Essays From The Master

Being in action

Oft times in media of all kinds we are shown the ninja one of two ways with degrees of seriousness in flux in both ways. The first and usual way is that of a killing machine while the second is that of a mystic with more in common with Star Wars than with the Silent Way. In the Komuso Ryu the mythos of magick and the occult plays a part yes on three levels the first is that of the spiritual which allows the adept to push his body outside of the limits of the norm, prepares the individual to endure the rigors of the stress of warfare and the insight to avoid combat when possible. The second level is that of the fact that much of the “occult” training of a Komuso ninja conceals martial insights, memory control and anti-interrogation methods. The final level is that of propaganda in which the ryu’s apparent focus on the spiritual causes many to doubt the martial skills of the Ryu.

The term ninja means “one who endures in or through stealth” or in the more usual translation “stealer in” which is to say an agent who uses ninjitsu. Being a ninja is as much about just living life as much as it is about being a shadow assassin in the night to use the usual image. With the training comes the insight which in turn changes one’s perception which its self sets the individual apart from the herd of humanity. As one is set apart one has room to act and a vantage point from which to see angles that the masses can not. This space to act and vantage point that the ninja has access to does not make the ninja better than anyone, it is a path and as such it is what one does with that path that makes the path actually mean anything.

I often tell my students that Ninjitsu is more a set of principles that it is a given set of techniques because the principles are timeless but the techniques must adapt to remain of value in the present age. Having the training, being able to perform the feats of a ninja and understanding the philosophy in those feats is one part of being a ninja. What one does with that knowledge and the power that comes from the application of that knowledge is the other part of being a ninja. Being a ninja comes from practice of the Silent Way and of that way there are many roads the results of one’s action tell whether or not one is going through the motions or is in fact all that one’s skill set would imply. The results of one’s actions are never wholly within one’s control as all one can control is one’s actions not how they are perceived or received for that matter.

One’s intentions only have value in the conceptual phase of any action it is the measure of the ratio of difference between one’s goal and the actual result that gives the true value of any act. If one’s goal is met said action had value along with that is the fact that every act has results that are never known, a “good” result in the short term can bring about “evil” in the long. Being or having a certain status or title is meaningless, action and the results of said action say much more than any title. What is the proof of being a ninja? What the ninja does and how said ninja deals with the end results of his actions is the proof, the proof of whether or not being a ninja is a title or a reality, a being in action.