Ninjutsu Training Online

Hello Ninjutsu Fans!

I have just begun to revamp the Ninjutsu Reource guide to include reviews of books, videos and training gear all tested and reviewed by none other than ME! Keep heading over as you may find something you should have in your gear and or library!

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

A certain swordsman in his declining years said the following: In one’s life, there are levels in the pursuit of study. In the lowest level, a person studies but nothing comes of it, and he feels that both he and others are unskillful. At this point he is worthless. In the middle level he is still useless but is aware of his own insufficiencies and can also see the insufficiencies of others. In a higher level he has pride concerning his own ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows. This man has worth. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing .

These are the levels in general;. But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way arid never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, “I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself. ”

Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today. This is never-ending.

Taken from “The Hagakure”

What an absolutely fantastic piece written hundreds of years ago!

If you have ever met or trained with me you know right away that I am a firm believer in the principle of C.A.N.I.

C
= Constant 

A
= And 

N
= Never Ending 

I
= Improvement

Each day I ask my son, “What new thing did you learn today?” He often has to think about what “new” thing he might of picked up in school, or even as he trains with me, or reads in a new book etc. But he almost always has something, no matter how small, to tell me he has learned. In ninjutsu , Soke Hatsumi has been heard to say “train with a child-like innocence.”  This passion that everything can and will teach you something with the eyes of child, so each day ask yourself the same question that I ask my son (as well as myself)

What new thing have you learned today?

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

A Ninja was trained from their earliest years to be able to observe the smallest of details, whether on an intelligence gathering mission or in day to day living. Observation was a key skill that allowed a ninja to often be in a position to make decisions that would often seem miraculous to the non-trained observer. By being “aware” and observing their surroundings, they were able to avoid danger before it became an issue to their lives or that of their family.

Now, there are many methods and drills to help a practitioner gain new observational development and read on to learn 5 quick drills to force yourself to observe your surroundings.

1)  Each day take notice of something new you have not noticed before on your walk or drive to work.

2) Walk by a friend or co worker then go back to your desk and describe what they were wearing.

3)As you pull into your driveway or street, look at the cars parked nearby. Do any of them stand out as to not belonging to the area?

4) Try and see friends or family before the see you. Whether in a car, the mall, or on the street be proactive in looking around at people and see whom you recognize.

5)  Take this one step further, notice the people around you, how many of them are carrying a clip knife? Gun? Etc?

Now this is just five basic exercises to help you improve your awareness, and observational skills, and in case you are wondering I have many, many more to teach and share

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

I hope you have been paying attention and practicing the various lessons that have been outlined here in this blog. If you are new here and want to catch up here are the various free ninja skill lessons presented so far.

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/choho-intelligence-gathering-quiz/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/everyday-carry-tools-for-the-modern-ninja/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/the-ninja-diet/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/5-tips-for-anonymous-living/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/leaping-skills/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/chimon-basic-drill-1/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/anonymous-living-tips-2/

http://ninjutsutrainingonline.com/acheiving-fudoshin/

Enjoy and Learn! If you have specific ideas that you want to see covered here leave a
comment or contact me at anytime.

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

 “If one makes a distinction between public places and one’s sleeping quarters, or
between being on the battlefield and on the tatami, when the moment comes there
will not be time for making amends. There is only the matter of constant awareness.
If it were not for men who demonstrate valor on the tatami, one could not find
them on the battlefield either.”

Taken
from the Hagakure

Recently, I was re-reading the Hagakure and came across the above quote. It only took me a moment to begin to think how true this is with so many martial artists every day. Far too many practitioners go to a school, train and then leave not taking with them the lesson learned, sometimes with the loss of life in war, or some type of combat.

With that said, let’s examine “Awareness” or in Japanese, “Haragei”

During your Ninjutsu class there could be weapons swinging, people punching, kicking, or grappling, and you move through and around them as if there was nothing going on. Your innate level of awareness is up because the danger around you (mostly from accidents) is real.

Yet, it exists and you are still able to engage in training with your partner or solo, without hesitation or fear. You have actually
reached a point where “one” is not fixated by the chaos erupting around oneself and your senses are not allowed to fixate on an object, hence they are free to take in everything… it is a state of extremely heightened awareness that can be almost described as a sixth sense. The ancient ninja warriors and warriors around the globe were masters of this “sense”.

