Books like Ninjutsu History and Tradition

To anyone who has trained any length of time in the Bujinkan, this was probably the first book recommended to you by your fellow students and teachers. If you have not trained with them then the odds of your having heard of this book are slim, though you may have seen the author on various Ninja-themed TV programmes. Hatsumi Sensei, head of the largest Taijutsu (Ninpo) organisation in the world, wrote this book in the early days of that organisation, largely with the help of one of his first foreign students, Stephen K Hayes.I first read this book when I got it for Christmas in my first year of training (12 years ago now) and have read it through several times since. The first time of reading it I was I think just very impressed and glad to have something to read regarding my new-found university hobby. I was only 18 at the time and knew very little other than ‘this is a book by the boss of our system’ and so read every word as if it were holy scripture. Later on, having gained a level of cynicism after looking into things more, I read it and thought ‘what useless nonsense this is, it’s just propaganda without teaching anything!’. Now, having gotten a little less angry but still keeping a cynical view, I find it interesting as a product of its time during the 80s Ninja Boom, and I quite enjoyed reading it again.For those not as much in the know; the system being talked about is commonly known as Taijutsu, Ninjutsu or the Takamatsuden (after the headmaster who put it together in its current form). It consists of several traditional jujutsu/koryu schools, one of which is Togakure Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu. However, at the time of this book’s publication, the name Togakure Ryu was often used to refer to the art as a whole, as the ninja school was what made the system unique and as such was good for advertising.The book opens with the sort of thing one gets used to from Hatsumi Sensei’s books – wordplay and some general advice on morality. Some interesting stuff but not all that useful to someone wanting to learn about martial arts. We go from there into a very brief section on the history of the Togakure Ryu. The lineage is covered in the simple form of a list of names and a bit of info on the founder (Daisuke Togakure) and the previous grandmaster (Takamatsu Toshitsugu) and the book then goes on to describe the traditional aspects of ninja training.Most people who’ve practiced this art will be pretty familiar with 18 levels of training from what instructors have told them, though very few modern students will have actually covered more than eight or nine. Most will have done only the big 3 (Taijutsu, Bojutsu, Kenjutsu) with a smattering of shuriken and kusari work. In some schools there is a bit of strategy taught as well, but a great deal of this tends to be what instructors have picked up for themselves rather than the ‘traditional’ stuff. That said, as a look into historical training this is interesting, and it can be an inspiration to look into things beyond the confines of the dojo.From this we go into the Taijutsu section, which I initially found informative, then woefully inadequate, and now tend to view more as an insight into its time than anything else. It includes about a dozen Kamae (not by school unfortunately, but this is more than made up for by the pictures needlessly including outlines of SK Hayes’ epic beard!). Then there’s a little Junan Taiso in the form of stretching, explanations and illustrations of the Hoken Juroppo (striking surfaces) and some very basic Taihenjutsu. Along with some nice photographs showing examples of strikes, probably the most interesting part here is the section on conditioning.As any karateka will tell you, if you want to hit people there’s a real risk of hitting something hard (like a skull) even if you’re aiming for something soft (like a neck) and it’s generally a good idea to toughen up the bits of you that will be hitting bits of them. In our Koto Ryu there is a section on Atemi Tanren (roughly translated as ‘forging steel for striking’) explaining how to do this, but despite this, and the inclusion of conditioning advice in this well-renowned book, very few modern Taijutsu practitioners bother with it. A cynical man would say that it’s because people who are attracted to the relaxed ‘soft’ nature of the training don’t want to do the harder stuff – unfortunately even their own boss is of the view that the soft can come only after the hard, and every martial artist I know who is any good and who preaches the doctrine of relaxed movement, is also very capable of doing the hard training as well. (sorry – rant over, I just like that this oft-revered book advocates hard training and yet so few practitioners follow its advice).The next (long) section covers weapons and other tools, both the commonly used and the more specialist stuff. Aside from the very ‘SK Hayes’ bit about straight ninja swords (which only appear in pictures of him, never in the ones of the Japanese masters…) this is mostly good, informative stuff. Like most of the book there are only short sections of text and lots of pictures but it’s a nice overview of the tools used and, like the 18 levels, it’s an encouragement to look outside the dojo and broaden your training.Following this we have the Special Training section. This begins with a bit about the Togakure Ryu methods of escape and some stuff on the Go-Dai (5 elements). In fairness such a thing does exist in the ryu, even if Mr Hayes is rather keen on expanding on it. After this we have some more pictures (it’s a very pic-heavy book for a non-technical work) featuring some more lesser-used tools of historical ninjaA brief bit on kunoichi follows this, along with some pictures of ‘female-specific’ weapons and techniques. Best summed up with; ‘you know how we tell guys to be sneaky? Well if you’re a girl, be extra sneaky!’After this we move on to a chapter on Kiai (prepare for another minor rant). Like conditioning, this is an aspect of training that is recommended in the book, used to be taught, and is still practiced by traditionalists, and yet the majority of Taijutsu students don’t bother with it. Your average Bujinkan instructor (even the ones who are very good martial artists) will encourage people not to, with excuses ranging from ‘it’s a waste of precious energy’, to ‘you’re a ninja, be quiet!’ The first excuse has some logic to it, the second one is just plain silly (to all my fellow Taijutsuka – you practice a style that is derived from ninjutsu; you are not a ninja, the sooner you accept this the easier it will be). What this chapter explains is that needless or spiritless kiai is indeed a waste of energy, whereas correct Kiai with the right attitude behind it can be invaluable.This leads nicely on to the rather esoteric concept of Sakki, ie the ability to sense a person’s Ki, and the test now commonly used on potential 5th Dans. This is, naturally, the subject of some debate. Having practiced the Sakki test in the dojo quite a few times, I’m pretty sure I felt something and tend to ‘pass’ about 80% of the time, but whether that’s actually something extra-sensory, or whether it’s based more on catching subtle sounds very quickly, I can’t really say. Either way some nice pictures of the top men doing the test back in the 80’s, and a fairly good explanation of the concept.The last section is on Kuji, and once again I sense the presence of the advertising hand (get it?) of Stephen Hayes. For all that Kuji do exist in the system, much like the Go-Dai they tend to be focused on far more by over-enthusiastic westerners than they are by the actual Japanese masters. Kuji are a genuine tool to focus the mind but they are also something people tend to associate with ninja and so naturally, they had to make an appearance.The pictures at the end of Hatsumi Sensei throwing people about with the power of his spirit are a little bit odd to say the least, and I suspect they almost certainly relied upon some good but subtle movement on his part and some ukes who fully expected to be thrown, and so were. His worst critic could never say that Hatsumi Sensei was not a great martial artist, but I do feel stuff like this tends to undermine more than enhance his reputation.OK; the summing up.Something to keep in mind is that this is by no means a training manual so anyone buying this book hoping to learn technique will be bitterly disappointed. Unfortunately it doesn’t contain all that much on Togakure Ryu’s history and traditions either. There are snippets of information and a lot of photographs, but anyone really keen on learning the history of this art will also be disappointed. That said for the new student it’s probably a good place to start off as you won’t get bogged down with an information overload and given that most other students have read it, it’s something you can discuss with your instructor/ training partners.Something else to remember is the fact that the book is as much a product of Stephen Hayes as it is of Hatsumi Masaaki, and this can be seen in quite a few places (Stephen Hayes is one of the men responsible for bringing the art to the west – probably the one student who did the most to spread it worldwide). Though doubtless done with the best intentions, his point of view does come across a fair bit (Yari-jutsu instead of So-jutsu, and straight ninja swords indeed!).Perhaps the most important thing is to view this book in its historical context. This was essentially a 239 page advert for the Bujinkan style, and largely the creation of Stephen K Hayes. It contains pretty much what he and Hatsumi Sensei thought would best show off what they were teaching at the time and attract new people to the art. No shame in that; it’s what most MA books are doing, but it does mean that what you read should be taken with a pinch of salt. Most of us have dabbled in the weirder bits of training ie, gone up the woods to train at night, climbed trees, set up ambushes for each other and all that, but the vast vast majority of what you’ll actually do as a student of this art is the taijutsu; punching, kicking, locking, choking, and a bit of throwing and grappling. You’ll do some sword and staff with the odd bit of knife and chain and unless you actively seek something more, that’s pretty much what you’ll get (the odd week of hojojutsu and your home-made shuriken board not withstanding!). As such it is perhaps a trifle misleading, but then it does specify multiple times that all the cool stuff is what was traditionally done, and the title of the book is pretty clear.A bit of fun as well is that the pictures show not only the sort of training that was done/advertised in the early 80s, but the astute observer will notice very young-looking versions of familiar faces in there, including both Manaka Sensei and Tanemura Sensei!Overall I’d say this is a book well worth borrowing from someone if perhaps not worth buying if you’re a student of this style. It has some interesting information and is a great insight into how things were done at the time of its publication. Do not expect your taijutsu to somehow improve by its study, but it’s a good enough read and it has a place on my bookshelf.