Ninjutsu Training Online

As a Ninjutsu practitioner my training is of course physically and mentally demanding, and so healing and staying well fueled for my nest session can always be a challenge! Over the years I developed the following 7 Tips that I use and teach to my students on a regular basis. I hope you adapt them and or suggest additional tips for our readers to learn from.

Tip #1.

Make nutrition an integral part of your training program. Nutrition should never be an after thought in your training program it should be thought out in advance to meet your nutritional needs. Without proper nutrition, how can you begin to achieve the optimum performance level you are seeking?

Tip #2.

Start a nutrition log book. Track your consumption of various foods, amounts types etc, and how this relates to your workout energy and recuperation time. Review the various books and source material on the amount of calories and types of nutritional guidelines your sport will require, and set that down in your training plan. If you have to consult with a sports dietitian, and stay away from trendy diet fads and supplement advertisements!

Tip #3.

Now everyone has a busy schedule to maintain, but if you are serious about improving your sports performance you need to schedule time to shop for good nutritional foods. Search your local area for the best produce, meat and dairy sources. Even search for low cost wholesalers, this will definitely help your budgetary process. Good quality food can get expensive if you are not careful, so spend the time to bulk shop, freeze down individual portions and plan your weekly meals!

Tip #4.

A key nutrient in your program has to be fluids!! Concentrate on taking in adequate amounts of water, and other fluids to prevent dehydration. Monitor your urine output to ensure you are drinking enough fluids on a daily basis. You should be urinating frequently (every 2 to 4 hours); it should be light colored, not dark and odiferous. That is clearly a sign of dehydration!!

Tip #5.

Be flexible, and resilient to food changes. Every season has a host of great food choices, so avail yourself to locally grown fresh produce in the summer months! Over the remaining parts of the year switch of to other items grown in various parts of the world! Pay attention to those cravings you are having they may indicate a nutritional or caloric need in your diet!

Tip #6.

Supplements are just that SUPPLEMENTS! Your first requirement is adequate nutrition through good quality sources. If you require more than that, seek out high quality supplementation. Don’t fall into the trap that a supplement will give this huge leap in your nutrition, it won’t! It is up to you to maintain the dedication to ensure this critical aspect of your training is maintained!

Tip #7.

As a final tip, make sure you are getting adequate time off from your program to recuperate! Take a nap, sleep in late, eat plenty, drink enough, all of this will help you make great leaps in your training goals. The hardest part is the first step………Taking Action!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

“There are going to be certain things happening in the world, in society, in economics and in countries in the future that we will have to be able to fit in with. So this idea of zero is a potential. It’s where you’re not expecting anything, but ready for anything.” Soke Hatsumi

I found this quote from Soke Hatsumi the other day in my notes from an early TaiKai question and answer session, and it rings so true these past few weeks. I have had the opportunity to treat superficial cuts, scratches, nosebleeds , all the way up to splinting a broken arm, turn around and have family emergencies, work emergencies and just everyday life thrown in the mix. But each day, I got up facing the day as a new challenge to test and exercise my Ninjutsu skills, everything from Taijutsu, first aid, kajutsu, all the way to fudoshin. As I look back over the last few weeks I realize how powerful the warrior traditions we hold dear and practice truly are, and it invigorates me to dive in and practice and glean more knowledge from this powerful art of Ninjutsu!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

Ps: Pass this post along on your FB pages!

Many if not all ninjutsu practitioners practice with weapons. It is in our fundamental skills to learn the arts of Bojutsu, sojutsu, kenjutsu, kakushi bukijutsu and more, but one thing I have noticed is many many students, flail away in the air and think they have practiced, sometimes to perfection. My answer to this, is to sit back and laugh a bit, and ask this question, “have you ever hit or cut anything with that weapon?” Most give me a weird look, but those who know and understand ninjutsu , take away a great lesson here. Flailing away in the air, practicing a kata, or shadow sparring are all good tools for developing some types of skill, but for actual combat you need to practice realistically and feel what it is like to use a tool in hard striking and cutting. This must be done repetitively, and you will understand that when a resilient target is placed before you, Mr. Murphy rears his ugly head and your perfect air strike is deflected and has no power, or your cut folds the target in two, I have even had what I thought were decent quality weapons break apart under these types of training conditions.

Let’s take an EDC tool such as your pocket/folder blade. Do you actively practice with it? Since most will answer no, then why they Hell not! You carry it everyday, you use it to open a box or a bag, or maybe cut a piece of rope, but when was the last time, you practiced deploying it using your dominant hand, your non dominant hand, sitting, kneeling, when mounted, upside down etc, etc. Now let’s add target cutting: cardboard cutouts with vital points outlined, straw mats, milk jugs, old clothing and  jackets wrapped or filled with lifelike material, animal carcasses, left handed, right handed, from various positions, for time, in the dark, wet hands….

I think I may be making my point here – Make your weapons training as realistic and with what you may find around you or you carry as many times as possible! Don’t forget safety, have your first aid kit ready, cell phone on 911 speed dial etc. Always be prepared for something to go wrong.

Alright, Ninja fans get to work and take your weapons skills into the modern day.

