Ninja Stuff

[Steely_Gunz]

And that's what I'm finding more and more. Masters, enlightened people, whatever you want to call them (connected directly to the source?) are saying the same thing when you really look at it. Native american stories of creation mesh with parts of the bible. The real teachings of Jesus coincide with those of Buddha, Fools Crow etc..

It's amazing and it has filled me with hope and peace for the first time in my life. :thumbup:

I agree with you, Rob. It's amazing what we can actually see, feel, and KNOW once we relax our certainties and let our backsides unpucker a bit. There are wise men from all over. All over the world and all through time. Progression does not mean enlightenment. I feel that we are far stupider than we were 1,000 or 2,000 years ago. I let go of all the Dogma, took what I needed, and left the rest behind a few years ago. It had made embracing the unknown much easier. Knowing that a God, a Creator, a Great Heart is out there. Not moving me like a pawn, but just watching with intent and wonder. God probably wrote the book of our lives, but I'd imagine even he likes a suprise now and again. He probably hasn't flipped to the back pages and cheated the ending. I kind if take comfort in the thought that my world is but a keyhole, and one day I'll get to see all that was really there before me.

Jake

 

[MauiRob]

I agree with you, Rob. It's amazing what we can actually see, feel, and KNOW once we relax our certainties and let our backsides unpucker a bit. There are wise men from all over. All over the world and all through time. Progression does not mean enlightenment. I feel that we are far stupider than we were 1,000 or 2,000 years ago. I let go of all the Dogma, took what I needed, and left the rest behind a few years ago. It had made embracing the unknown much easier. Knowing that a God, a Creator, a Great Heart is out there. Not moving me like a pawn, but just watching with intent and wonder. God probably wrote the book of our lives, but I'd imagine even he likes a suprise now and again. He probably hasn't flipped to the back pages and cheated the ending. I kind if take comfort in the thought that my world is but a keyhole, and one day I'll get to see all that was really there before me.

Wow.

and this thread plays out just like life Jake. Kindred spirits emerge when threads move to the essense of who we are.

 

[DannyinJapan]

Howard,
The Heart of Fudo is only one of many teachings of the Bujinkan.
We have some teachings that are ruthless.
(Necessary for survival in combat, but ruthless nonetheless.)
I dont know that there is any one "ideal" in ninjutsu except for survival.

Me, I am a huge Janice Joplin fan. I gotta hear that soul screaming out. So maybe the Immovable heart of Fudo is, as you say, not easily defined.
(Nor is it necessarily moral)

Munk did not believe me when I said a heavy knife can be used just as well as a lighter knife in combat. What do you think now, Munk?
Do you understand why I said that now?
Understanding that we move slowly no matter what kind of knife, but we move in a strange way, anticipating the future and only moving a tiny bit and only at the very last moment...

Only when we are certain that we ourselves are protected do we move in a "violent" manner. We do this because violence itself is a dangerous thing to he who uses it.

As Sensei said, "Win the fight first, THEN hit him."

 

[munk]

Danny, I think 'better' is where we had our miscommunication. A heavy knife is a heavy knife. A light knife is a light knife. The Moon is not as large as the Earth. We live within definitions and physical laws.



munk

 

[DannyinJapan]

We live within definitions and physical laws.

I think we do too, but the human mind is not capable of seeing the edges of observable reality at their fuzziest borders.
That fuzzy, borderline place is where ninjutsu works.
It is very powerful, that fuzzy borderline between reality and that other place.
Maybe thats where time is felt to slow down.

I dont claim to understand my own art, Id be crazy if I did. Thats one of the things that keeps me going. I follow a path that I know has no end.
Man, I am nuts....

 

[munk]

Danny, this is a great thread and you've a lot of the credit for making it so. A five pound sword is not the same as a 9 ounce stilletto, (sic) however, and they both are used within their forms.



munk

 

[DannyinJapan]

Forms?
Oooooh Munk, I cant wait to show you the form of formlessness.....
I think you'd really enjoy watching and listening to Sensei.....

