With the rise in internet usage and all of the social platforms that are now such a major piece of people’s lives a very real danger exists that your information will be compromised and or your account hacked. It happens on a daily basis, Debit card readers hacked, Facebook passwords stolen, twitter accounts hacked, email account hacked, well what can you do about it? Let’s start at the beginning and not use the list of 2012’s worst Internet passwords!
Next up choose a password you can remember and add symbols, numerals and upper and lowercase letters. This one step alone will help make it much more difficult to hack your accounts. My last tip: Change your passwords every 90-120 days, it is too easy to get lax in your online security but you will be the one to pay in the end, so Ninjutsu Practitioners beware!
Bufu Ikkan
Ps: Look at number 23: Ninja, pretty cool we make the list!
Within the segment of Shinobi iri skills, there are several core strategies that teach a ninjutsu practitioner the appropriate manner in which to apply the technique or tactics on an enemy. The first strategy we will review is “Nyukyo no Jutsu” or the correct utilization of timing to enter the enemy camp. So, what does this really mean? Well as Musashi points out “timing is everything”, identifying the correct time in which to enter an enemy’s camp, fortress or region of influence needs to be identified normally through diligent surveillance of their actions.
Here is a short list of surveillance considerations
People traffic
Vehicle traffic
Structural considerations
Geographical considerations
Seasonal variables
Auditory levels
Once a proper investigation has been completed the ninjutsu agent will review and determine the best possible timing for the penetration of the enemy’s stronghold. As you all know I like to take an ancient tactic or strategy and utilize it in a modern application, so here is one application for you to utilize.
Chose a local business in your area and perform a surveillance of the people entering, employees, customers, and determine the best time to shop in the location with the lowest amount of customers in the business. Once you have determined this, perform an internal observation of the business, locating at least 3 means of entrance(firedoors etc), alarms (fire ), as well as any cameras in the business. Now, remember this is only an exercise, don’t be obvious or creepy, that will draw security or law enforcement down on you in a heartbeat! So you better have a good preplanned reason to be in the business…you know like your buying something!(LOL)
“By experiencing the confrontation of danger, the transcendence of fear or injury or death, and a working knowledge of individual personal powers and limitations, the practioner of ninjutsu can gain the strength and invincibility that permit enjoyment of the flowers moving in the wind, appreciation of the love of others, and contentment with the presence of peace in society” – Soke Hatsumi
What is ukemi? How can I use it to successfully survive a violent encounter, or a major fall that can happen in my life? Is ukemi just hitting the floor safely? These are all great questions that everyone should think about in their training, so let’s answer a few here:
Ukemi is the skill of hitting and rebounding from the floor or ground safely. It involves a variety of methods that teach us how to roll, drop, and hit the ground safely, in the most basic methods. Once the fundamentals of ukemi are well practiced, a practitioner then progresses to learn the proper methods to carry and use weapons during ukemi, leaping, cartwheeling, countering skills (hajutsu), methods of sutemi nage, and striking skills during the ukemi event.
As you can see ukemi is involved in many more aspects than what is traditional taught as a method of surviving a throw or fall. Recently while training, a student asked me to demonstrate shuriken throwing while performing ukemi, without batting an eye I leaped sideways forward rolled and put 2 bo shuriken into the target at ~8 feet away. Ukemi is for life preservation, not just about taking a fall in class but the potential of having to sacrifice yourself or take a fall on the street, stairway, on ice, self-sacrificing to hurl your opponent, dropping to the floor to withdraw your firearm and putting rounds into center mass, all aspects need to be practiced and enhanced each time you practice ninjutsu. Never underestimate how vital this seemingly simple part of our skill sets truly is in your life.
After watching and listening to Sensei Manaka’s words, think about how you train! I have been preaching these thoughts since I began training so many years ago.
“The world is a dangerous place. You must not forget this. The teachings of the Bujinkan are not about who is good and who is bad; the teachings are about how to live, how to survive.” – Soke Masaaki Hatsumi
Each day we all face potential dangers in our lives, some are simple everyday occurrences that if we are not observant could potentially do us harm, (ie: crossing the street) Others, not so simple, a home invasion (just recently happened in my small rural town), medical emergency, mugging, lost job, there are so many we could probably go on for many lines, but our Ninjutsu training can teach us how to live and survive through these events! Are you prepared for even any of what I have listed? A ninja from the ancient beginnings was resilient and prepared to face whatever was thrown their way, today many of us have become soft and are not ready when an emergency hits us or our loved ones. My advice is to learn and practice, train with intensity and take what is given here as a guide to help you and your ninja clan, family, friends and those around you to survive in our dangerous place.
