Essays From The Master

In Revelations of the Black Lotus and the web site of the Komuso Ryu Dojo some of the history of the Komuso Ryu has been given, more detail in the book and the legend on the web site. There are some that have disputed the history of my ryu under the misunderstanding that their view of the history of my school matters to me or my school. A history only matters to those that are a part of it and participate in it. Facts of events are not the same and can be constructed to form whatever history one has the will to enforce. The origin of the Silent Way is in debate but is likely derived from similar assassin sects in China whose principles that stem from what is today thought of as India, evolving first as a spiritual discipline before being applied to the martial arts or the skills of stealth and assassination. In China we find the Lin Kuei whose origin echoes much of the later ninja lore and the system known as Vagabond or Beggar Kung Fu which also made use of Taoist sorcery such as are found in the Mao Shan Sect.

It is likely that both of these Chinese bodies of lore were taken up by some Japanese or the result of the union of Chinese and Japanese because many ninja were seen as coming from the “inhuman” ranks of the people. The assumed inhumanity of those of the Silent Way is why they are said to have origins among forest demons or Lin Kuei in China or mountain demons or Tengu in Japan both of which are derived from an idea of a class of beings meant to keep the balance in the cosmos also known as avengers of Dharma. Whatever the origin the ninja evolved into a counterbalance to the caste of the Samurai serving all sides in order to control the war that is life and preserve their own way of life. The methods of the ninja included but were not limited to the martial arts being very much a whole life system; a discipline that was only focused on harm would require one to learn other systems to be a complete being. The underlying spirituality of a skill set of assassins evokes the concept of the sword that kills also being the sword that preserves life.

Ninjitsu or “Ninjutsu” history has become a focus of a few of late, and while the effects of the art are more my focus the historical research has turned up some things of interest to the author and the school he represents. In recent accepted findings as to the Koga or Koka Clan we read of the Koga ninja using paper amulets and a cosmogram much like that of the Black Lotus Mandala as well as sleight of hand as is taught in the way of the viper taught in the Komuso Ryu of the Koga Clan. Researchers into the history of the ninja have expressed confusion over the esoteric element in accepted Koga writings but what they found confirms the work of modern Koga based systems as taught by the Hai Lung Ryu and the Komuso Ryu to give two examples. The fact that these modern Koga systems’ practices are shown in the ancient documents says a great deal about the validity of the modern Koga based systems. Researchers are good at finding facts but are unable to tell history because as researchers they cannot invest in any story and remain objective. Knowledge is not truth nor are facts history keeping that in mind allows an individual to maintain themselves in the midst of the views of others without having to contest the views of others in order to validate their own.