Essays From The Master

In one to one combat the ninja often had to pretend defeat, endure shame or otherwise appear weak or lesser in order to prevail in the long term, giving ground in the short term. As many know the author has a slight handicap which makes it needful to adapt his training for it to be effective. One would think that a lifetime with a handicap would do much to do away with the hold of the ego and petty shames, sadly this is not so. To maintain the flexibility needed to be a martial artist the author has of late had to make a practice of crawling on the floor as a child would. As simple as it may seem to perform this exercise is not easy because life currently compels one to sit and even writing takes less effort than it used to. This is one of the traps comfort can bring and the poison of an entitled mentality rather than one based on effort and merit. Crawling again is a return to first independent motion and to a feeling of helplessness, of having to turn to and rely on others for things that every individual knows that they should be able to do for themselves on an instinctual level. This is a blow to the ego and sense of pride, to feel such about such a simple thing indicates a need for it beyond the benefits to the body. The aforementioned is a rather dramatic example of seaming to retreat i.e. doing something one links with being a helpless victim or child, in order to be a better warrior.

To be most effective the ninja cannot afford unmerited pride such as thinking some act is beneath him or that he is above anyone else. It is the results a ninja gets that he can be proud of, it is what he achieves that matters not how he looks or how the ninja is thought of; it is better that the ninja not be thought of at all because to be thought of is to be one that others are aware of. Right results by any means obtain merit and merit brings rewards than can themselves be a trap if the ninja allows it. Obtaining the goal is the aim of the ninja and the ninja should use any tool, harness any force needed to obtain that goal. In the past this ruthlessness was applied to missions and today is applied still to martial action but more usually today is applied to acting in such a way as to bring about harmony and promoting self empowerment by setting an example. With so much expectation on all being “special” and awards being something that are given to all no matter the level of performance a man that chooses to strive chooses the hardest of fights i.e. being independent when one does not have to be. The trap of comfort is used by “the princes” when the princes feel they have won, the bars are removed when the reality of the cage is within the individual’s consciousness. It is when the “princes” feel they have won that the one that has chosen to strive and is free of the inner cage is able to act having personal power when others do not.

“A life with no resistance builds no muscle” and so the ninja does not forego all pleasures but the ninja will live life in such a way that will add to his vitality and perfect his skills such as taking the stairs when others would not or putting things in places so that one has to walk to get them or at least reach to get what is needed. Expedience is a virtue while connivance is like junk food and can be a drug if not used with care making it a form of vice. Vice is often a tool of the ninja as a part of the art of manipulation the ninja uses vice but is not a victim of vice. By controlling his actions and pleasures alike the ninja makes his life a form of discipline. Harnessing his whole life is what made the ninja a being of limitless power as an archetype.