Now I want to make a statement, a disclaimer really, that not everyone in the Bujinkan is a Martial Arts Cultist. Many do not teach their art with religious under tones or Shinto prayers to Takamatsu. However, many do and it has largely always been that way. It is not uncommon to see this in any Asian Martial Arts, Chinese as well as Korean, arts as well. Even traditional Muay Thai has certain religious undertones and rituals from Buddhism that come from Thai culture. However, very few people I know who studied Mauy Thai in the states learned it as a Traditional Martial Art, with said additional cultural traditions attached. Nor, do these people practice any of the cultural aspects of their arts, with a claim secret mystical knowledge or power.
Regardless, we are now going to examine the book Mind of the Ninja... A reflection of the philosophical and religious teachings within the Bujinkan. As well as providing proof that Hatsumi taught incorrect, dare I say knowingly false information, to Western Bujinkan artists.
Years ago as a teenager, I got a copy of Mind of the Ninja by Kirkland C. Peterson. And it had some nice photos and lots of information pertaining to Japanese Historical Documents like the Bansenshukai which only recently in the last few years have become available to the English speaking public at large. As Book of the Ninja by Anthony Cummins and the Historical Ninjutsu Research Team. Shows that many of the statements made by Kirkland Peterson (attributed to either Hayes or Hatsumi) about the Bansenshukai are outright false, including comparisions to historical and new age occult texts.
Since then it is now far easier to see the problems with the book & Hatsumi...
1. The author had bad information from Hatsumi or others within the Bujinkan to explain meditative training, religious indoctrination and unverified claims.
2. That false claims about historical documents, then (1986) were only available in Japanese. So its easy to tell someone who doesn't speak Japanese, especially 17th century Japanese, a historical document says something it doesn't. They can't tell the difference anyway... (makes you wonder why they took cursive out of school right?)
3. That Hatsumi was not completely honest with the Americans who came to him to learn authentic "Ninjutsu." Worse yet is that this isn't something that can be passed off on Takamatsu. Takamatsu taught Hatsumi "Ninpo" but, Hatsumi knew the truth about what was in the documents, and told people who wouldn't know the difference lies, untruths and falsehoods about said historical document.
There is some good information here but it is watered down with propaganda and, bad pop psychology from the 80s. Best of all it shows why Ninjas are Bullshit!
Here is a little page talking about the philosophical aspects of darkness. The Ninja retaining the "Inner Light" when doing dark deeds. For the most part I don't disagree with the little information shown here.
Here we see a nice piece of fluff dedicated to countering the arguments of other writers in This particular case the "unmentioned author" is in fact Ashida Kim. Since Ashida, makes reference to similar skills among different groups throughout history Indians and similar, he opens the door to not only examine the core methods of his ninjutsu but, provides the reader with other places to seek additional knowledge...
So Kirkland Peterson, seems to be trying to discredit the additional references for study. Even as the argument goes, Mr. Peterson seems to be making an argument for limited knowledge to a particular school (the Bujinkan) & ignoring the other sources of viable information and historical references.
More so, Kirkland seems to dismiss the idea that nature (the universe of you will) is the source of stealth since all stealth is based on an understanding of nature and natural orders within it... This would seem to be a counter-argument to the Bujinkan's own Gotonpo methods of Intonjutsu.
Here is another interesting reference to the propaganda passed off as history by the Bujinkan. Above 'The "Unimpressive" Ninja' heading we see a reference to Ninjutsu as a martial art, comparing it to Karate and stating you have to unlearn certain habits.
I always found it laughable that a trained fighter would have to unlearn what is natural to him or her to learn "natural body movements." Its like citing Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do philosophy about avoiding fixed positions and movements but, ignoring that the body and mind are so conditioned that responses are ingrained habits. Thus, one doesn't need to unprogram reflexes but, to recondition them to be fluid and reflexive.
More so, under heading 'The "Unimpressive" heading we see an argument that only Hayes and Hatsumi are the legitimate sources of information. That ignoring them, means one is ignoring true and complete information.
Hayes is responsible for nothing bit relaying what he was taught by Hatsumi. Hatsumi however, began claiming his secret ninja teachings along side Takamatsu. Who was often known to exaggerate, embellish and outright lie. More so, as you will see later on, Hatsumi has made outright false statements about Historical Documents. This destroys any claims of credibility with the English Translations of said Historical documents.
