Kuji/juji is a specific ritual derived from Shingon mikkyo, an esoteric sect of Buddhism, known as Mìzōng in China and Vajrayana in Tibet. This is an immense subject, but one way to think of such esoteric sects (mikkyo is a general term for esoteric practices) is they use ‘skillful means’ – any and every ritual that best fits a postulant to become enlightened in a single lifetime.
Shugendo is a syncretic Japanese religion, sometimes regarded as a ‘mountain cult.’ It is an amalgam of primordial Shinto and Taoist ritual practices (the latter, of course, derived from China) and esoteric Buddhism. It is associated with magic, and wonder-working, enacted by yamabushi, postulants who walk deep in the mountains, engaging in severe ascetic practices. Among its lore is an association with nature’s elemental powers, known as tengu.
Warriors, too, used to go into temples and shrines in isolated forest and mountain areas to engage in ascetic training, and in the process, they utilized mikkyo rituals, sometimes those already present in their ryuha, and sometimes acquired through contact with such ascetics. The questioner refers to muga, a Buddhist term that is usually translated as ‘no-self.’ Or perhaps, the ‘that which is attached or identified with no thing in particular.’ However, whether such warriors were religious or not, their practice was for the purpose of accumulating power, not achieving ‘enlightenment.’ They were training in order to enhance their ability to survive, in order to better serve their lord. Most specifically, this was training in how to more effectively kill in combative engagements. They used mikkyo as a psycho-physical technology to enhance these capabilities.
This essay is one of many that has been revised to make the writing itself more graceful, but more importantly, to incorporate my own developing perspective on this subject. It is now part of my new book, Roots Still Cracking Rock: Refections On My First Fifty Years Within Classical Japanese Martial Traditions, which in addition to revised essays from this site, contains new work as well.
Kaiho
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge in this matter. Things, are clearly developed to our basic understanding. Best regards.
Kamal Singh
Thank you for a wonderful. “enlightening” post.
Ellis Amdur
I will copy a small relevant exchange written elsewhere concerning this essay between myself and my friend Mike Sigman (note: I’ve added a few comments beyond the original exchange):
SIGMAN: Most of those esoteric practices, like the hand gestures (which are called Jiuzi Miling) came to Japan from China, who in turn got them from Hindu and Buddhist practices (a lot of Buddhism is borrowed from Hinduism). The end-result to most of these practices is to form a rapport with the subconscious mind so that the powers of the subconscious mind can be harnessed for insight, fighting, awareness, and so on. I think that in copying the practices, you run the risk of copying the external appearance/choreography of a, say, Tai Chi form without understanding how the body is moved, use of the ki/qi, subconscious and so on. IIRC you can find some good commentary on the Jiuzi Miling in Shou Yu Liang’s book QIGONG EMPOWERMENT. Good book.
AMDUR: Mike – Yes. Exactly. There are few people left in Japan who are properly initiated through a chain of transmission. At the same time, my point is that a martial ryuha, properly constructed, contains all these principles within the kata, which are far more than fighting choreography. This begs the very important question that the quality of the information, conveyed, is related to the quality of the kata themselves. Kata deficient in any number of principles may be insufficient or even damaging to this goal.
SIGMAN: These partnerships with the subconscious mind are often called “possession” or things like “no mind”, “empty mind”, etc., indicating that the subconscious is put in charge of, say, controlling an engagement with an opponent. But the subconscious is going to do that, when done fully, by engaging the qi-systems/tissues of the body, using jin forces controlled by the dantian, and so on. Most westerners think of a martial style or ryuha as something they approach to learn techniques, conditioning, etc., and the complex issues of ki/qi, tanden/dantian, jin/kokyu forces, etc., aren’t even in the picture. It’s a long row to hoe, as your teacher implied.

AMDUR: There are two overlapping ‘tracks’ intertwined, but not synonymous. One is the natural ‘switch on’ during a survival experience: for example, the book BONE GAMES, where the climber gets stuck on a ridge during a storm and somehow runs down the mountainside like a mountain goat – the rest of the book is his search to somehow get there again. The perfect berserker state. And the second is what you refer to: I think of it as clearing out all the useless brush, strengthening the dikes and berms, (within the body), all of which has intrinsic value of its own. ADDED to it, the subconscious – so that when that flood of survival energy surges, it’s perfectly channeled along those lines you mention: ki/qi, tanden/dantian, jin/kokyu forces
Arve
Regarding learn on one’s own. My opinion is that you can reach quite a distance on your own, without any danger.
– most meditation methods available is suited to calm the mind to reach a focused state
– practice lots of katas to give the subconsious matereal to build upon
– practice one simple kata incredably many times, to be able to reach a focused state even while moving
Then you will be prepared to be guided by a real master.
Ellis Amdur
I am quite willing to believe that what you are saying, in itself, is accurate (and harmless) – but it is as far from what I’m talking about as a paintball game to a genuine military engagement.
Keni Lynch
Hi Ellis, I liked this article and your engagement with Mike as well. I tend to believe you are both right but I especially like your take on kata which is pretty much what I think too. Katas, in themselves, are forms we can continually learn from. In short, they are archetypes, as esoteric as you want them to be. “Mikkyo is the crack cocaine”.. haha..that made me laugh! One of the problems in the martial arts is timing, which comes down to focus. How to focus, what to focus on, etc, because we really don’t have time to discuss the niceties of kata to someone intent on taking our head off. So, there has to be a kind of shorthand… A symbol: something which enables us to turn ourselves “on” when need be. And I have found a few of these. My upcoming book goes into one of these but I have found a few others. These (kinesthetic) images, if you like, help coordinate, integrate and develop full-body power. Although I haven’t looked too much into mikkyo, although Roald Knutsen’s books were interesting. The images themselves are completely counter-intuitive, if we come at them from our standard Western ideas about power generation (body mechanics). But these differences must also stem from the vastly differing strategic aims of Oriental combat. My aim is to cover this in my book. Knutsen’s book on Sun Tzu is useful; his book on Tengu less so, IMHO.