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

                     “The head is just another part of the body, and we must learn to overcome the tendency to make distinction between the brain and the other internal organs of the body. The body knows how to move if we let it, and it does not require active mental control to respond properly in a threatening situation. The student of ninjutsu works to eliminate the unwieldy process of first mechanically thinking through a response before actually carrying it out. This naturalness of movement results from learning how all the functions work in coordination and balance with each other.” – Soke Hatsumi

Recently a student I were training in close quarter stick fighting, and they kept hesitating, and so I asked them what was the matter, and there answer was “ I keep thinking about what I should do next after I counter.” I started to laugh as we have all been there at one point or another, analysis paralysis. Thinking too much on what is to happen or what you need to do next can get you killed very quickly. So, my advice to him was, relax – don’t think, just do. React and deal with the next situation as you just dealt with the first one, flowing without hesitation. I use this analogy when I am trail running, dodging branches, flowing up and down the steep deer trail, or logging path I am on. If I was to “think” my pace would be very very slow, but when I am in the flow, it just happens on autopilot.

So today’s lesson is—-In your next workout(whatever it is) move without analysis, flow with whatever is happening, expand your senses and awareness to their fullest potential. Now watch out as you may actually start to like this!!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

Fantastic words of wisdom from Soke Hatsumi! How many of us come into training with our own preconceived expectations of what we should be doing or what we should be taking away from class? Well, I know that I have, but I have embraced “Learning from zero”, or starting with no preconceived expectation, and every time I apply this my knowledge and understanding of the arts takes a leap forward.

Wisdom to ponder and apply in your life, so I hope you take this great lesson and apply it.

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

Hello Ninjutsu Fans!!

My deepest apologies for being off grid for the past few weeks, it has been incredibly busy. Many of you do not know any of my background other than what I post throughout the web, but I am not only a martial artist but an executive in a major business dealing in the defense industry, so it was 2 ½ weeks of traveling and a few time zone jumps but I am back in the thick of things once again. During my travels I kept a positive training regime going but focused more on a cardiovascular and mobility increase as I had taken a shoulder injury in training and was somewhat limited for a few weeks for healing as well (Old and decrepit…NOT!).

So what does this title of this post mean?

Well, this is how many days are left in this year for you to accomplish new goals and training activities. It seems like time goes faster and faster, but we all know differently. What objectives have you set for this year to allow you to gain new knowledge and improve your martial and life skills? I hope you set this earlier this year and are making small incremental achievements each day and training session. This year I have planned many new lofty, stretch me to the breaking point goals that I am tracking on a daily basis, throughout many areas of my training and life, and the other day when I sat down to start writing this post, I realized time was flying and I needed to renew my efforts! But, you might say “What does this have to do with ninjutsu?” and my answer is: This is the Ninja Lifestyle! Constantly improving and removing the excess so that you are sharp and ready for whatever life throws at you and your loved ones, and trust me life can throw a lot at you, at any time. So my words of wisdom to you are meant to encourage you to dig down deep and make a renewed effort toward improving your ninjutsu skills, step up and do it now!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

Ps: Thank you to everyone for the recent onslaught of emails and texts for ideas, questions and concerns !

Hey there Ninjutsu Fans!

What a great long weekend, training, working around the homestead and having some fun as well! Monday morning, I woke early had a cup of coffee and planned my day, then I got the trail shoes on, picked up my wakazashi(wooden version) and set off for a trail run. Awesome, morning running the game trails, parrying and practicing various cuts, counters and movements all while maintaining my pace on not so easy terrain. I look back and remembered when in “The Empire Strike Back” Luke is running through the Dagobah swamp leaping and training all in the deepest surroundings of nature.  During the day, I took to digging and moving large rocks, often practicing various lifts with them to add some weight bearing exercises to the day. All this is just a normal day around here, working the garden, rebuilding a dam, cutting wood, all in nature and at each task I try and come up with ways to enhance my martial skills.

Training in a natural setting has many benefits, most of which I have written about here several times, but the run and sword work the other day was just a reminder to  be creative and use what is around you for training partners! No matter where you are located you can find some place to practice outside, often it can be a running trail, school playground, track, football or baseball field, parkour running in the streets, whatever it is get outside and Just Do It!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle

Hello Everyone,

As this day begins to wind down for many of us, I would like you to think about all of the warriors that have gone before us, to serve our country, to serve our country in foreign lands and those warriors who continue to do so. For those of you who serve, Thank you for your service.

More to come tomorrow!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu- Back to Living the Ninja Lifestyle!

Hello Ninjutsu Fans!

Sorry to have been away, I am on my last leg of three weeks worth of traveling and training that came on me somewhat by surprise, but I have embraced it and this weekend is the last hump before I get back on Sunday. Stay tuned for new material coming out next week.

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – The traveling Ninja!

                  I have always been fascinated by the art of Hojojutsu. Not a lot of instructional material has ever been produced, but a few years ago I came across a Kenpo manual from 1898 and lo and behold we have more reference material on the Japanese art of tying a prisoner (or your friend if you are into that!!). If you have never practiced any nawajutsu (rope art) I would suggest you learn a few basic knots first including:

2 half hitches

Clove Hitch

Bowline

Square knot

Timber hitch

As you start to get familiar, move on to more complicated knots and lashings, and even explore the fascinating art of Hojojutsu!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – Living the Ninja Lifestyle!