Above the heading 'The "Outdated" Ninja' Kirkland makes a very lacking argument that those "other authorities" compare ninjutsu to other and similar systems. He says this is to confuse the issue but, in truth he is avoiding the logical application of clarifying any skills.
For example, the ninja used a method of starting a fire in a hole and covering the hot coals with dirt to have a warm place to sleep in colder climates. The North American Tribes such as the Sioux and others extending into Canada used this same method for scouts and braves who needed to move fast and carry little to no shelter. By comparing these methods we find that the ninja and the tribal scouts used the same methods. This means that it is an effective survival camping method to be used in the field.
Yet, under the Heading 'The "Outdated" Ninja' we see a reference to (once again martial arts) this time describing the defense of avoiding the attack with a sideways handspring... This section also talks about "techniques and stances that are mismatched with the realities of the twentieth century." I mentioned some of the issues with Ichimonji no Kamae, and the claim that no one can hit you with a reverse punch if you are standing in Ichimonji no Kamae at a 45 degree angle to the center of the opponents body. However, the issue of both a matter triangulation (angles) and rotation of the body to drive the reverse hand to the target. And explained on This Blog.
Ultimately, its an argument for large and exaggerated stances and strikes that are not explosive. Which is why Fujita Seiko favored Okinawan Karate and Kobudo over Japanese Koryu Arts, in part by his Soke status of Na Ban Sato Ryu Kenpo which was a modern (gendai) Japanese version of Okinawan Te or Okinawan Karate. So who is a superior Source of Knowledge of Ninjutsu, Fujita Seiko or Massaki Hatsumi..?
It all depends on the researcher and observer to decide for himself. This decision must be based on research and understanding of history and facts. Ultimately, evidence proves that Takamatsu and Hatsumi plagiarized hostorical documents and attempted to reference Fujita's own research to invent Togakure Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu.
Here are two images from Kirkland Peterson's Mind of The Ninja addresses the "Bible of Ninjutsu" the Bansenshukai. Translated as "Ten Thousand River Flow Into The Sea." The Bansenshukai was translated by Anthony Cummins and The Historical Ninjitsu Research Team as The Book of the Ninja.
Now in examining the page below, Peterson makes reference to the Ninja's Spiritual Purity and the Bansenshukai as a reference to a historical text. A text that we now know has no mention of anything Spiritual. This is only a Smaller example of a considerable whole...
Here we see a closer examination with Kirkland mentioning references to Hayes and the Bansenshukai. More so, Mind of the Ninja states that the third chapter of the Bansenshukai where it references Yo-nin. Now we know thanks to the historic Ninjutsu Research Team, we know the characters refer to "hiding in or under light" (plain sight) and not some quasi-mystical teaching.
Kirkland Peterson's whole text, actually convolutes the Matter. The matter being that of culture and context which Mr. Peterson's argument lack. However, I will clear this up. The Taoist ideas of the Tao (way) being a whole of two parts, opposing forces of Yin and Yang. You see when the Bansenshukai was written Japan was separate from China govermentally, and culturally but the Nationalist influence of the 1920s to 40s that shapes modern Japanese culture didn't exist and what Mr. Peterson wrote is wrong... Because, in the context of the time most knowledge in Japan was drawn from Chinese Sources and people often referenced China to seem more creditable.
In Japan, the Tao is used at the end of word and Spelled in English as -do, such as Aikido, Judo and Karatedo. The Do is made up of two opposing forces In and Yo. This concept isn't taken from Chinese influence, it is Chinese cultural influence used to discribe two opposing view points on Performing spy craft... Both just as valuable and necessary as the other.
Here Peterson writes incorrectly,
"The next volume, Yo-nin takes a step into the more philosophical, aspects of Ninjutsu. It deals with the yo (yogi in Chinese), or masculine, bright and firm side of the ninjas power. "
Pick up a copy of The Book of Ninja by Anthony Cummins and Yoshie Minami and the sections on In-nin deal with essentially breaking in and sneaking past guards. Those of Yo-nin talk about psychological manipulation, disguise and similar. In fact Kirkland makes other claims to mystical ninja teachings in historical documents that is also outright false.
