Acheiving Fudoshin
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