bujinkan - NinZine 3.0

Munenmusō 無念無想: Free From Worldly or Worthless Thoughts

Bujinkan Santa MonicaDecember 16, 2010January 28, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

There is a common saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We see this all the time in training. People begin to grow in their skill with taijutsu and two things often occur:

They injure themselves or others.
Or... they stop learning because they think they got it already.

This blind spot is very dangerous, because by their nature the person that is full of "knowledge" is unaware that they are ignorant. And sometimes they convince others that they know something or have "secrets".

Hatsumi Sensei talks about this knowledge as if it is a burden. A weight that should be shed. Soke said that people want to possess the densho or secret scrolls. But that when people learn the secrets they were searching for, they become too tense to move freely. They are burdened with the knowledge and trying to use it correctly.

I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness. - Shakespeare

Sensei likened this to kareteka who used to train with iron geta. This is a similar principle to the modern fitness training with ankle weights. At first they are heavy, but eventually the wearer gets used to them and doesn't even notice the burden. But how freeing and light it will feel to remove them entirely!

I am amazed at people who attend classes or train at a seminar yet miss everything being taught because they are full of knowledge already. Their consciousness is heavy with what they know. Leaving no room for anything new.

A great example for us is the theme for 2011. How many people think they know kihon happo? There are teachers already teaching this theme or planning their seminars for 2011.
Alexander Pope shared this idea:

That a little knowledge is apt to puff up, and make men giddy, but a greater share of it will set them right, and bring them to low and humble thoughts of themselves.

I watched Hatsumi Sensei write the scroll with this theme for my teacher on November 23. He said it was the first time he had written the theme for next year. But the kanji were not the "normal" way kihon happo is written. This signifies Sensei's intention to take a fresh approach to the kihon. Or, at least, to get us to drop our preconceptions and learn it anew.

So what effort in learning can you make? Sensei suggests:

From nothing (not thinking), something (an action) comes forth, and the person who masters this idea is the one who can comprehend the secret teachings. This understanding in your heart is more important than the techniques. The mind of "munen muso" (no thought, no mind) in the heart is the real secret teaching rather than the waza.

中途半端 Chuuto Hanpa: Betwixt the Half Assed

Bujinkan Santa MonicaDecember 9, 2010January 28, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by roland

Something many of us have heard Hatsumi Sensei say during his classes is the term "chuuto hanpa." He has been using this phrase for many years to try to communicate an idea that is difficult to teach.

中途半端 chuuto hanpa / "unclear, betwixt and between, vague, half-hearted"
chuu / to / han / pa
The meaning of the first Kanji is "middle." The second Kanji means "way." The third and fourth Kanji mean, "half" and "end," respectively.

Chuuto means "halfway" or "along the way." Hanpa means "to be on neither side and be vague." Chuuto hanpa indicates the state of things which are left unfinished or the state of someone or something that is vague and unclear.

So what are some of the things this can teach us?

One is to let go of technique. We all learn technique. Some of us become good at techniques. But technique is a trap. The minute you try to apply a technique, people's survival instinct naturally drives them to actively resist or evade somehow.

It is an even bigger trap for learning. You see your teacher show a kata, and remember, "I know xxx kata, I recognize this technique." Then you may stop learning and fall back on habit. Meanwhile, you missed what the teacher was REALLY showing you. This is why Sensei advises us again and again, don't collect techniques, or memorize kata.

Here is a tip: be a beginner again. It is like you are an expert guitar player and reading a book on basic guitar. It is hard to be a beginner there. Instead pick up a flute and do the same lesson.

When your technique is strong, drop it and try something where you are no good at all. If you want to learn. The best teachers create a class where this happens for you.

Another lesson of chuuto hanpa, is that of freedom. By not taking any fixed technique or point, you may move freely. When an opportunity arrives you can take it freely because you are not fixed on any technique or situation.

And a surprise awaits- By half applying one technique and moving half into another, the effect is greater. For example, if you apply musha dori while doing an omote on the same wrist, you can do something quite powerful without force! Your opponent cannot counter or resist easily because you are never fixed. That musha dori could finish with seoi nage, or nothing at all. How do you counter that?

A greater surprise awaits even further into the esoteric whereby you float in the middle space, opening up the possibility for divine technique to enter.

This may be part of your life journey. When you have become a great person in your field and are puffing up with pride, move to some other path where you are small and know nothing and be nobody again. That's where learning happens.

Nakaima 中今: a Privileged Moment in Eternity

Bujinkan Santa MonicaNovember 11, 2010January 28, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by Guitarfool5931

People in the Bujinkan often mention distancing, angling, and timing as part of fundamental taijutsu. While we train to get these right, there are many subtle nuances to what is "right." For example, there is early, middle and late timing, but also an entire spectrum in between these measurements. And there is a way to step outside of this measured time entirely.