If you look above you see another whole page dedicated to the Bansenshukai. It references making poisons, medicine and a variety of tools in majority of the text above. Then you read the first line under the Heading Cryptic and Poetic Secrets & see that here Kirkland refers to the Bamsenshukai (a document only recently made available to the west) as a source of "Poetic and Cryptic Secrets" and that Kirkland goes on to state the Bansenshukai is a text like the Tibetan Book of the Dead or the secret teachings of the sorcerer Duan Juan. In the section above Kirkland even compares the Bansenshukai to the I-Ching of Chinese history falsely claiming the information on moon phases, navigation by the stars and weather forecasting are used in mutual context (for divination of the future). The I-Ching referenced above is a Ancient Chinese Manual on Predicting the Future. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is religious text in Tibetan Buddhism with deals primarily with levels of human consciousness & meditations on what happens after one's death. The The Secret Teachings of the Sorcerer Duan Juan is book based on the Master Thesis of Carlos Castaenda in 1968 about his apprenticeship with a self-proclaimed Yaqui Sorcerer named Don Juan, the text deals with using Hallucinogenic plants to speak with spirits, divination using lizards and similar shamanic practices. These metaphysical and mystical teachings do appear in some lesser known ninja documents that have been translated by Anthony and Yoshie, however they are not found in the Bansenshukai.
Using Kirkland Peterson's own argument that it is "wrong" to compare Ninjutsu to similar methods by other cultures outside of Japan which operate on the same basic physical principles. How much more wrong is it for Kirkland Peterson to claim that the Bansenshukai (at the time unavailable to the West) is comparable to books (then available) that addressed Mystical and Metaphysical teachings which not alike or have any cultural roots to unite them...
Thus, we clearly see that Kirkland Peterson's Mind of the Ninja is not much different from many other New Age texts trying to reveal some secret teachings about the universe... This is the pseudo- mystical teachings of Asian culture which Count Dante detested.
Speaking of Dante, lets address one of his students (if only briefly) Ashida Kim. Kirkland Peterson's Mind of the Ninja is about 1/3 of which dedicated to attacking Ashida Kim. Ashida Kim who is never named but, many times referenced was even imitated in the Book and referred to as the Terrorist Ninja.
Here Peterson makes a pretty good argument for the the Terrorist acts of the past, and the association with the ninja. Unfortunately, again thanks to the ethical research on the part of Anthony Cummins and Yoshie MInami as well as others, we know the ninja were historically known to commit the very Terrorist Acts that Peterson describes...
Political Assassinations, taking Hostages and while Peterson mentioned car bombs, the historical shinobi didn't have cars, they were known to poison enemy supplies or burn down buildings without regard for the bystanders within, much to the same effect. In view of such actions the Shinobi\Ninja could be considered terrorists.
This is the problem with Peterson's context in full, the ninja were also Samurai. Samurai Special Forces to be exact. Such actions were taken as part of the mission in the context of a warring states period. The historical ninja, was viewed with disgust by the modern Japanese, as terrorists and in modern media portrayed as magicians (evil sorcerers was another historic portrayal of the ninja).
And Kirkland, did not miss a chance to make his Jab at Ashida Kim... Using staged pictures to let us all know we he was talking about. I call this Bujinkan Propaganda to attack their competition and spread the New Age Mystical Ninja Religion.
Ninja Mind Prob... If this was meant to be the Kata Dante... He did it wrong?
I don't know... Ninja squat?
Somehow I see this and think Ninja Stage Magician in Vegas...
Ok I have no issue with the stab him in the neck from behind part... A reference to Ashida Kim's Book Secrets of the Ninja and Ashida Kim's (more historically accurate) partial of ninjutsu as an espionage based system. I don't know What the Hell is with that shuriken pose?
Another bad attempt at imitating Ashida Kim badly. More Sentry Removal skills.
And, he is posing with a sword and a mask.
Finally, we have to ask are people like Don Roley who claim to be researchers and translating Fujita Seiko's books, as well as Phillip T. Hanover who wrote Fujita Seiko: The Last Koga Ninja (both connected to the Bujinkan) doing so to spread the cult like teachings within the Bujinkan?
This produces another issue within the Ninjutsu Community. So much disinformation has been spread and lies that no one is really worth believing... Another reason why Ninjas & Ninjutsu is Bullshit...
Go back and read:
Ninjas are Bullshit: The Root of the Problem &
Ninjas are Budo! Black Dragon Ninjitsu & Omoto Ryu Budo
Note: As I no longer own Mind of the Ninja, all images were provided by a friend.
