The Grandmaster's book of Ninja training

74 Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi The Grandmaster's Book of Ninja Training 75
where at all. When that happens, I will be happy with
two hours of sleep a night. But it's important to create
a different pattern and rhythm of living, and also
to avoid fears of all kinds.
People are far too afraid of all sorts of things in
their lives. They fear for their health; they have fears
about how strong they are; they fear for their safety,
and so on. On the other hand, when I go to Tokyo and
people tell me how hair-raising it is to be driven by
young Muramatsu here, it doesn't scare me at all!
(Laughter) Seriously, though, it's essential to rid
oneself of fear. Fear prevents people from doing so
many things. They look after themselves far too well.
If people would only not take so much care of themselves
and have a little more confidence in themselves,
a bit of courage—my teacher used to say that
if one had no courage, there was no hope—with courage,
anything can be accomplished. Also, faith and
belief are essential.
Now, these are not things that are limited merely to
religion, of course. There must be somebody with
whom one has mutual faith: perhaps a parent, a
lover, a child. Such a frame of mind is extremely
important. In countries with a material civilization,
such as the United States, it is considered necessary
to have material things, and children are brought up
with this idea. (That's not intended as a disparagement
of the U.S.) But a material culture has its weak
points. Things become important. Japan, too, is a nation
with a materialistic culture, and the number of
people here who are very weak has increased tremendously.
So I believe that this is a period in which the
balance between nature and material things is very
carefully maintained, and people think about it a
great deal. The really cultured man today gives importance
to such a balance in his own life. And a truly
cultured nation does the same, nations like America
and Russia—China, too—where culture is highly
advanced.
However, there are people who say that culture is a
trivial thing. Indeed, "culture" alone doesn't mean
much: there has to be a balance. With some people—
especially the self-promoting ones—culture is a load
of claptrap and grows out of their own complexes.
They produce their kind of art out of their own
hunger and desperation. It is a last resort, squeezed
out from a position of weakness. The more they talk
about it, the less they know, the less they are.
But those people who realize that they are ordinary
are the truly cultured people. The true budoka remains
ordinary at all times. His skills are not for
show or for talk, but for use only at moments when
there is a need for defense. And he works from balance,
and therefore from strength.
C: The next question is also very general. In every
person's life there are different stages, as he grows
older. How do you regard the stages in the life of a
martial artist, a martial arts life? I'm not talking just
about rank, but about the general inner development
of the person. And could you please give us some idea
of the stages that people pass through while studying
martial arts?
H: For me, it's mainly a matter of the person's
destiny and of his love.
D: Destiny and love?
H: Yes. You see, why do I practice budo? Simply
because I like budo, I love budo. So I'm stuck with it!
When you love something you go through a stage
when you become blind to the things around you—
"Love is blind," right? If you can love someone who is
complete and well-balanced, you can make a good
home. A healthy, respectful kind of love will produce
fine, healthy children. In the same way, I now have
good deshi like Doron and Charles here. My love, my
"children," seem to have appeared out of nothingness,
out of nowhere. If that weren't so, my wife would give
me hell! (Laughter) But I think one should consider
how miraculous it is that ou r children always appear