The ability to do this can be related to awareness in the moment. Soldiers in combat are encouraged to keep their head on a swivel so as to maintain situational awareness. Another simple look at states of awareness in combat can be found from Jeff Cooper, founder of the American Pistol Institute ("A.P.I.") in 1976 in order to teach the Modern Technique of the Pistol as a method of the handgun for self-defense. He describes this color code:

"In White you are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary is totally inept.

In Yellow you bring yourself to the understanding that your life may be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.

In Orange you have determined upon a specific adversary and are prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not in a lethal mode.

In Red you are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant."

In the Bujinkan, we focus on awareness from the learning of kamae leading to the experience of the Godan test and beyond. Hatsumi Sensei talks to this point as the secret of winning. He says,

One never knows when a fight might start. That is why in Budo one keeps prepared, so that should a fight arise, one can settle it as quickly as possible. In a dangerous situation, you act swiftly without any hesitation. That is the secret of winning.

He describes how to do this,

You must KNOW that you can win, and use this energy in your encounter.
In Shinto there is a word, "Nakaima," which literally means "the middle of now." It teaches us that the current moment embodies the whole of time, and consequently, that how you live the current moment is of supreme importance.

Nakaima 中今 as described by Shintoists repeatedly appears in the Imperial edicts of the 8th century. According to this point of view, the present moment is the very center in the middle of all conceivable times. In order to participate directly in the eternal development of the world, it is required of Shintoists to live fully each moment of life, making it as worthy as possible.

Hatsumi Sensei may also be referring to this concept with the idea Kanjin Kaname. This can be translated as "what is truly important," but another reading is "the heart and eyes of the gods." When you are in accordance with this, you are in accord with the laws of nature or heaven. You cannot fail. You may achieve kamiwaza (divine techniques). Isn't that what you are studying in your dojo?

Ninjutsu – The Spider’s Thread (蜘蛛の糸, Kumo no Ito)

Bujinkan Santa MonicaOctober 28, 2010January 28, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

photo by ajari

This last year, some of us have heard Hatsumi Sensei make reference to a spider's web dangling down from heaven. As usual with Soke, there are many layers to this idea. One idea that Sensei put out there for us was in his painting of Daruma with a spider descending a web and alighting on Daruma's eyebrow. As Paul Masse explains:

The Inscription reads, “ Ninjustu is on your eyebrow.... the spider`s thread, so close, the village of Togakure”. Sometimes things are so close to us that we can not perceive them.

Hatsumi Sensei has continued to reference this web from the heavens. If Ninjutsu is on one's eyebrow, or there is a thread to heaven dangling down but we do not see it, how can we use that in Budo?
Maybe it will help if we look at another story that Hatsumi Sensei described to us.

"The Spider's Thread" (蜘蛛の糸 Kumo no Ito) is a 1918 short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, first published in the children's magazine Akai Tori:

ONE

One day, the Buddha was strolling alone along the edge of a lotus pond in Paradise. The blooming lotus flowers in the pond were each pure white like jewels, and the place was filled with the indescribably wondrous fragrance continually emitted from each flower’s golden center. It was just morning in Paradise.

After a time, the Buddha paused at the edge of the pond and from between the lotus leaves that covered it saw a glimpse of the state of things below. Now this celestial pond just happened to lie directly over Hell, and peering through that crystal-clear water was like looking through a magnifying glass at the River of Death and the Mountain of Needles and such.

The Buddha saw there, in the depths of Hell, a single man writhing along with the other sinners. This man was named Kandata, and he had been a notorious thief who had performed murder and arson and other acts of evil. In his past, however, he had performed just one good deed: one day, when walking through the deep forest, he saw a spider crawling along the road. At first he raised his foot to crush it, but suddenly he changed his mind and stopped, saying, “No, small though it may be, a spider, too, has life. It would be a pity to meaninglessly end it,” and so did not kill it.

Looking down upon the captives in Hell the Buddha recalled this kind act that Kandata had performed, and thought to use his good deed as a way to save him from his fate. Looking aside, there on a jade-colored lotus leaf he saw a single spider, spinning out a web of silver thread. The Buddha carefully took the spider’s thread into his hand, and lowered it straight down between the jewel-like white lotuses into the depths of Hell.

TWO

Kandata was floating and sinking along with the other sinners in the Lake of Blood at the bottom of Hell. It was pitch black no matter which way he looked, and the occasional glimpse of light that he would see in the darkness would turn out to be just the glint of the terrible Mountain of Needles. How lonely he must have felt! All about him was the silence of the grave, the only occasional sound being a faint sigh from one of the damned. Those who were so evil as to be sent to this place were tired by its various torments, and left without even the strength to cry out. Even the great thief Kandata could only squirm like a dying frog as he choked in the Lake of Blood.

