What can Bujinkan offer me at my stage of life.

Discussion in 'Ninjutsu' started by Botta Dritta, Sep 1, 2015.

  1. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    One of the interesting things I discovered in training is that this art is about war, not only at a physical level, but also mental and spiritual. Desires are a form of war; you want something from life or people (money, resources, time) or from yourself (improvements) and you sometimes find that there is an easy way to get you want from you or them, but there you got ethics and try to impose yourself what is right. Is the same you wrote before; is falls low on your response list. Power, money or resources are a temptation.
     
  2. qazaqwe

    qazaqwe Valued Member

    Oh no, i'm not falling for that one.
     
  3. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Falling for my honestly held opinion followed by a recommendation to try it for himself?
     
  4. qazaqwe

    qazaqwe Valued Member

    Almost none of that makes sense, to desire is to conflict, but to progress is a distraction? If you are so deeply involved in avoiding both conflict and progression, why train at all?
     
  5. qazaqwe

    qazaqwe Valued Member

    Sorry, i thought you were telling me to go, nah, i think if the dude has his heart set, he should jump into it, but he should be aware that it has a bad rep for a reason, but if it works for him, all the best.
     
  6. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    I hope that progress could mean to have less desires, the conflict starts in ourselves. You confront to defend and protect what you value most, but there you have it, is always necessary to maintain the things we got? I train to be a better person, in all the ways this word could mean.
     
  7. qazaqwe

    qazaqwe Valued Member

    You sound like you want a life coach more than a sensei with this definition.
     
  8. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    A master is about that. In Bujinkan we are disciples of our sensei, Hatsumi. We feel him as a guide, or at least in our dojo.
     
  9. qazaqwe

    qazaqwe Valued Member

    Sounds too much like a matter of faith to me, using a dead person to guide me through my life though their teachings, having never met or spoken to them, if it works for you great, but it is too much like a religion for me.

    Combined with the lack of pressure testing, taking faith in the theories of the founder to the point of avoiding conflict in a context of training, seems too far a leap of faith for me to make with the goal of being able to defend myself capably, call me a child of the modern era, but i can't believe the hype.
     
  10. peterc8455

    peterc8455 Valued Member

    It sounds like you have a romanticized idea about training.
     
  11. peterc8455

    peterc8455 Valued Member

    You could say there is a problem with quality control. ;)
     
  12. peterc8455

    peterc8455 Valued Member

    It's a mixed bag with "pressure testing" and it really depends on the individual school/instructor.
     
  13. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    Maybe. Devotion is important to be persistent, as well as physical improvement, believing in something gives you confidence. Is part of our initial salutation, shikin haramitsu daikoumyo.
     
  14. peterc8455

    peterc8455 Valued Member

    You sound like a true believer and you know you are not joining a religion.

    Seriously though my advice is be careful not to put your "shihan" on a pedestal and take some responsibility for your own training. However, it sounds like it may be too late.
     
  15. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    Thank you for your advice. Is my choice, and my experience, I could be wrong of course.

    I don't feel him as a god, is a good guide, and simply feel great appreciation for what he does.

    About responsibility, happens that up to now, all these things suit well for me, and I feel I am going ok, for now as a newcomer. And I will have no problem to change my shihan for another, I have already done this in the past.
     
  16. peterc8455

    peterc8455 Valued Member

    Well good luck then and make sure he is teaching you something of value in regards to the arts themselves and hopefully you have some measurable physical skills to show for it in the end.

    If you want a spiritual adviser there are better places to find one than the martial arts.
     
  17. Dunc

    Dunc Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    A lot of people will express various opinions of the bujinkan and these will range from it's awesome to it's awful

    When you add the fact that there is a wide spectrum of ability across the instructor population then really the only way is to go and watch a class or give it a go

    I speak from direct experience in the bujinkan and other arts
     
  18. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    If you are near dunc go see him :)
     
  19. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    I decided to share a little bit what I meant.

    When a person tells you something, you work on it and you got it, and then those things save your life, I can tell you that, after all, you do not want to stop progressing in those things.

    So, when death is inevitable, you have two choices: one, stay quiet and prepare to die, or two, assume and say "Ok, it's over, it would be what it have to", and maybe there is a chance to continue living. The idea of accepting things as they come and feeling the instinct of survival, that sense you can't think about, you just feel it.

    That is what I remember in that motorbike accident before the crash, and thankfully I only broke my arm, and can now write with one hand. I hope I can fully recover and return to training.

    So, can I say that you can progress spiritually with this art? Absolutely, and Hatsumi confirms this. You can progress at any of the 3 aspects (physical, mental or spiritual), and that is what counts most, that is why I said I train to be a better person.
     
  20. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    I found this video that explains better what I said, and hope one day could pass it.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpIwjtJL0I"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpIwjtJL0I[/ame]
     

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