To throw an opponent, one must capture his opponent's spirit as well as his body. The balance of an aggressor is half in the mind and half in the body. Throwing a willing partner in class is easy, throwing someone intent on your demise is a different story.

First you must unbalance your opponent mentally (ura kuzushi), whether it be by a slap, punch, kick, pinch, yell, or a kiss. This will serve to shift his attention away from his aggression momentarily while his mind assimilates the sensory input. Right at that instant his physical balance (omote kuzushi) must be captured and exploited.

To throw an opponent with your whole body is the preferred method in taijutsu, as opposed to only using the arms or the legs. Do not pretend that either method is good or bad though, each has merit and may be needed depending on the situation at hand. Any method that follows the path of nature and doesn't break the flow of the confrontation is likely to succeed. The mind easily can comprehend the logic behind the fact that an attempted throw will very likely be countered if the opponent's balance hasn't been fully captured. It is another thing for the body to accept this fact. Throws must be trained for success at first, and then later for failure. Unless it is trained this way, the body will be surprised when a throw fails even if the mind isn't. Luckily if trained right the second throw will often be more devastating than the first, the uke will more than likely over-react to regain his balance. This motion can easily be incorporated into a new throw that not only removes the person from his feet, but does this with the added speed and momentum of the action he thought was saving him.

The method for throwing in taijutsu allows no ukemi to be taken. For obvious reasons the throws must then be modified for safe training in the classroom. This softening of techniques can be dangerous also, many times we forget the initial purpose of a throw due to practicing it at a lower level of intensity for extended periods of time. In a situation that would call for severe techniques it may very well be a life or death choice between the two methods of throwing. Just be aware of the options and do not program yourself to react a certain way, that is not the true way of the ninja. The ninja adapts and changes every second, allow this philosophy to guide your training in general as well as specifically with the throws of taijutsu.

Jeff Mueller is the Head Instructor at the Bujinkan Musha no Tomodachi Dojo in Bowie, Maryland. He has been training in Ninpo Taijutsu since 1988 and has traveled to Japan to train with Hatsumi Sensei and the other Shihan.