bujinkan - NinZine 3.0

神妙剣 Shinmyoken: a Victory Without Killing

Bujinkan Santa MonicaMarch 11, 2011March 11, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

There is a Buddhist idea that when we kill another being we assert the radical difference between us and them. And this would ultimately be an incorrect assertion. But killing is all around us. It is part of the very fabric of nature. So what do fighters do with this?

This is a great mystery in life and martial arts. One of the most mysterious secrets is that of 神妙剣 Shinmyoken or the life giving sword. At its most basic level it is a technique for overpowering your opponent without injuring him with the sword. This simple idea contains many mysteries, the first being, why would you endeavor NOT to kill your opponent?

This lesson comes to us in the form of a sword, but it could be any weapon. The sword clarifies the feeling of life and death because it is a very fine (and sharp) edge between the two. Hatsumi Sensei constantly reminds us not to kill. It takes a lot of control with such a dangerous weapon to use it without killing. Sensei tells us that the Ninja understood that ultimately no one is victorious in war. Everyone loses. Hatsumi Sensei says the Ninja's idea of Shinmyoken was born from this understanding.

"Good weapons are unfortunate instruments.
People hate them. So someone with Tao does not rely on them . . .
Weapons are unfortunate instruments, and not the wise man's instruments.
When he uses them because there is no other choice,
he stresses straight-forwardness and, in victory, does not praise himself."
Lao Tzu, Section 31

But Hatsumi Soke doesn't suggest we become pacifists. Wrapped up in the mysterious sword of shinmyoken is also a strategy for combat. Shinmyoken is used for judging the crucial point on the body and it can be where the tip of the sword settles and finds its target.

There is an interchange of tai and ken. Sometimes you present the attitude of your body as the sword and the sword as your body. But you must also see this exchange in the opponent's body and sword. So your observation (見ken) finds the correct point on his body. The mind must be in perfect harmony with the body and sword.

Shinmyoken is also a part of understanding this admonition Soke often tells us,

"Hell gapes beneath the upraised sword... Step in! And Heaven is your reward!"

That's nice to think about, but how do you step in? With shinmyoken! Entering with
shinmyoken means entering with a free and natural body, and free and natural mind, mind
and body and sword as one.

切り結ぶ刀の下ぞ地獄なれ、ただ切り込めよ神妙剣
Shinmyoken was deeply promoted by Yagyū Munenori 柳生宗矩(1571-1646) a Japanese swordsman who was appointed official sword instructor to two Tokugawa shoguns. Yagyu’s style is known as the Shinkage-ryu, for centuries the official style of the Tokugawa dynasty. His spiritual mentor was Zen priest Takuan.

Munenori proposed the idea of a “life-giving sword” - the notion of controlling an opponent by the spiritual readiness to fight, rather than during the fight. This may end a fight before it ever begins. But it also is the ultimate sutemi, because you must be willing to stake your life on it. This is how the old cat wins in the Neko no Myojutsu story.

Munenori wrote,

"If you want to strike at your opponent, let him strike at you first. The moment you succeed at having him strike at you, you have succeeded in striking him."

This really gets to the heart of the idea of no separation between attacker and defender. You kill him and you are killing yourself. Something Hatsumi Sensei often reminds us. The shin of shinmyoken can refer to the divinity, core or spirit of the combatants. This shin gives rise to the mystery, or myo, of the outward appearance of the clashing swordsmen. Even if you slice him open you will not find his shin.

I was in class with Hatsumi Sensei when he told the Jugodans that were present that they are always taking the godan test. They are also always giving it. Taking the test is like dying, and giving it is killing. But the killing happens through you. Soke said it is kami binding with kami. Shinmyoken as divine sword.

This transforms the nature of killing into the natural flow of life and death.

How to Win a Sword Fight

Bujinkan Santa MonicaMarch 7, 2011March 7, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

Edo Wonderland Sword Fight, photo by -ratamahatta-

If you are any good with a sword, Hatsumi Sensei says you can win without drawing your sword. He suggests this to us by pointing out the example of the famous Zen sword master, Yamaoka Tesshū (山岡鉄舟, June 10, 1836 - July 19, 1888), a famous samurai of the Bakumatsu period, who played an important role in the Meiji Restoration. He is also noted as the founder of the Itto Shoden Muto-ryu school of swordsmanship.