Since olden days many opinions have been expressed about which part of an opponent one should look at [during a duel] but the majority of people have supported staring at an opponent’s face. When so doing, the eyes should be narrower than usual but the mind should be broad. The eyeballs should not move and when the opponent is near they should be focused as though they were looking into the distance. In this way, a man can look at not only his opponent’s face but his whole body, thus being able to anticipate any offensive thrusts he might make.
In my opinion, there are two kinds of eyes: one kind simply looks at things and the other sees through things to perceive their inner nature. The former should not be tense [so as to observe as much as possible]; The latter should be strong [so as to discern the workings of the opponent’s mind clearly].
Sometimes a man can read another’s mind with his eyes. In fencing, it is all right to allow your own eyes to express your will but never let them reveal your mind.
This matter should be considered carefully and studied diligently
Miyamoto Mushashi
In combat many instructors have taught that you must look into the opponent’s eyes to judge their next move, but as Mushashi states there are 2 types of “eyes”, 1 that only can see the surface, while the second that can perceive the inner nature of things. The second is where a ninjutsu practitioner should always be training their perceptive abilities to, while the former is a common occurrence in new or beginner practitioners, actually some never leave this level of the martial arts throughout their training life.
Developing a set of “perceiving eyes”, involves diligent study of many aspects of combative skills, people, nature and also developing a method of quickly filtering through information rapidly. So, I leave you with this question as a first step: “When do you know someone is your opponent?”
Within Ninjutsu, the strategy of “ken tai ichijo”, or translated “the body and weapon are one” is one of the first principles that should be firmly grasped by all practitioners in their training. The coordination of utilizing the body’s full weight and power that can be generated by proper alignment of the musculature and body positioning is not an easy task, it can take years to fully grasp or master this principle throughout the physical empty hand and weapon skills that you will learn.
But like each piece I put here on this website and the podcasts, I am going to lay out a few training tips to help bump you up a level in your next training situation.
1) Practice the Kihon Happo and sanshin no kata, utilizing the ken tai ichijo
In the air
Against a heavy bag or makiwara
2) Train with HEAVY weapons! Items that are two or three times the normal weapon weight will pull you into their momentum. This forces you to utilize your whole body in a smooth, cohesive movement to prevent the tool from “getting away” from you.
3) Proper sabaki to enhance your striking power. A strike and footwork must be coordinated utilizing the following patterns: (Daken Shiho gata)
Step and strike together
Strike and step following
Step and then strike
Strike and no step (body movement)
Once this concept is fully internalized it allows us to understand that synchronized movement between intention, breathing, walking, twisting and flexing the spine, as well as moving the arms, legs, and weapon simultaneously in unity leads to real power and martial arts effectiveness. Unifying your body to any weapon at hand then becomes an extension of the same movements that you have trained with the empty hand flow. Seamless transition between weapons and unarmed combat at this point is as effortless as breathing.
“Train from the beginning with a sincere heart directed by proper motivation. It is pointless to work at the martial arts with the mere intention of collecting as many techniques as possible. This form of consistent concentration of course lacks the counter balance of the power of observation. Training for experience without awareness will only produce a martial arts scholar – one who is no more than a walking technique catalog with no real heart.” – Soke Hatsumi
How many of us have seen or trained with those martial artists that exemplify Soke Hatsumi’s wisdom. They come to training, they catalog the technique, they know the material but cannot yet make it their own. I have trained with many “drill collectors” , most mean well, some believe that they are better because they have memorized all these drills, but yet when the pressure is on they fail to be able to utilize the “drill” in a sparring match or fight. So, why is this??
Well a Ninjutsu practitioner should be holding in his heart the determination that in all situations I MUST survive! You notice I didn’t say I need to or have to I said must survive. With this in your heart how can you not be training to internalize and interpret each drill with an application to help you on this overriding principle of “surviving”!
In your next lesson apply the sincere heart of survival and attack your training as if you are in a life or death situation. There is no retreat, you can only survive if your skills are up to the task, so practice with this life saving intensity!
The ancient Ninja were renowned for their physical prowess. Through the hours of physical practice they achieved a great level of physical and mental conditioning that rival the great athletes of today.
So to help accelerate you along in your physical conditioning, I will be from time to time adding up these Ninja Warrior Conditioning workouts to push your levels of physical and mental conditioning up a notch!
Ninja Warrior Endurance Work Out
5 mile Run
25 Push ups
25 Situps
100 Yard swim utilizing only (Australian crawl, overhead stroke, or butterfly stroke )
25 yard side stroke both left and right sides
Oh yeah this has to be completed in under 1 hour!
I did this workout yesterday, and came in at 48 minutes, so let me know how you do by posting your comments or by emailing me directly.
