Welcome to Budokan
MEDITATION STOOLS
Individually hand-made and to a professional standard, visually attractive and the practical answer to comfortable meditation or a simple seating solution for improved posture.
Come in an meet some of the people past and present in Budokan.
with Passmore Sensei are available by arrangement.
Click here to contact him by email for further information.
Budokan is a member of the Nine Circles Giri discount scheme on mpst of their clothing and equipment.
If yoiu are a member of Budokan and wish to benefit from discounts on offer - just email us and we will send yiou our username and passward.
You can then buy direct.
Budokan has many Teachers Maaters and Students to whom we owe so much.
We have now created a permanent presence on the site, so that we can all remember who they were and be eternally grateful for the contribution they have made in the practice, promotion and dissemination of Japanese Budo.
Modern day practitioners of Japanese Budo do not include the essence of the spirit of Budo, because of the absence of the spirit of Zen. Shinto and Zen Buddhism and a better understanding of Bushido.
Doshu
Founder of Budokan
WORKSHOPS
SUNDAY
14 April 2019
Lymington Dojo
at
2pm
Video Clips are being uploaded to our Members area every week now, which will eventually cover all kata and every technique, across all disciplines and is available to all Budokan members of good standing.
They are designed to be teaching to camera videos, which quite literally, brings the dojo to you, anywhere, anytime 24/7 as all videos can be viewed on your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
You can see some of these videos on the homepage here and others will be posted up across all disciplines - just go to the appropriate pages to view.
Soon all mambers will be able to see our entire Teaching Manual in words, pictures and video - a long sought after objectivie for Budokan.
In addition, we have created a Video Room where all members can go to view video content taken of them in the dojo setting on their own page or via the pages of other members. It is available for all members to see. and compare.
Enter via the private Members section, with your username and password in the normal way.
BTW - don't logout once you are in the members section and the next time you go there, you won't have to enter your password.
Budokan is made up of a load of interesting people.
And they are all doing something - it seems - most of the time - outside of the martial arts, that is.
So we want to record those times here on the Budokan website for all of us to share on a page dedicated to them.
Getting married
New ddition to the family
Moving House
Doing something for the first time.
Family get togethers.
Birthday celebrations
And so on.
Send your pics, videos and stories in when you can.
L to R - Paul, Toby and Brian - beginning to glisten!
Darren forefront - group Kata
Attention to detail from the Sensei...
Uraken Uchi - fast and on target - safety is key.
Now for some Annual Awards
Best All Round Performance - Toby Mellows
Best Dan Grade Performance - Paul Floyd
ONE ANGLE OF THE PARTY AFTERWARDS - A GREAT TIME HAD BY ALL
RESULTS IN FULL
RANKINGS
DARREN WAGHORNE - 6 DAN
DAVID GOLDING - 5 DAN
IVOR HOBBINS - SENIORS 1 DAN
ALISTAIR CARR - 1 DAN
AWARDS
Best Attendance - Mike Clapham and Keith Molyneux
Best All Round Performance - Toby Mellows
Best Dan Grade Performance - Paul Floyd
Best Kyu Grade Performance - Chris Hylton
Best Newcomer - Harry Hepple
SILLY AWARDS
Best Technical Picture - Allan Pert and Mike Clapham
Runners up - Richard Cozens and Marcia Joscelyne
Best of the Funnies - Keith Molyneux
Runners up - Alistair Carr and Chris Joscelyne
BTW...if any of you wnt to read the full transcript of the Royal Wedding escapades of Brian Goodall - skillfully penned by his erstwhile "best" friend Keith "Brutus" Molyneux - clikk here.
Buddhism from the view of current evolutionary psychology, biology and philosophy
A very brief snapshot...
1 The only reality is genetic propagation
2 The human body was optimised for an environment that no longer exists.
3 Long term happiness is an illusion and is a source of human suffering
4 Human consciousness is governed by feelings - not logic
We think we are thinking creatures that feel - biologically we are feeling creatures that think.
5 Autonomous selfhood does not exist
There is no CEO of the mind
6 Individuals are tribal, self centred and biased and suffer from wishful thinking
We are naturally tribal, selfish and limited by bias and suffer from illusions.
7 Human beings fail to see the world clearly - which leads to them suffering and to make
others suffer.
BUDDHIST TEACHINGS
A Snapshot of the Four Noble Truths
"I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That's all I teach", declared the Buddha 2500 years ago.
The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings.
It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during his meditation under the Bodhi tree.
1 To be alive and to be aware, is to suffer - Dukkha he called it.
2 All sufferings are the effects of identifiable causes
3 By removing these, we can rid ourselves of the suffering
4 By moving our conscious mind into a state of contentment and ease through meditation.
The final Noble Truth is the Buddha's prescription for the end of suffering.
The Eightfold Path
The eight stages are not to be taken in order, but rather support and reinforce each other:
1. Right Understanding - Accepting Buddhist teachings. (The Buddha never intended his followers to believe his teachings blindly, but to practise them and judge for themselves whether they were true.)
2. Right Intention - A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.
3. Right Speech - Speaking truthfully.
4. Right Action - Behaving peacefully and harmoniously.
5. Right Livelihood - Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm.
6. Right Effort - Cultivating positive states of mind;.
7. Right Mindfulness - Developing awareness of feelings and states of mind.
8. Right Concentration - Developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.
The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom (right understanding and intention), Ethical Conduct right speech, action and livelihood) and Meditation (right effort, mindfulness and concentration).
The Buddha described the Eightfold Path as a means to enlightenment, like a raft for crossing a river.
Once one has reached the opposite shore, one no longer needs the raft and can leave it behind.
Regular Meditation and Conscious Breathing = calm and high levels of concentration and clarity
of thought.
Observations of the mind and training the mind all lead to a constant awareness and comparison of what is happening in your head - “in here” and what is happening in your world -“out there”.
If you can do this every day and succeed then you will feel regularly contented and at ease, with both yourself and with the world you are in
THE 5 AGGREGATES
This was based on his theory that nothing is permanent - that everything is changing all the time.
It began with the Buddha's Discourse on the Not Self with 5 of his disciple monks.
1 Our physical body is changing all the time
90% of our cells will have changed each year.
2 Our feelings come and go
One minute you may be angry - the next minute you’re not.
3 Perception
Becoming aware of something via your senses and understanding
4 Thoughts
Certainly come and go
70% of our thoughts are negative
5 Awareness of all these aggregates
Developing an awareness of them all through meditation.
We begin each year with a workshop on the various aspects of seated meditation or Zazen and its relationship with Japanese Bushido and Budo, in an attempt to reinforce the importance of its daily - or at least regular - practice that will have a positive impact on the bahaviour of all students and how they perceive the world and themselves in it.
Many students have picked up books on Buddhist thought and hace never been able to make head not tail of their content.
Between each Meditation zesshin with conscious breathing, students were divided into 3 discussion groups and were introduced to a laymans snapshot of the main principles of Buddhist teaching. This was followed by a look at the 5 Aggregares in the Discourse of the Not Self and then a scientific view of Buddhism usiing evolutionary psychology, biology and philosophy.
All produced very lively discussion, which continued on into the pub afterwards, in front of a welcome warm fire!