The Grandmaster's book of Ninja training

86
Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi
why the Buddhist statue that I made of
Takamatsu Sensei has neither eyes nor ears. This
featurelessness also represents the "nothingness" of
the true Grandmaster. The whole statue is covered
with a golden color. In ninpo, you see, your whole
body must act as your eyes and ears. This was one
thing that helped me realize that I had at last
become a proper Grandmaster.
Some of the things that have been happening in the
United States are quite ridiculous. There is all this
weird stuff like religious ninpo; and then, people who
have no experience of ninjutsu are writing about it.
Of course, they are way off track. This kind of thing
is really disturbing—it's all quite wrong. So, one
point I'd like to emphasize is that, in any venture, the
nature of the human being must never be forgotten—
and there's nothing mysterious about that!
C: One more question for the public: in many of the
older martial arts schools in Japan, the idea seems to
be just to preserve what they've got, not to change
anything in their practice. The Idea with the
Bujinkan is apparently a little bit different. Would
you give us your thoughts on how you see the martial
arts evolving, changing, or adapting to the times?
H: What has to be remembered about such preservation
is that what is kept is just the form, not the
essence. It's just an aspect of materialistic culture, a
type of materialism. And there's a tendency for budo
like these to survive. There are, it's true, some spiritually
fine and good teachers in them, but for budo it
is not enough just to have a good heart and some
spiritual understanding, because the truth of budo
always encompasses two opposing aspects: yin and
yang, good and bad, weak and strong, win and loss, as
well as the deceptive and the obvious or the false and
the true that are both components of a shrewd tactic
or a tricky technique . 7 This is where the problem lies
with budo. Of course, even within form, it is essential
The Grandmaster's Book of Ninja Training 87
that this duality should be comprehended, since the
forms are set in motion by people, and the people are
set in motion by their minds. I'd better not say any
more than this, but try to grasp the feeling of what
I'm getting at.
Once, Takamatsu Sensei said to me, "Hatsumi, nobody's
gone as far as you have." I'm not saying this
out of conceit or anything. But when I look back at so
many things, I see that he was always quietly helping
us, always teaching us in his quiet way. He never
sought any kind of publicity. It was almost as if he
were devoting his life to passing on what he knew to
just one person. I am so deeply grateful to him for
what he gave me. For me, too, just one person would
be enough. Although I have many students, just one
who would understand would be enough, just one
who would understand—not my ideas so much as the
essential flow of all budo. And that is why I am
teaching.
C: Finally, another quick question for the public:
could you say something about the many rival ninjutsu
organizations that exist in America and Europe,
and how you feel about that sort of thing?
H: It's just childish. They're just playing at ninjutsu,
like children having childish fights and rivalries.
So a bit of trouble here and there can't be
helped. Doron and Charles, you're beyond that (like
their "big brothers"!), so I know you understand this.
To be frank, the whole thing's silly and trivial. What
they're doing has nothing to do with what I teach.
They're wasting all their efforts on things I haven't
taught. If they'd practice proper ninjutsu, it would be
OK, but they don't know what it is. But that's all
7 After "because," Dr. Hatsumi's words here were merely, "in budo
there is kyojitsu." The word kyojitsu (literally, "false-true") implies
all the other ideas mentioned, and more: from a simple ruse,
through tact and diplomacy, to the duality and relativity of life, and
even truth itself.