One day Tesshu had a sword contest with a famous sword teacher, Asari Gimei. They fought for half a day and Tesshu was defeated. Tesshu became Asari's student and threw himself into Zen practice to try to understand the nature of his defeat.

As part of his search to understand what happened to him, he was given a koan to study by Tekisui Roshi'

"Crossed swords; neither permits retreat.
The sword-master, like a lotus in the fire,
Has a heaven-soaring spirit."

This advanced koan shows both the problem presented by a fight and the solution. Tesshu sums up his problem here:
'[When] two swords cross, all thoughts turn towards striking the opponent.'
Tesshu explains that the desire to strike an opponent while avoiding being struck is deluded. Not because this is a physical impossibility but because 'Originally, the mind is thoughtless like a bright, unclouded mirror...When the mirror is completely clouded, nothing can be reflected.' He continues 'When confronting an opponent, thoughts of striking or being struck indicate ignorance and illusion.'

Tesshu struggled with the crossed swords koan for three years of training. One morning while sitting in Zazen, he had a breakthrough. He stood up and went to fight his teacher Asari in the dojo. Asari realized right away that Tesshu had pierced through the lesson and declined to fight. He formally named Tesshu his successor and never again picked up a sword. Tesshu became a famous sword instructor who taught the way of the sword as a spiritual path.

So what happens when you cross swords with an opponent? If you are not in Zanshin, you may experience two states of mind. One is a calculating, worrying state where the mind is constantly questioning: Can you hit your opponent? Can he hit you? How can you enter, is there an opening? Does he see an opening? Can you trick him? Can you try this move or attack? Does he know that strategy and will he use it? This state is limiting, creates fear and you are defeating yourself. The limiting thoughts are never ending...

The other state lets the whole universe run through you. You erase the self and there is no you, just boundless possibility, unafraid of being cut or cutting. Your opponents efforts are no problem whatsoever. Attacks dissipate like mist.

Hatsumi Sensei says that Tesshu found this enlightenment by hearing the song of the gods in his heart. Soke describes this gokui (essense):

"In the world of martial arts, one should not stick to strength or weakness, softness or hardness; rather one should transcend physicality and understand the void, 'ku,' regarding the body also as empty."

Hatsumi Sensei goes on to explain how to use this gokui to win without drawing your sword,

"...prepare your body and show courage, the true gokui is the mind. Win without without drawing your sword. If you draw, do not cut down; bear patiently, and know that taking a life is a grave thing."

Pull Yourself Together With Bushinwa 武心和

Bujinkan Santa MonicaFebruary 24, 2011February 25, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by ghindo

In the Densho for Gyokko Ryu Kosshijutsu, one of the 9 schools we study in the Bujinkan, there is a precept which is expressed like this:

Bu Shin Wa O Toutonasu 武心和を尊 The heart of the warrior holds peace righteous, or, a warrior heart holds harmony as sacred.

Of course the idea of Wa or harmony is vital to understanding the physical aspects of our training. But there is something deeper in this idea. An idea that is deeply Japanese and connects us to the roots of our art and the history of Japan itself.

Wa 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese replaced it with 和 is the oldest recorded name of Japan. The idea of harmony in Japan is expressed in art, the tea ceremony, philosophy and even in daily manners or enforced through law. Many of the codes of honor of the Samurai were the result of an attempt to preserve harmony.

Honor of a bushi was most important in this code. Abusive language was punished by confiscation of the samurai's weapons and property or even banishment. All because it could lead to an armed fight over honor that might end in death. Striking a bushi was such a grave insult, that the offender would pay with his life or serious physical injury.

Hatsumi Sensei says that this Bushinwa idea from the Gyokko Ryu Densho can be traced back to ideas expressed by Shotoku Taishi (573-621, the Prince of Holy Virtue, a Japanese regent, statesman, and scholar) in his Jushichijo no Kempo. This was one of Prince Shotoku's most important written pieces, the so-called "Seventeen-Article Constitution" completed in 604 AD. The title "constitution" does not accurately describe Prince Shotoku's writing. But, Shotoku's document does set forth 17 specific laws or principles applied to nation-wide behavior.

Hatsumi Sensei says,

Early Samurai were strongly influenced by the teaching of Shotoku Taishi. The first phrase from Shotoku Taishi's Seventeen article constitution, "Cherish the harmony among people" is assimilated into the Gyokko Ryu idea that "Bushin (the warrior heart) cherishes the harmony among people."

