The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art by Stephen K. Hayes

Author:Stephen K. Hayes [Hayes, Stephen K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2011-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

The hour of our ninjutsu demonstration for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had arrived. Our show had been preceded by demonstrations of judo, traditional Japanese swordsmanship, kendo, and two types of karate, and it had been interesting to watch the other disciplines in action. The demonstrations had been arranged to complement one another, and sporting methods, with constant interruptions for the awarding of points and the proclaiming of winners, alternated with historical methods, ritualistic and precise in their slow deliberateness. The master had warned me that our presentation would be quite different from the others. I now understood what he had meant.

We all burst onto the polished wooden floor and warmed up with handsprings and rolls while Hatsumi Sensei took a position by the microphone. He gave a brief explanation of historical ninjutsu and its philosophy, stressing the difference between what he called “comic-book and TV ninja” and the true practitioners of the ancient mystic art. The audience of police officers and reporters was quietly attentive.

We bowed and ‘the demonstration began. Scene after scene unfolded, as teams of ninja clashed with their oppressors. It was indeed a show, and reflected Hatsumi Sensei’s years of experience as a technical adviser to selected Japanese historical films.

My scene involved a clash between the forces of government and religion in ancient Japan. I was playing the part of a ninja disguised as a wandering Buddhist monk, and a fellow student was taking the role of a village samurai upholding Shinto, the state religion. I had been given a black robe, a string of prayer beads, a shoulder-high cane, and a rubber scalp piece as my costume. My nemesis wore a short coat, samurai leggings, and two swords tucked in his sash. Hatsumi Sensei set the scene, describing to the audience how we happened to meet on a road outside an imaginary village.

My attacker drew his long sword with a yell, and advanced menacingly toward me. Being a mere monk with a wooden cane, I slid back into a defensive position, clutching the string of wooden beads in my right hand. I shifted about, looking for an escape, until I was against the wall with nowhere to go. He slowly raised the sword above his head, preparing for a downward cut.

As he stepped forward into the slash, I flung the beaded cord at his ankles. The beads spread to form a large circle in the air, humming as they whirled out to tangle the attacker’s legs. The samurai leaped into the air, pulling his knees high to clear his feet from the bead lasso. While his attention was diverted, I slipped by him and out into open space again.

Our script called for three lunging slashes and a final clash. On the first slash, I sidestepped and slammed the end of my cane into the back of his hand gripping the sword. The samurai pivoted and brought the sword across my midsection, while I blocked his cut by positioning the cane vertically in front of my body.

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