Tag Archives: bushido
Ninpo: Wisdom for Life
In the 1980s, I met Hatsumi-sensei for the first time and found out that he had several books written in Japanese. Being an avid reader, I asked one of the Japanese-shihan about them. In a short while I was working on a translation of the first chapter of one book. Eventually I began a project [...]
The Read Ahead
When I first joined the Bujinkan, there were precious few books on authentic ninjutsu. Those of us training at the time would read, discuss and reread them. There were notes to be taken and sections to memorize. Today, there are many good books to be found. Most of them are by Hatsumi-sensei with a few [...]
Warrior heart
There is a wonderful saying that comes to us from the Gyokko Ryu Kosshijutsu tradition we study. Bushigokoro wo motte totoshi no nasu. In English we translate this as, “The warriors heart is precious and essential.”
The Seven Samurai
A small village is attacked each year by bandits that steal their harvest. The villagers decide to hire protection in the form of a few soldiers, offering them only food, lodging and the challenge of battle as recompense. After hiring one warrior, who proceeds to gather the rest, they all return to the village to [...]