Here is that first article from Prince Shotoku,

604 AD, 4th Month, 3rd day.
(1) Harmony should be valued and quarrels should be avoided. Everyone has his biases, and few men are far-sighted. Therefore some disobey their lords and fathers and keep up feuds with their neighbors. But when the superiors are in harmony with each other and the inferiors are friendly, then affairs are discussed quietly and the right view of matters prevails.

Shotoku was himself strongly influenced by Confucian and Buddhist writings. So this idea was basically an adaptation of one of the Confucian Analects:

When there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in a state of equilibrium. When those feelings are stirred and act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called a state of harmony. Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all acts of humanity; harmony is the universal path that guides them.
Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout the heavens and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.

When Hatsumi Sensei says that we should not act out of personal desire, but learn how to fight to protect life, this is part of the depth behind those ideas. Peace, Harmony, and a better life for all! That's what the warrior's heart is all about.

As the old saying, " Bushiwa Aimi Tagai," puts it, it is customary with the Japanese samurai to understand and aid one another; and they even extend sympathy and aid to the enemy soldiers, killed or disabled in battle.

In the ego's world of illusion, all things are in flux. But continuous change is constant chaos. When the ego sees itself as the center of so much swirling activity, it cannot experience cosmic harmony.
-Han Shan

Ninpo Ikkan: Find Your Own Treasure

Bujinkan Santa MonicaFebruary 18, 2011February 18, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by katclay

Understanding Ninpo Ikkan will unravel conflict and obstacles in a way that feels like 解脱 gedatsu (being liberated from earthly desires and the woes of man to reach nirvana). Does that seem unreachable to you? It is nearer than you think. Read on so I can explain where you may find it.

What is Ninpo Ikkan exactly? Well, as with a lot of Japanese to English interpretations you will find many answers (an interesting lesson in itself). A simple expression of Ninpo Ikkan is consistent devotion to the way of the ninja or the way of perseverance. Ninpo 忍法 being the way of the ninja, or as Soke sometimes writes, 忍宝 NinPo, or the treasure of nin.

Where is the treasure?

First, to find the treasure, you must empty yourself so that Isshi Soden becomes possible. You cannot receive this direct transmission of knowledge from a teacher or from nature unless you are free from your own life. Soke says that Bushido means "to die." This is sutemi. Throwing your life away, erasing the self, making your mind empty and feeling like you are dead. In that place is a surprising treasure! You cannot be trapped or defeated because you do not exist. You may live each day with a peaceful mind.

As Doug Wilson describes Hatsumi Sensei's Ninpo,

"It is often misunderstood that since the meaning of “Nin” in Ninpo, means to endure, that one must endure and persevere in a fight. But the ultimate goal is to feed the fight nothing but emptiness, on a physical and mental level, resulting in no physical conflict whatsoever, and ultimately no need to exert any effort or need to endure.

This is the Ninpo that Hatsumi Sensei teaches."

Soke says you can begin to learn this through fuza,

"... straighten the spine and breathe through the belly. It is also effective generally for maintaining good health. You start to understand Ninpo Ikkan when you achieve mental patience by sitting for a long time. The value of looking about one meter ahead with half closed eyes is to teach you that if you open your eyes fully and try to look far, you may not recognize the satori right around you..."

A Zen story about Banzan describes this moment:

When Banzan was walking through a market he overheard a conversation between a butcher and his customer.

"Give me the best piece of meat you have," said the customer.

"Everything in my shop is the best," replied the butcher. "You cannot find here any piece of meat that is not the best."

At these words Banzan became enlightened.

This helps us see that if you can be grateful and take things as they are, then everything is good for you. When you accept what is, every piece of meat - every moment - is the best. The moment you are living right now is the best — because it is the only one you have and the only one you can live right now.

My friend Paul Masse describes it this way,

"No matter where you are, no matter what time it is, no matter what is happening, isn't is always the best time, the best place? If you grasp this, you can fully appreciate this moment. When you have appreciation, light will come into your life and you will begin to perceive the miracles all around you."

This is one way to read the air like 気学 kigaku and create your own fortunate victory!

雨遁 Uton no Jutsu: a Rainy Day Escape.

Bujinkan Santa MonicaFebruary 11, 2011February 11, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by J.J. Verhoef

Tuesday night my class was training on an aspect of Ongyojutsu 隠形術. This topic is vast and one not often covered in most Bujinkan dojos. We have the fortune of training outdoors in an area that is part urban and part natural so we were able to explore.