But one day, raising up his head and glancing at the sky above the lake, in the empty darkness Kandata saw a silver spider’s thread being lowered from the ceiling so far, far away. The thread seemed almost afraid to be seen, emitting a frail, constant light as it came down to just above Kandata’s head. Seeing this, Kandata couldn’t help but clap his hands in joy. If he were to cling to this thread and climb up it, he may be able to climb out of Hell! Perhaps he could even climb all the way to Paradise! Then he would never be chased up the Mountain of Needles, nor drowned in the Lake of Blood again.

Thinking so, he firmly grasped the spider’s thread with both hands and began to climb the thread, higher and higher. Having once been a great thief, he was used to tasks such as this. But the distance between Hell and Paradise is tens of thousands of miles, and so it would seem that no amount of effort would make this an easy journey. After climbing for some time Kandata tired, and couldn’t climb a bit higher. Having no other recourse, he hung there from the thread, resting, and while doing so looked down below.

He saw that he had made a good deal of progress. The Lake of Blood that he had been trapped in was now hidden in the dark below, and he had even climbed higher than the dimly glowing Mountain of Needles. If he could keep up this pace, perhaps he could escape from Hell after all. Kandata grasped the thread with both hands, and laughingly spoke in a voice that he hadn’t used in the many years since he had come here, “I’ve done it! I’ve done it!”

Looking down, however, what did he see but an endless queue of sinners, intently following him up the thread like a line of ants! Seeing this, surprise and fear kept Kandata

Kandata

Though the thread had been fine until just then, with these words it snapped with a twang right where Kandata held it. Poor Kandata fell headfirst through the air, spinning like a top, right down through the darkness. The severed end of the silver thread hung there, suspended from heaven, shining with its pale light in that moonless, starless sky.

THREE

The Buddha stood in Paradise at the edge of the lotus pond, silently watching these events. After Kandata sank like a stone to the bottom of the Lake of Blood, he continued his stroll with a sad face. He must have been surprised that even after such severe punishment Kandata’s lack of compassion would lead him right back into Hell.

Yet the lotus blossoms in the lotus ponds of Paradise care nothing about such matters. Their jewel-like white flowers waved about the feet of the Buddha, and each flower’s golden center continuously filled the place with their indescribably wondrous fragrance. It was almost noon in Paradise.

(16 April 1918)

As I read this story I remember Soke talking to us about connection. He said you have to see beyond the surface to see what the possibilities are. He told us that his teacher Takamatsu said "Don't ever sever the connection."

One way to explore these connections is through Juppo Sessho. This refers to ten directions. What are these ten directions? There are eight directions of Happo which are really infinite and can be said to be part of the Sanjigen no Sekai (3 dimensional world.) As Paul Masse says about the Daruma in Soke's painting,

The Daruma`s eyes are staring inward. This is a form of “Happo Nirami” or “Staring in Eight Directions” . It is also a form of “Ma Yokei” or “warding off evil”.

But the Daruma doesn't see the spider. That's because the spider is coming from another direction. The other two directions are Tenchi. Heaven and earth or (hell). This is another dimension. If you can connect to this with Juppo Sessho, then you really will be a Bujin!

Neko no Myojutsu – The Cat’s Eerie Skill

Bujinkan Santa MonicaOctober 21, 2010January 28, 2011

From Bujinkan Santa Monica by Bujinkan Santa Monica

People fear their own instincts. They seek answers outside of themselves when there is a powerful spirit inside that has many abilities that can be tapped. Animals in nature don't look outside themselves. And yet many are terrifying fighters. How do they accomplish this?

They seem to do this through instinct and play.

We all have instinct. It is there, waiting for us to make use of it. You only need to listen. And to develop the ability and skill to use it, play is a powerful ally. Hatsumi Sensei uses that word to describe our training. So is it part of your regimen?

From Neko no Myojutsu by Issai Chozan (1727):

... the cat replied, “Because of the self there is the foe; when there is no self there is no foe."

When I was a boy, me and my buddies had many mock battles. Sometimes the whole neighborhood seemed mired in war. We took it seriously. But we knew it wasn't. There was a reality to our play that put us and our personalities on the line.

I see this in the dojo. Personalities are on the line. The training we do is serious, yet also play. How best to take advantage of that dichotomy?
More from Issai,

"Teaching is not difficult, listening is not difficult either, but what is truly difficult is to become conscious of what you have in yourself and be able to use it as your own. This self-realization is known as 'seeing into one's own being,' which is satori. Satori is an awakening from a dream. Awakening and self-realization and seeing into one's own being – these are synonymous.”

You must become transparent to Bushido, so that your training becomes a transparency through which light shines. This is the Budo in you, coming out through your training. Your instincts and natural ability will rise above the ego. Your eyes may open to see real Budo.

Soke says,

If you persevere in Ninjutsu as I have done, you will come to discern the ocean of difference that lies between things seen with true eyes, observed using the intuitive "feeling" you develop in this art, and those seen through the glass eyes of people who have not trained at all.

When he says "people who have not trained at all," I think that can apply to many people who visit the dojo and put on a gi. They go through the motions of training, but they are really not training at all.