BlameThePixel!

Picture a river...

...the river is life, it flows, like time, in one direction. It twists and turns, it deepens & shallows, it has rapids and calms, it seperates and joins and yet it has a direction. Life, like the river, is a journey with high points and lows, fast periods and slow, confusion and cohesion.

Now picture a boat with no oars...

...the boat is Ninpo, it floats upon the river of life, taking the course that is chosen for it, following the turns here and there, speeding up and slowing down, making choices where necessary accepting the consequences and joining the flow once more.


To travel the river of life, choosing Ninpo as our way, we come to realise several important aspects of our journey. In all things we must find balance, like the boat on the river, for if we do not balance all aspects of our life, like the boat unbalance upturned, we will be submerged, carried by the waters in the same direction but without comfort.

Balance is everything and nothing, true Ku, void. +1-1=0. Where there is good, so must there be bad, where there is joy, there must be sadness, hope, despair, life, death and so on. Through our training in Ninpo we look to achieve harmony not only within ourselves but within our environment, we look to balance our physical development with our mental development, our injuries and setbacks with our improvements and achievements.

To go through training expecting only half of these experiences is unbalanced and, in fairness, unrealistic. Only through knowing the disappointment of a failed technique can we truly appreciate the elation of a successful one. Only through feeling the pain and despair of an injury can we fully enjoy the energy and pride of being in harmony with our physical form.

In our training we find that technique and theory occupy the primary basics of our system, we learn the falls, rolls and strikes then the throws, weapons and strategy. Throughout our experiences, depending upon your instructor, we witness little in the way of mental development.
While we do not see it, this doesn't mean it does not happen. In class we learn to harden not only our bodies but our minds to the reality of physical violence, we learn that trust, not only in others but also in ourselves, is an essential ingredient in our lives & in our training. We learn to adapt to situations and be flexible when there is need, yet still remain strong and steadfast when required. We mature, through the experience of learning and the knowledge of technique coupled with the acceptance that we do not know all and still have far to go.

Without this mental development we would be little more than Kickboxers and professional wrestlers, trained athletes with the ability to perform rudimentary functions and little more. Outside of the ring and off the mat these people are unbalanced and ill-equipped for life.

Through Ninpo we realise that violent confrontation isn't simply an answer to our problems, more a choice which is to be chosen only when deemed necessary by circumstances when all other avenues have been either tried or dismissed.
We do not seek to injure, more we seek to solve the troubles of any who resort to aggression. We balance their hostility with our tranquillity, their anger with our calm.
What we learn can and will be implemented when our discourse will not suffice, and in using our training again the balance will be achieved. Beneath their aggression is fear, within our retaliation will be confidence. In effect the result will be Zero, a state of harmony.

In a world in which violence seems to be ever increasing, Ninpo, as a way of life, will certainly provide the balance for those who follow the correct path.

Ninpo is the system which has evolved from the ancient warrior method of Ninjutsu. Currently taught pretty much everywhere in the form of the Bujinkan, Genbukan & Jinenkan schools. I've been training in it for 2 years now, well 4 if you count 2 years as a wee pleb.

I figured this is Off-Topic, so I'd share some of my philosophy towards training & life with you all. Much of the same philosophy can be applied to Worms too.