain encounters and manoeuvres would be hard to figure out if read out of context. I do like to have things like the cheat sheets although they are really only good for reminding someone of a move they already learned from a senior student. I would still love to see what your list looks like and will email you for that.

Your website is beautiful, by the way, and I really enjoyed the film clips.

your truly,

Melissa

Hi Melissa,

Since this thread was active, we had worked on Sansho 2. I just stuck a camera in the corner so the angles are not the best and we weren't trying to address the needs of a spectator but you might find it interesting or maybe a bit informative.

here is the link:
http://www.senshincenter.com/pages/vids/sansho2.html

We didn't get through the whole set. Two of the clips are cursory breakdowns of some of the moves that a lot of folks end up having problems with.

I won't keep the clips up for forever - they are just temporarily posted for now.

take care, talk later,
d

Thank you very much, David. The clips are very helpful!

Melissa

I put more clips of us working through Sansho 2 - again, just stuck a camera in the corner. Tried to upload as many different angles as possible, at different levels of application. fyi: please note that we have made some changes to the set (timing and architectural).

Here's the link:

http://www.senshincenter.com/pages/vids/sansho2.html

There are four new clips and they are marked with the word "NEW". I'll put up more the next time we get to the set - after the holiday weekend. That should bring us to the conclusion of the set.

thanks,
dmv