01 — Foundation
Core Thesis
Mastery comes from formless sensitivity, not memorised techniques or physical strength.
Only what is alive, adaptive, and sincere endures — ninjutsu's thousand-year survival proves this.
The purpose of real budo is peace, freedom, and happiness — not fighting.
02 — Beneath the Techniques
Core Message
Stop trying to capture the art — become the kind of person through whom the art flows naturally.
Ninjutsu cannot be written down, memorised, or owned.
It can only be transmitted through the quality of the teacher-student relationship.
It can only be received by someone who has shed ego, fear, and desire for status.
The "ninja" is not a fighter — the ninja keeps going, endures, adapts, and remains ordinary while living from extraordinary depth.
03 — Essence
The Book in One Sentence
To keep going — to persevere in the right way, in the true way — is the one thing I would single out as the mark of greatness, and it is the truth that has kept ninjutsu alive for a thousand years.
— Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi04 — Philosophical Framework
Five Recurring Themes
1. Keep Going (Perseverance / Nin)
The single mark of greatness. Each generation simply kept walking forward.
2. Formlessness Over Form
Never fix techniques. Writing loses essence. Emptiness is the supreme state.
3. Balance of Opposites (Kyojitsu)
Not contradictions — a single continuum. Tiger becomes cat. Strong displays weakness. Grandmaster remains ordinary.
4. Feeling Over Knowledge
What is transmitted is sensitivity, not information. Books and notes are inadequate. Only direct transmission works.
5. Freedom Through Discipline
True freedom = rigorous self-control. Fear, avarice, and dependence are the enemies. Courage makes anything possible.
05 — Philosophy by Chapter
Chapter-by-Chapter Breakdown
Foreword — Stephen K. Hayes
Contradictions Dissolve with Proximity to Truth
The contradictions are deliberate — they mirror kyojitsu. Spend enough time and they resolve into deeper consistency.
Introduction — Hatsumi
Flow Is Life; Fixity Is Death
Techniques must arise fresh from the moment. Students are deliberately prevented from memorising. Life must not come to a stop.
Chapter I — Doron Navon, 8th Dan
Grade Reflects Character, Not Accumulated Skill
Three assessment dimensions: unarmed, handheld weapons, thrown weapons — mirroring mirror, sword, jewel. Fifth dan = entering the subconscious. The deepest teaching is transmitted through feeling alone.
Chapter II — Jack Hoban, 6th Dan
Sensitivity Is Cultivated Through Discipline
Diet and lifestyle are training. Kuji is meaningless without taijutsu mastery. Display weakness — appearing ordinary is the most powerful position.
Chapter III — Charles Daniel, 6th Dan
Transcendence = Letting Go of Yourself
Fifth dan test = entering mu (nothingness). Hatsumi's highlights were crises — illness, betrayal, exhaustion — each became a gift. Only what stays true and adaptive survives.
06 — Complete Archive
197 Extracted Principles
Foundational Principles
1The most important quality of a warrior is to keep going.
2Ninjutsu has survived a thousand years because each generation persevered in the true way.
3The syllable "nin" means concealment, but it also means endurance, fortitude, and forbearance.
4The ninja were not mere killers — they were highly trained men and women of unusual courage.
5The ninja survived by merging into their background and being acutely responsive to changing circumstances.
6Man's intelligence, not his physical strength, is what enabled mankind to overcome stronger animals from the earliest times.
7The current world of martial arts is ailing because it has become fixated on competition between strong people.
8Taijutsu is not exclusive to ninjutsu — even a shopkeeper has his taijutsu in how he bows and greets.
9Ninpo taijutsu is distinguished from other taijutsu by its specific criteria and feeling.
10A person's true nature reveals itself through the way he handles a weapon.
11The three essentials of budo are: seeing and knowing oneself, the sword of discrimination for eliminating faults, and the sincerity of the heart.
12These three mirror Japan's three imperial symbols: the mirror, the sword, and the magatama jewel.
13Grade should be assessed across three skills: unarmed taijutsu, handheld weapons, and thrown weapons.
14The grading system tied to fixed marks of already-developed skill belongs to sports, not to real fighting.
15A person's grade is best confirmed by the positive recognition of everyone around him, not by the teacher deciding in isolation.
16Budo is something to be shared with everyone living, because people in this world need to love each other.
17The ultimate purpose of real martial arts is to maintain peace and freedom.
18Martial arts exist to maintain happiness and to bring others the experience of happiness.
19The Bujinkan Dojo exists to foster this kind of martial art and this kind of spirit.
Living Principles
20Flow is the equivalent of the flow of blood — it continues even when the ninja is standing still.
