Articles

Kokoro no Jutsu
by Kostas Kanakis

Ninjutsu. Everyday many of us talk about it and its possible 'deeper' meaning. But let´s consider this question seriously. Most of us know that, when talking about Ninjutsu, we are actually talking about Budo Taijutsu, but despite this the term Ninjutsu is used more often and in many ways. So let´s take this common term in order to see what we are actually talking about. For many people Ninjutsu is an opportunity of learning a way of self-defense. Many others regard Ninjutsu as a mysterious art with a lot of hidden aspects which they want to explore. To explore the deeper meaning of Ninjutsu we have to take the two characters or kanji: Nin and Jutsu. NIN in the usual translation has the meaning of Endurance. Taking the two characters which make up the character Nin we get the translation of Heart and Sword, but what does this translation really mean ?? JUTSU is usually translated as Art. But what is the deeper meaning ? At first let´s take the character Nin:
If we train our art just as a kind of self-defense, we will remain at the surface of our art and won´t be able to discover the true 'Kokoro' (heart). But what we have to learn is to see, to feel, to understand and to practise with our heart. We have to develop this understanding if we want to take further steps in our art. If we make progress in the development of this understanding we are able to develop our personality as well. Heart and mind have to work together and in harmony.

When thinking about something, we subconsciously affect our heart so that we are able to feel something. When feeling something with our heart, we affect or mind so that we are able to think about something or not (has anyone ever forgotten his first love ??). This kind of inner team-work affects our body as well. In other words: we are able to move, to think and to feel with a clear consciousness. We have to polish our heart that it gets the shine and purity of a sword, and by this our mind is sharpened as well so that we can think in a clearer way. This interaction of heart and mind enables the body to move with a greater efficiency. The other point is that a pure heart can better face the exterior influences and our mind won´t get affected that easily.

So we can say that the development of our heart develops our mind as well, and both together develop our spirit. The term NIN can, as we have seen, also be translated as pure heart or sharp and open mind (to develop an effective and open spirit as well). By means of the interaction of all these factors and their influence on the subconsciousness the personaliy develops on a mental level. Now let´s turn to the character Jutsu:

Art. But what actually is art?? For a better interpretation we will take the example of a professional painter. At the beginning he gets familiar with the variety of colours and learns how they can be combined. Then he takes the brush and tries to draw his first lines and outlines, and then he gives colour to his work. This takes years of study and development. After some years the painter has developed its own form and stile, and now he can start to create his own paintings. Because of his development he livens his own paintings up. Due to his personality the process of painting has gained a new development, a new quality. Now the painter has become a part of his art. In a martial art it is quite the same. We get familiar with basic elements via Kihon Happo, fill this learned Kihon up with Henka in order to liven up the Kihon-forms and at the same time we add colour with our developed Taijutsu movements. By the combination of these learning-processes we develop our Taijutsu and also our personality on a physical level. By the interaction of heart, mind (NIN - spirit) and Taijutsu (JUTSU - body) we develop our individual personality and become due to this a part of our art. Ninjutsu is not just a way of self-defense. Ninjutsu is an art, which develops a human being into a human being.

Kostas Kanakis - Germany - 8th dan - http://www.bkd-budokai.org