Out of the 30 methods of escaping, let's look at one that is contained in the tenton juppo section: 雨遁 Uton no jutsu (Rain Evasion). Using the elements of weather to aid in escape and evasion is a very natural technique, but that same weather can work against you. The trick is to be in harmony with nature's laws. As Hatsumi Sensei says, "... everywhere in the world, the trees are growing towards the sky and the rain falls towards the ground." Bearing this in mind, remember that Soke has also stated that modern military stealth methods may supersede the old densho and that we should keep up with the times. But there is still much to learn in our tradition.

To begin to use the rain, it helps to know if it is coming. Forecasting is an old and honored tradition, one that is sometimes filled with pseudoscience but will work when paired with observation skills. This is what is known as tenmon. Soke says that in the old days people observed closely the natural cycles:

"they studied the animals and plants and found ways to make predictions. For example, if sparrows enter the thicket or stay high up in their trees after busily eating food, or if insects start to enter buildings, or carp jump out of the water, or frogs start to croak, it is a premonition that rain is going to fall."

Of course modern weather forecasting and meteorology gives us some advantage, but there is still no substitute to sticking your head out the window or being in tune with the weather patterns of your region. Sensei says it is "natural to be alert."

Here's what the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency says about a product they designed for evasion and survival:

"When Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady was shot down over Bosnia during June 1995, one of the items he acknowledged that assisted in his survival was the Evasion Chart (EVC) he carried in his vest pocket. In addition to using the chart to pinpoint his exact location, he used this unique product in a seemingly unusual way, but in fact one way that it was designed for--as a protection against the elements. Sized specifically to fit in aircrew flight suit pocket, the EVC can be used:To catch rain for drinking water; As a shade from wind and rain, and as a shelter, cape and blanket; As a bag to haul and purify large quantities of water or food; As a liner in a hole to serve as a wash basin; As ground cloth on moist ground, or as camouflage when sleeping; To wrap clothing in when swimming or fording streams; To wrap torso with as an extra layer of clothing; To wrap sleeping gear in it during foul weather; To splint a broken wrist..."

Once the rain starts, we can use it in many ways, practical and mysterious.

The sound of the rain can mask the noise of your movement. Even the soggy leaves and twigs become quiet when we step on them. Be careful of splashing and slipping!

People tend to stay inside and off the streets. The rain can cause patrols to change. Guards are maybe not as alert while they try to keep dry. Some may abandon their normal posts to seek refuge indoors. Of course, that means you are also getting wet. Your gear and clothing may not function as well. And your stamina or immune system may become weakened.

Rain can be caught for drinking. This may make you lighter if you don't have to carry your own water, or just save your butt if you didn't have any. But rain does make your clothing and gear heavier.

Rain affects vision. Visibility decreases and at night and heavy rain reflects light back to it's source, creating a blinding effect. Umbrellas are also useful cover against cameras and being identified.

Another aspect of rain is that it changes geography. Large puddles or flooding washes make areas inaccessible or impassible. This creates opportunity for evasion or escape into areas where you will not be pursued. Don't drown or get trapped!

Here we come to some mysterious effects. Rain creates a definite feeling of yugen. Places and activities that would seem normal in the sunlight can take on another quality in a gloomy rain. This can be used for psychological effect.

Observing how rain and water itself falls, or human and animal behavior in the rain gives many lessons for evasion. Sensei says that rain takes on different aspects and a Ninja makes use of each phase.

"Rain becomes water vapor, rises into the skies, turns into clouds, and then becomes rain again, or a heat haze. Turning and turning, it is in a perpetual, cyclical motion."

Being rained on by the 幸雲　Cloud of Happiness (Good Fortune)
Hatsumi Sensei says that "one can perform uton no jutsu using cigarette smoke." and "If a ninja detected a stimulus from the outside world, no matter how slight, they would respond immediately."

Soke describes this feeling of gokui as that of being a jellyfish floating in the ocean. And he says that,

Takamatsu Sensei used to call himself senile and then drift about in the air of Kashiwara City, drawing and painting, and finding joy in it. This is to drift and feel the existence of the world, empathize with flowers and enjoy the harmony, and to reach heaven as a live human being."

Perhaps like smoke rising among raindrops.