Hatsumi Sensei said a particular phrase many times while I had the opportunity to train under him. "Don't think about winning," he would say, and "Don't think about beating your opponent." This has the obvious (maybe not) meaning of not thinking at all and keeping your mind free to react to the actions of your opponent, I have dealt extensively about keeping the mind free of thought elsewhere, so I won't go into detail about it here, except to say that it takes years of training to reach that state.

The point that Sensei was making was that our art of Taijutsu is primarily defensive, not aggressive, so that the intention is to survive with the least injury to yourself (and to your opponent, if possible). You don't get any points for hitting an opponent, and you certainly don't get any trophies for winning a street fight. On the contrary, you must remember that (with some exceptions) one cannot attack and effectively defend at the same time. If you extend yourself to attack someone, even if the other person is the aggressor, you are exposing weak points in your form.

Training in the dojo is no different in this respect. When faced by an opponent, do not think: "How can I defeat this person?" or "How can I get in past his defenses?" Your attacker will show you how he is to be defeated by exposing weak points. You must remain calm and alert. Do not let fear and anger cloud your mind. Watch all parts of your opponent's body with a clear mind. Do not think about techniques- let your arms and legs remember the techniques they have done. Do not focus on beating your attacker; keep your mind focused on not being beaten by him. Sparring definitely has value, teaching realistic timing and distancing, but you should always appoint one person as the attacker or "bad guy" when sparring. Otherwise, you have two people both thinking about "beating the opponent", and there is no feeling. This is poor training.

What you will find happening to you as you continue to study Ninjutsu is that you will develop a calm and happy spirit. Ninpo will provide you with growth and empowerment in all areas of your life, if you train with the right heart. Ninja No Kokoro is the heart of the Ninja: pure and sincere. You will gain the security of your skills, the confidence of overcoming hardships, the determination of perseverance, the strength of enduring pain, the wisdom as taught through Hatsumi Sensei, acting without hesitation, and the compassion and internal strength of the warrior. I give to my students in their student manuals a page titled: "Precepts of the Ninja" by Grandmaster Takamatsu, written about a hundred years ago. I strongly suggest that you take that page out, or copy it, and put it up where you can see it every day. By reading it every day upon rising, and training faithfully, you may attain Ninja no Kokoro.

Shidoshi Ken Harding, 6th Dan, heads the Missouri Ninja Center in St. Louis. He started his training in 1984, has trained with Hatsumi Soke in Japan, and studies Japanese, Yoga, shiatsu, herbology and nutrition. He may be contacted via E-mail: Shadowswrd@aol.com.