21Each technique must link to the next through unbroken flow.
22Techniques must never become fixed in the mind as stored knowledge, because then they lose their life.
23In a real fight, survival is the important thing — life must not come to a stop.
24Techniques should always arise from the moment, always different and fresh.
25Freshness is energy and life force — this is one of the most important things to understand.
26Hatsumi deliberately avoids giving students time to memorise any technique.
27The essential flow produces an utterly unlimited range of fresh movements, like miracles from a magic fountain.
28What needs to be learned is the feeling — the aspect that has no form or shape.
29The most vital aspect of budo cannot be expressed and cannot be seen by the opponent.
30That which is infinite is inexpressible.
31If you write something down, you will actually lose the sense of what is being taught.
32Don't think during practice — do.
33The more you think, the further from the truth of budo you get.
34Budo is not an academic subject.
35Watching videos and reading books alone is useless — it is impossible to pick up the feeling that way.
36Three elements are always needed: books, videos, and a real instructor who can transmit the feeling.
37One must absolutely not go to any instructor who cannot convey the feeling.
38It is better to seem to have no technique at all in the martial arts.
39Revealing your favourite technique to an opponent is an absolute taboo.
40In real conflict there are no rules — a person may be attacked on the toilet, during a meal, or while at ease.
41The training has become gentler not because it is weaker but because Hatsumi reached a level where hard training was no longer necessary.
42The proverb says the quarrels of the wealthy are few — mastery brings calm, not aggression.
43Training changed to allow many people to practise without injuries holding them back.
44Diet has a great effect on character and health — food and character are linked.
45If children eat junk food they tend toward roughness and violence.
46Balance in diet produces balance in behaviour.
47The ninja practises an odour-free discipline, avoiding garlic, leeks, spicy and salty foods.
48If your body gives off the smell of what you have eaten, your adversary may detect you.
49By not eating strong foods, the ninja becomes far more sensitive to external stimuli.
50Takamatsu Sensei said a ninja in the mountains becomes so sensitive he can detect a woman's presence, age, and even occupation without seeing her.
51Sensitivity of the taste buds is a matter of perception, not memorisation of every taste.
52Fasting sharpens sensitivity for the same reasons as clean eating.
53Hatsumi's own eighteen-month yogurt fast during illness was a divine gift.
54Westerners are not weak in the hips as Japanese commonly claim — their weakness is actually in the knees due to long legs.
55Westerners should concentrate on walking with slightly bent knees and taking smaller steps.
56It is important to extend the spine and constantly watch one's posture.
57The liver and spleen are stimulated through the body's largest organ, the skin.
58Takamatsu Sensei said to keep the body warm from the belly down and keep the upper body cool.
59Always move the toes, even when lying down.
60Cold water friction rubs strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
61The key to staying young is to live a life described as ten'i muho — pure, harmonious, and free.
62Ten'i muho implies freedom of movement, and the key to that freedom is reached when the self is entirely lost.
63Takamatsu Sensei never once did a warming-up exercise — he went straight into practice.
64Physical exercise is not the only or even the main form of training.
65More subtle work maintaining the balance of physical, mental, and spiritual aspects is equally essential.
66After drinking, always go for a long walk rather than sleeping.
67In emergency situations it is sometimes necessary to move around at night — train for this.
68Hatsumi completed two weeks in San Francisco on two hours of sleep per day through his everyday training.
69An irregular and by ordinary standards unhealthy way of living can transcend negative effects through daily training.
70It is essential to rid oneself of fear — fear prevents people from doing so many things.
71People look after themselves far too well.
72Courage is the foundation — without courage there is no hope.
73Faith and belief are essential, and not limited to religion.
74There must be somebody with whom one has mutual faith — a parent, a lover, a child.
75A material culture has weak points — things become more important than people.
76The truly cultured person gives importance to the balance between nature and material things.
Advanced Understanding
77The stronger a fighter becomes, the more love he should have — just as a father is strong yet loves his child.
78The most important thing for those from other martial arts is to let go of their previous forms and absorb the feeling being conveyed.
79The combination of all previous training with the feeling of ninpo is what matters.
80What one can learn from ninpo is self-control — the ability to conduct one's life with balance.
81Even the greatest teacher will have students who cannot understand.
82Training in ninjutsu includes a frightening aspect — like the tigress who knocks her cubs into a ravine and rears only those who climb back.
83That is freedom for both mother and cubs, and both recognise it.
84Hatsumi recognises his students' freedom and they acknowledge his — this is balance, this is control.
85Undesirable people gradually drop away of their own accord as training acts as a mirror.
86A person who learns to disappear but uses it for evil will himself disappear.