 

[munk]

Which reminds me, I still have to watch the DVD you sent me- it got buried on my desk, the desk where a thousand things come to lie.

I'm the absent minded professor without the education.


munk

 

[Warlock6]

The Ninjas are myth.
I know how to run a Katana and Wakishi.

 

[Warlock6]

It is just as easy to feed the guy lead or steel as your wallet.

It is the annual Ninja training festival again. (Daikomyosai)
So, in the spirit of things, I thought I might start a new thread that Bill Marsh sort of started in the 9mm vs 40 cal thread to be found elsewhere.
He said that a friend of his, when confronted by an armed man who demanded his wallet.. "..used all his Ninja training and handed the guy his wallet."

I tried to indicate that I agreed with that idea, but Im not sure I was understood. Furthermore, I wanted to suggest that sensing the bad guy in the dark was another important aspect of ninjutsu. This is the real subject of this thread.
Sensing danger is not some comic book, mystical bull$hit. Any butt-licking animal knows when trouble is near. Only humans have sort of evolved their own natural "danger sense" out of themselves.
But ask any mother if she knows when her kids are in trouble without hearing or seeing it and she'll probably say "of course."

That's the same thing Im talking about. The thing is, this isnt just some little helpful thing that might save you someday by luck. This is a major part of our training. Seeing the future and sensing danger is part common sense, part experience and part pyschic ability. (A thing that CAN be developed through training) To pass the fifth degree belt test, Sensei will cut at you from behind with a sword. He will make no noise. If you move in time, you pass. This is a demonstration of the ability of the subconscious, non-cognitive part of our own bodies to sense and avoid danger. Dont ask me what it feels like, I dont know. I just moved for some reason and I passed. It wasnt a cognitive event.

Of course, if you have a cranio-rectal inversion when trouble happens, then you have already lost the battle and you should consider yourself lucky if you survive. This is something you must also train to prevent. Just as technical skill and marksmanship require training, so does an aware mind.

Please give this some consideration.

 

[Warlock6]

No amount of money is worth your pride.
If you roll over you will hate yourself for the rest of your life.
It is easier to get it over with.

That's right, no amount of money is worth your life.

Some people DO have a natural talent for this stuff, but everyone has it a little bit at least.
One ought to study animals to learn this. If you chase your cat with a mischievous intent in your heart, he runs fast doesnt he? They know.
But if you are full of love the cat comes to you, right? they know.

We as humans have lost our ability to know like this. It is something we must cultivate and pay attention to.

Cops and Moms are probably pretty talented at this, just out of necessity.

But like Bill mentioned, even a trained Budoka is helpless if he gets caught with a cranio-rectal inversion. You have to keep those antennae up and moving all the time. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. I like to relax completely around my friends and family and the people I love.
That's ok, but there is a certain level of awareness you cant ever turn off.

I remember talking to a friend in the dojo a few years ago and he asked me if I tusted him. I started to say "yes" but he slapped me pretty hard before I could speak. I didnt even feel the pain, the shock and pain converted instantly into realization, enlightenment.

I can trust and love, but that doesnt mean I turn off my sense of danger.
When all of this comes together for you, you may find yourself happier.
Hatsumi Sensei laughs and smiles wheile he is effortlessly destroying groups of young men. He is a happy camper, even now at 74.

 

[Warlock6]

I am hardly a criminal but am a predator.
I have three deer in my freezer that made a mistake.
Plus chattery squirrles and dumb rabbits and some smart fish.
You only get one in my world. And that is your last.

I think he probably could. Or at least noticed that you were alert enough to be troublesome. This type of sensitivity is not uncommon among predators.

The predator is a delicate creature.

I've had situations disolve when I gave them my complete and undivided attention. ("Situation" being the complete 4 pi environment here and now.)

