Ninja news and questions from japan

well, not meditation. nothingness is the best way to describe it. you cant think. you cant try to feel it. you have to rid yourself of the desire to pass.
you have to completely let go.

when i took it, i suddenly jerked my body around and looked at him. i dont know why, i dont remember feeling anything.

the body senses and the body reacts, it is not a conscious event.
 
when i took it, i suddenly jerked my body around and looked at him. i dont know why, i dont remember feeling anything.
Click to expand...

No wonder you didn't feel anything Danny...you weren't supposed to turn and look at him, you were supposed to duck! ;) :) :D
 
nah man, the sword comes straight down.
you have to move in any direction but down.
most people roll to one side or the other, but it doesnt matter, as long as you get clear.
besides, i had no conscious control of the event.
it was a psychic/physical event, not an intellectual/conscious event.
 
My wife and I passed it last month. I was nervous as hell until I knelt down. I didn't have any thought about it. I remember just moving and hearing the shinai go by. I realized I hadn't heard anything after kneeling until that point. Then I heard the clapping and I thought, "oh yeah, breathe." :)

It was hard to describe 5 seconds after, it's still hard to describe a month later.

Josh
 
No, we were there in mid-March. Came before the Taikai onslaught. The Honbu was a ghosttown with only about 70 people. :) Our last day of training was the Sunday at Honbu when they came in to start filming and they had the bo shuriken demo. Nagato tried a little bit of "wind" counter to something Soke did to him. LOL

Thanks, John.
 
i was there that day!
too bad you and i didnt know each other then, some of those rubber shuriken nagato sensei was throwing were mine!
next time you come, you definitely have to say hello.
 
Will do. We are hoping to get over there for Daikomyosai or right before it. Of course this depends on whether or not I am playing in a rather large desert at that time.

Josh
 
DannyinJapan said:
well, not meditation. nothingness is the best way to describe it. you cant think. you cant try to feel it. you have to rid yourself of the desire to pass.
you have to completely let go.

when i took it, i suddenly jerked my body around and looked at him. i dont know why, i dont remember feeling anything.

the body senses and the body reacts, it is not a conscious event.
Click to expand...
Mu somewhere between perfect peace and primal instinct

you did good to pass , this is major buji talent, a mile stone in the way congrats to you and you wife

 
hmm... that's some interesting stuff. Mu... that's the same word and kanji "nothing" right? I'm 105% white and american but the name I took (Otaru) is japanese (it means small barrel actually, happens to be the name of a city in Hokkaido) so I know a bit. Anyway if there is a word and kanji that to me is the best fit for ninja/shinobi it would be that one (again, Mu). well... for me a close second is "kaze" (wind). As a side note, japanese is so complex and inefficient but the beauty and executin of the japanese kanji and writing system in general is to me such a great thing.

Anyway, if you refer to it as thus there have been some moments in my life, in my training, where I felt like if I could just let go I would be able to reach something... I have too much desire, sin and attachment to do so though. Ah not to mention fear. I was afraid that if I really let go I'd die. I think it's a saying or there's one something like it but if not I just made it up, fear will usually keep you alive but it won't often carry you to your goal. ha ha ha I should remember that.

Well if I ever get the chance again I'll just let go and see if I don't experience something similar.

... So, assuming that's at least one of the highest states one could reach in that school, do you think it's actually possible to maintain that state all the time? I think it might be for protracted amounts of time but I don't think it would be possible to maintain that state through "normal moments" like reading or talking to someone. I could be wrong and I don't really know though (I need a lot more training after all).

That line of thought makes me wonder. You say that the sensei cuts without making a sound? To me that means that he must be in the "mu" state while cutting (I suppose I should say striking). hoo that's an interesting thought... Do other people witness this? If so what does it look like?

If it's just a normal strike then it's like a type of assassination technique I heard about which is only useful when the target can't perceive you. If the people watching don't notice then it's a high level combat technique.

Well enough of my musings and ramblings there... I'm the sort of person who likes to know how things work and has a hard time with intangible things... somewhat of a roadblock to that sort of training I suppose. Better go to sleep today, and train tomorrow (I overworked my muscles and was taking it easy the past couple of days).

mata ne
"I suppose I'll have to wait another 30-60 years to say "I'm old enough that when I say something it IS an old saying""
Otaru
 
I've had brief moments- I think they're called sartori- when training. In these moments, it was like my sense of self went away, that I was just moving correctly, totally tied into everything else in existence...and then my sense of self came back, was aware of how different this instant was, and then "me" came crashing back in.

I have noticed how long and careful training will eventually carry a certain way of moving into everyday life. It only makes sense that a mindset that can be experienced while training can eventually be taken along off the dojo floor or battlefield.

John
 
The easy part first. Yes people do observe the Godan test. To be honest, it looks like Sensei closes his eyes and cuts, the student either moves out of the way or doesn't.
:(

Of course there is more than just what you see. Sensei says that he is projecting Sakki, killing intent. He is cutting as if to kill you. It is being able to feel/recognize this intent that makes you move. Some people say Sensei moves you, it sure felt that way. There was no mental thought of move now! You just move. I don't think you would ever NOT recognize that feeling again. So yes, it would carry over. It's not necessarily being in Mu or anything special IMHO. It is a matter of being receptive to more than just the physical aspects of the world around us.

I read a statement by Sensei, "the godan test is not about avoiding the cut, it's a test about staying in kamae". It was something like that(don't quote me on my quote :) ). I found it interesting because a kamae is not just a stance, it is also a state of mind. So maybe this kamae is dropping intention for the purpose of feeling intention. Kind of like a pitch black cave. The most miniscule light will seem like a blaze. I don't know, just ramblings of my mind trying to figure this stuff out. What do I know? Maybe Danny can ask one of the Shihan if I am even in the same ballpark. LOL

Josh
 
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