Why 18 Arts: Shadowed cuts by night and day
It is held by many martial schools or ryu that the ninja and samurai each have 18 arts and the true way should teach both for a total of 36. This is true for those schools for which the methods of stealth or Ninjitsu are not the main focus and only one of many tactics open to the warrior. For the Komuso Ryu of Nin Do there are only 18 arts, nine martial and nine esoteric, each having a number of sub disciplines. All of the arts can be synced, for the Komuso Ryu, to the nine principles reflected in the nine elements of nature evoking the link between the ryu and Shugendo. It needs stating that the nine ways covered in this ryu does touch on all that the samurai do, such as the way of the tiger including both armed and unarmed combat as well as combat of the mind, but does so as a ninja would and not as a samurai. It is how the school comes to the full knowledge of the warrior that reflects that this school is of Nin Do and not Bushido. This is why the master of this way is known as a Shidoshi or “Teacher of the Warrior Ways of Enlightenment” and those being overcoming death via understanding, benevolence, courage and wisdom. This body of knowledge is also reflected in the incantation that is used in the meditation known as the Kuji No In or Nine Levels of Power in the Komuso Ryu of Nin Do. This incantation fully spelt out in English translates as: “May all those who preside over warriors be my vanguard. Come warriors, fight as one, ready in formation, line up and take position in front. Destroy! Victory!”
We can link this division of the arts in the ryu to the idea of the path being divided between Yonin and Innin or day Ninjitsu and night Ninjitsu evoking how the shadow endures by day and night by different methods. We can further link this division in the ryu to the Ying and the Yang of each of the nine mudra linked to the nine ways and thus to the elements of nature which points to the link between the ryu and the awareness of the Tao. That same awareness of the Tao points to the conscious awareness of the Kokoro or Heart of All Things which includes the Tao, its shadow and every variation of each of them as energy. This understanding from the Tao to the Kokoro is reflected in the Komuso understanding and application of both the I Ching and Wu Shing or the eight elemental trigrams and 64 hexagrams from Ying and Yang as well as the interaction of the five modes of the essences of nature. The point to all of this is that by understanding the ideals symbolized by the nine elements of nature one can find methods whether martial or esoteric to express one’s need or aim and thus do one’s will. This goes to the Black Lotus Mandala as being a magickal device and a diagram of both the humanoid form and the field of battle which extends to the link between the 360 pressure points of the body and the 360 joints of the body. We can divide the 360 points, joints et al, into 18 20 times which points to the fourfold interaction of the five base visible elements, one interaction per inner sea of the humanoid form per the understanding of the east.
This is why some refer to the Silent Way as nine halls of life and death refracting into the 18 arts via the elemental interactions 20 times into the 360 points and joints of the body which aligns with the Black Lotus Mandala. This understanding is why the Silent Way or Nin Do focuses on 18 arts rather than the 36 arts of Nin Po; this is because the 18 arts lead to a wider range of knowledge, power and application for the adept. By keeping to one focus, Nin Do, versus two, Ninjutsu and Budo, the adept is able to be more adaptable to circumstance and thus one is able to do more without using so many resources in the process. With one focus one need only be true to one’s chosen path as a means and method to be true to one’s self and thus express one’s will as a reflection of the Kokoro.
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