| Are you trying to learn the art of ninjutsu, but | | | | ...to show our teacher that we were worth his |
| don't have a teacher or Ninja dojo near you? | | | | time, and ready for the next lesson when we |
| Do you want to know how to train in Ninjutsu | | | | returned to class. |
| when you're training on your own? | | | | Contrary to popular belief, the ancient warriors |
| Well, you're not alone. In fact, the Path that you | | | | typically did not have time to dedicate to study. |
| are walking on, or at least considering to enter, is | | | | So, what often happened was that a warrior |
| not unique to you or to our modern world. People | | | | would take time away from "the world," either |
| would like to think that to learn ninjutsu, or any | | | | intentionally or along his travels, and get with a |
| other martial art for that matter, that you MUST | | | | teacher for a day or three. |
| go to a formal school and train directly with a | | | | During this time, the warrior might only learn a |
| teacher. | | | | technique or two - a principle, concept, or new |
| And, while it was once necessary to be in the | | | | way of looking at things. Then, it was their |
| presence of a teacher, at least for short periods, | | | | responsibility to go and figure it out for |
| to learn the lesson, modern technology has | | | | themselves - to personalize - to internalize the |
| created a new paradigm - a new way to get the | | | | lesson, and make it their own. |
| training you need. | | | | That's what Hatsumi-Sensei did during the week |
| And, while even a few years ago, the student | | | | between one weekend visit with |
| training on his or her own, was pretty much | | | | Takamatsu-Sensei and the next. |
| limited to trying to learn from the static pictures | | | | That's what I did between visits to my teacher's |
| in martial arts books and magazines - today's | | | | dojo in Atlanta, Dayton, and Noda-city - while living |
| student can use the power of video and the | | | | in Germany, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. |
| internet to get much of the training they need. | | | | And, that's what Takamatsu-Sensei did at various |
| And you can do the same thing to learn ninjutsu. | | | | points in his own development of mastery. |
| In fact, you will actually be walking a Path that | | | | To be sure, you will need several things to make |
| has been walked by me, my own teachers, the | | | | this Path work for you. You will need: |
| Grandmaster, and even Takamatsu-sensei - the | | | | 1) commitment and the ability to self-manage in |
| 33rd Grandmaster of the Togakure-Ryu of | | | | order to stay on track |
| Ninjutsu, and the teacher of Soke Masaaki | | | | 2) core lessons that you can work with that have |
| Hatsumi. | | | | come from a true teacher, and... |
| We all engaged in solo training to develop the | | | | 3) regular feedback to insure that you are doing |
| majority of the skills, proficiency, and knowledge | | | | things correctly, and correction for anything that |
| we possess. Each one of us, due to the distance | | | | is off before you internalize a bad habit |
| between where we lived and our teacher - spent | | | | Neither I, nor any other teacher can give you |
| more time training on our own, and doing | | | | "commitment" or the ability to manage yourself. |
| research, study, and practice away from our | | | | That's not our job. But what you can, and should |
| teachers, than in the dojo. | | | | get from a teacher, as often as possible - even if |
| Does that mean that we never trained with a | | | | you train on your own - is a steady supply of |
| teacher? | | | | core lessons and feedback about your progress. |
| No. | | | | Regardless of whether this is done through video, |
| It means that we were entirely responsible for | | | | attending seminars or private training sessions on |
| our own progress and development. We were | | | | a regular basis - or a combination of the two... |
| responsible, perhaps even more so than the | | | | ...as a solo student, you are responsible for your |
| student who lives down the street from the dojo, | | | | training more than anyone else is, has been, or will |
| to make sure that we took the lessons our | | | | be in the history of this art. |
| teacher gave us and make them real - to make | | | | Are you cut out to be a Ninja? Do you have |
| them work. And... | | | | what it takes? |