Warrior Randomness
Warrior Randomness
Both in the modern and ancient days, having a predetermined schedule or route, can or would be an extremely vulnerable weakness in your defense. Appearing to be “random” in your coming and goings goes a long way in your personnel security. Even now in the daily conflicts that security and military operatives are engaged in, they work very diligently on creating “randomness” to their daily activities.
I was at a Taikai several years ago when someone in the Q and A session with Soke Hatsumi asked “what would you do if someone was waiting on the roof across the street with a rifle trained on your door waiting for you to come out” answer, “I would go out the back” . Perfect randomeness, not knowing if someone was waiting for him or not he varied his daily patterns to increase his personnel protection! Now being random is not as easy as it seems, we are all creatures of habit and pattern, this is what society and civilizations have created so that we can be more efficient and effective, but you can begin to change this! You can break your patterns, but it will be difficult and take work.
Here is your lesson and exercise to begin your training:
1) Look at you daily pattern and write out your daily activities, notice the patterns that you start to see. Maybe it’s get gas at the same station on the same day each week, or stopping for coffee at your favorite coffee shop etc. Knowing your own patterns is jest step one, but at least you know what they are and can break them when necessary.
2) Let’s take a common easy pattern you fall into: your commute from home to work/school and back. Map out your route and is this the same route you take each day, at the same time, in the same vehicle etc? I am pretty sure the answer is yes. So, now create three or more routes to and from those locations, and do you have the opportunity to switch vehicles? Take public transit? Ride a bike etc? all alternatives to break up your pattern.
Just the other day, I put myself through this exercise and came up with over 27 routes to and from my work location, and I didn’t even add multiple vehicle options and I think I even missed a whole number of other options. You may never know when you may need this type of option, but during a recent highway shutdown due to an accident, I was able to quickly reroute myself and make it home in record time! (Ninjutsu skills at work!)
More to come on a Warrior’s Randomness!
Bufu Ikkan