So you leave the dojo and when you walk out the school door, does your awareness (haragei) suddenly drop? So you say it doesn’t? How about as you go shopping the next day, and you come out to your car with arms loaded with bags, did your awareness drop?? Did you happen to notice the stranger following you to your car?

Do you see what I am driving you to understand, each day there are a myriad of opportunities that you consciously put down and logically explain away as you feel no “danger” or maybe you don’t want to feel that danger, which do you think it might be?

Whether it is in combat, surprise attack or just avoiding that mishap in the training hall, work every day to heighten your haragei/awareness by treating those “danger” signals as real each time they occur!

More to come on this subject!

Bufu
Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

Ps: Several of the Lessons contain training drills to develop Awareness!!

In order to achieve Fudoshin, or the “immovable mind”, a Ninja must dedicate themselves to training. Not sometimes, barely breaking a sweat, but consistent and arduous training. The type of training that causes you to say to yourself “can I finish this”, but yet you do, and the next day you begin again. Stressing the fundamentals, so that your techniques become natural and without need for conscious thought under pressure, all the while you are calm and imperturbable, this is Fudoshin.

Each day we face a multitude of challenges, some extremely challenging, this is where the development of Fudoshin is of the essence. On a mission or in combat a ninja must remain in that calm,
imperturbable state in order to make the correct decision or to observe and analyze a situation without emotional distractions. This is not an easy path or state to achieve and there are no shortcuts. Now how can you begin with a basic
technique to focus on Fudoshin?

Well let’s start with something very basic, Zazen (seated meditation).

!!Give yourself 20 minutes of uninterrupted time for
this exercise!!

Sit in Seiza
in a quiet area

Begin by
rhythmically breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth

Focus your
eyes at a 45 degree angle downward and away from yourself

Quiet your mind, as
thoughts come in, recognize them but do not focus on them, Continue your
rhythmic breathing

Repeat this process
until your 20 minutes are up, no matter what. Your legs may fall asleep, your
back may hurt, cramping may occur it doesn’t matter, stick with the exercise
until it is complete.

You are now starting a process that may take years to develop but, with this one step you are taking leaps above and beyond most
people training around you. So hold fast and start repeating this drill 3 times per week.

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

Kakushi Bukijutsu–
Hidden Weapon Skills/Concealed Weapon Skills

One thing that drew me to ninjutsu was the variety of hand held and often deceptive looking items that were actually deadly weapons. From the ancient traditions to modern translation the next few blog posts will be covering a few of the many, many Kakushi Buki weapons that are at the soul of a ninjutsu warrior’s tradecraft.

Weapons such as:

Shuko/Ashiko

Tetsubishi/Makibushi

Kakute

Tegiribo

Kakushibo

Konpi/Konpei

Shuriken

Fukiya

Nekode

Contained within the On Lessons is series of courses on how to construct, and utilize the traditional weapons of
self protection. Stay tuned to the updates being placed within the resource section of this website. I will be adding new items and reviews on Ninjutsu related training gear.

Bufu Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

Creating an alternative identity:

In times of trouble a Ninja may have to assume an alternative identity in order to survive.
One of my favorite stories that high lights this skill is that of Momochi
Sandayu, who in order to confuse his enemies, maintained three separate households with a separate wife and family living at each location. Now I am not suggesting that you should create three families, or have three households first the cost would be enormous and never mind the trouble of dealing with three wives! But what I am questioning you on,  is do you have an alternative identity that you can assume in times of trouble or if you need to flee and go underground
for some time?

If not here is a list of questions to start you on this
essential skill.

• What name would you choose?
• What type of person would you choose to be?
• What documentation would you need to have in
  place?
• What type of clothing would you utilize?
• What vehicle would you have?
• Would you leave an area to move somewhere
  completely new?
• How would you learn about the new location?
• What type of skills for a new job would you find
  necessary to have?
• How would you communicate with friends or
  family?
• How would you bank?

As a ninjutsu practitioner the principle of “kyojitsu tenkan no ho”, is very important to deeply understand in life and martial arts practice. The creation of an alternative identity is but one aspect of this strategy, and not one that should be utilized for criminal purposes at anytime, but for the protection of your family and loved ones. In a future post I will help share a few tips to creating an online identity that you can utilize for increased internet privacy.

Bufu
Ikkan

Sensei Lefebvre

Ps: A more detailed look at this subject is covered in the
upcoming release of Lesson 5.