 

[Warlock6]

There is a word for that, Tachaconia. You have all of the time in the world to draw and fire.

Another thing is the time dilation...I have experienced it several times, at least a couple of them intentionally. I don't *know* how I did it though...not enough to trust it anyway.

Danny...I am certain you *know* what I am talking about. It's one of the reasons Hatsumi Sensei laughs and smiles as he's taking his time dealing with the honestly much faster younger guys.

 

[MauiRob]

If you roll over you will hate yourself for the rest of your life

I see what you're saying. But it depends alot on the person's outlook. Buddhist monks that were tortured by the Chinese harbor no anger toward their captors---I like to think they could overlook a mugging.

 

[munk]

If you roll over you will hate yourself for the rest of your life >>>>>>


Everyone decides what is important.



munk

 

[Warlock6]

It may be a gift but I cannot summon it.

I know what Danny is talking about. It's a gift. Sometimes I have it. But it's chaotic in my life, untrained that I am, and the times when the instinct is gone and dumbness takes over has resulted in stupid messes.

That's a reccomendation for understanding and training.




munk

 

[munk]

You got that right.


munk

 

[Warlock6]

Servicing targets is not a term that I have heard in awhile.
Let us drop the matter.

I don't know if Grace is the word I'm thinking of. I call it being in the groove.

Pulling up the rifle as the target moves from cover.

Servicing targets like a metronome off the firing line.

The "just in time" sway back as the fist crawls past your face.

The animal, voiceless, part of your brain warning that "something wicked this way comes".

Many of you know that much better than I, but I'm telling you, living in the now, being in the groove, proof of Intelligent design. I believe in Spirits too, I don't know about totem critters, or gremlins, but didn't someone have gnome-like little helpers?

Sorry for hijacking your thread DIJ.

 

[Warlock6]

In my experiance I do have total concentation of the task at hand.
Tunnel vision, if you wil.
The only thing that matters is placing ordance on target.
This only lasts.20 of a sec., so I am not neglecting my duties.
That is what it takes with my PAST timer.
I may be faster. The point remains. I can take care of this threat and still run a rifle platoon.
I liked to run point in bad situations simply because I was best quaified.
I know that I should be in the middle. To direct my manuevering elements. So sue me.
I will have nothing to direct if the point walks into an ambush.

Time dilation is part of the body's response to adrenaline. It is a great gift, and our bodies know how to use it. You also are stronger and faster (part of the time dilation).

The literature says you are also clumsier, and tend towards tunnel vision. I find that this is not true for me. My perception of flow is enhanced, and my perceptions extend in a sphere around my body. Hearing, smell, touch, are all more acute. I have not tried very fine motor skills in such a state so the books may be right on that.

You can hurt yourself in this state by tearing muscles, breaking ligaments or bones, etc. It also uses a lot of energy. You don't want to go around hyped on adrenaline all the time but when you need it it's good that it's available. For me, it's not something I turn on consciously. It's a gift. I've known some martial artists who try to induce this state on demand, but that isn't my path.

You know you've been there if you're coming down and the blood is pounding in your ears.

 

[Warlock6]

We have our own Yvsa. He is old enough to know something. White people know as much. Perhaps we have a different perspective. And perhaps it is about different things. No race has a monoply on all knowledge. I tend to ask my red brothers what they may know. None have refused me. Black Elk is not unusal. Most do not ask.
I have known some Injuns that were dumb as a post. Still do.

Here's a brief quote off one website:



""The ones who complain and talk the most about giving away Medicine Secrets, are always those who know the least." He had little time for anyone who attempted to keep blessings for themselves."

Fools Crow agreed with Black Elk when he said, "I cured with the power that came through me. Of course, it was not I who cured, it was the power from the Outer World, the visions and the ceremonies had only made me like a hole through which the power could come to the two-leggeds. If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish."

He believed that the Higher Powers taught that this healing power comes in and through a person first to make us what we should be, and then flows through us and out to others.""