The Origins of the Modern Ninja Tactics Seminar

This past weekend we hosted the second of our “Modern Ninja Tactics” Seminars. This type of training is not what the usual traditional martial arts school provides. Modern weaponry and tactics are of a particular interest to me and I believe that if you are going to own or carry these tools you should be very well trained in their use.  Otherwise, you are a danger and a liability to yourself and those around you. Most people have a gross overestimation of their ability in a fight and that is multiplied when you give them some sort of tool such as a gun or knife. Through several incidents I was motivated to seek out modern weapons training and these seminars are the results of these incidents.

The first incident that I remember happened during one of the past Mountain Quests. I can’t remember which year but it was several years ago and An-Shu Hayes was discussing how we hold tradition in high regard where sometimes it may not serve us.  In his discussion he stated that he believes that if a historical ninja from feudal Japan was magically transported to modern times they would be quick adopters of our modern technology. A piece of equipment that could give you an aerial view of just about any location on the planet.  Weaponry that could quickly and reliably take out several enemy combatants from great distances. Pants with six pockets! Yes please! Why would someone reject a powerful tool that could give them a strong advantage in their endeavors? In fact, ninja were the some of the early adopters of  firearms as weaponry in Japan.

The next push that I received happened during a Ninja Festival in Ohio several years ago.  I was speaking with An-Shu at a post training celebration and the topic of injuries came up in our discussion.  As I went through my various injuries at the time he jokingly made a suggestion that I take up another martial art and he made a “gun sign” with his hand.  You know, with his thumb sticking up, index finger pointing out, and moving like he had just fired a round from his finger pistol. I felt that it was just a joke, but with a ninja as a mentor I started to explore it just in case he was testing me.  

To add a significant injury to my list I tore my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in my knee about 7 years ago.  I went from feeling pretty tough and almost indestructible to being very scared of a toddler bumping into me. The doctor who was working with me post surgery told me that at a point the new graft in my knee was going to have the integrity of a wet paper towel.  That freaked me out to the point that I was highly anxious about being out in public and it scared me whenever my knee made a sound. I couldn’t train taijutsu or jiu-jitsu the way that I wanted, and couldn’t even “work out” in a way that I liked. I needed to do something to make me feel like I was training, making progress, and developing some sort of usable skill.  At that point I really started shooting, and studying marksmanship and handgun techniques.

At one point early in my To-Shin Do training I was told that to progress to sixth degree the policy was that I was going to need to bring something new into the art and share it with my friends.  Honestly, this was one of my favorite things about my teacher. It’s not uncommon for high ranking martial artists to stay stagnant after a point, and here he was encouraging continual development in To-Shin Do AND exploration into other arts. I had been training in jiu-jitsu for a long time and I felt that everyone expected me to focus on that as my contribution.  I felt that jiu-jitsu was too predictable of a choice (plus our art already has so much jiu-jitsu in it through its history with Takagi Yoshin Ryu and Shinden Fudo Ryu) and I wanted to follow in my teachers footsteps and bring our art further into current applicability. The techniques of modern firearms handling are as much an art as traditional Japanese sword work and far more practical, so why not?

To-Shin Do is a modern approach to the martial arts styles of select historical Japanese family systems.  As a practical matter we practice our art’s defenses against attacks that we see commonly in our contemporary society.  Our weapons training still happens to be largely classical. We do practice some handgun disarms, but we spend a lot of time using classical Japanese sword, six foot staff, and even spears.  There are many benefits to training with and against a large variety and lengths of weapons but we are more likely to have a knife or firearm be part of the altercations that we may participate in rather than a sword, though it has happened. If the sword was the most prominent primary weapon system during Feudal Japanese history, the pistol is now, for people not on a military battlefield. To stay true to our charge of bringing our art up to current conditions we need to be skillful utilizing modern weaponry.

The concepts and principles of taijutsu movement and To-Shin Do are timeless.  Leverage is leverage, timing is timing, awareness and sensitivity will never cease to be needed.  The “Modern Ninja Tactics” seminar series is PART of my attempt to bring the timeless and timely together.  If this type of training is of interest to you stay tuned, there are some cool things on the horizon.

If you own or carry a firearm please train with it very regularly and very responsibly.

1. Know the condition of your weapon at all times, please treat it as if it is loaded.
2. Keep your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to shoot. By extension please carry your firearm in a very good and secure holster that covers the entire trigger area.
3. Always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction.
4. Be aware of your target and what is beyond it.

Please secure your firearm so that a child cannot access it.