87Avarice, dependence, and presumption on others' kindness must all be avoided.
88A person with inflated ambition — greed for fame or desire to be the best — will simply disappear.
89To do things simply, plainly, and without fuss is one of the most important qualities.
90Takamatsu was once fearsome as a tiger but later became gentle as a cat — and said at least a cat can be pretty.
91The ability to transform from ferocity to gentleness while retaining inner balance is real control.
92From shodan to fourth dan, a person works with conscious awareness.
93At fifth dan, a person begins to enter the world of the subconscious.
94If conscious awareness equals 4 and subconscious equals 4 times 9, there are 36 stages in the subconscious.
95The Chinese proverb says instead of thirty-six ways of fighting, the best course is to run away — this is a subconscious instinct response.
96In budo, nothingness is the most important thing.
97If you show nothing, pretend nothing, think nothing, are nothing, there is no way to be caught.
98Moving without letting the opponent know what you will do is called emptiness.
99Emptiness exists but does not make its presence known.
100The fifth dan test involves sensing an unseen attack from behind — something animals can do naturally.
101Passing the fifth dan test involves a kind of loss, a dropping of something essentially human that impairs sensitivity.
102Nobody must imagine that after passing the fifth dan test he has become something — then he would regress.
103When practising ninjutsu, at some level of awareness one experiences a kind of unification with the universe.
104Hatsumi says he is alive, has died again and again, is not just this person, not just this body — an assimilation is taking place into the great Existence.
105The ability to always be fresh comes from not getting caught up in one's own knowledge.
106The vital key is what Hatsumi calls the eye of God and the eye of the gods.
107The Kihon Happo and the three symbols are the foundation from which miraculous happenings spring.
108Takamatsu Sensei used to say taijutsu practice could bring about miraculous happenings.
109Displaying your weakness means you generally appear weak so people don't come to fight you.
110If attacked while appearing weak, the attacker is unprepared for retaliation and is already in range.
111If you feel weaker, stay away from danger — but if caught, use whatever means are available.
112Recognising your own abilities and weaknesses, however strong you are, is the real point.
113A woman with a pistol can defeat a boxing champion — think about such simple things.
114Nobody should think martial arts make him almighty or that he is alone in the world.
115Many martial artists are brainwashed into thinking their budo is the best — this is like being blind.
116Shikin haramitsu daikomyo is the prayer that opens every training session.
117Rather than memorising kuji, it is better to perfect taijutsu first.
118If kuji is intoned properly it can stop an opponent from moving or cause loss of sensation — but only after taijutsu mastery.
119Kuji cannot be taught and cannot be learned — it is just like taijutsu in this regard.
120When taijutsu development is sufficient, Hatsumi will teach kuji — teaching it too early could get the student killed.
121Teaching kuji to someone who is not ready is fraud.
122The kuji exists in taijutsu, kenjutsu, bojutsu, and ninjutsu alike.
123Mudra hand positions are not necessary for producing kuji feeling — what matters is developed taijutsu.
124The enlightenment that kuji and juji represent comes out of long perseverance — nobody knows when it may happen.
125There are aspects of taijutsu that cannot even be taught, and even if taught, cannot be done.
126Beyond skill, further growth is no longer a question of skill or lack of it.
127There are plenty of painters but only one Picasso — Hatsumi waits to see who will be his Chagall, his Matisse.
128White-collar people — those of worth with a future in society — are the best medium for transmitting the art.
129Teaching undesirable people is dangerous because what they learn might be misused.
130People who have their own livelihoods don't go in for robbery and violence.
131A real fight cannot be recreated, especially with deadly weapons involved.
132It is vital to find a way to get into a winning frame of mind — if you cannot, you will lose.
133Knowing your own ability is why grades are needed — knowing when to leave is itself training.
134There is a way for the weaker person to win — display your weakness to be strong.
135If you don't know this formula, however strong you are, you can be beaten by someone weaker.
136In the taijutsu of the subconscious, mind and body must be in harmony.
137When the subconscious takes over, the body moves more instinctively — taijutsu then enters the realm of reflexes.
138The balance between subconscious and conscious constitutes taijutsu, but the subconscious is by far the more important.
139Taijutsu is not merely physical — it is physical because the mind directs the body.
140A person of good will has the ability to repress undesirable behaviour — this is nin, the nin of ninjutsu.
141Ninniku seishin is the spirit of forbearance and fortitude.
142Enduring insults and humiliation while dropping all rancor and desire for revenge is foundational.
143Christ taught the same when he said love your enemies.
144The power to show forbearance and the strength to restrain oneself is the foundation of life.
145A person who endures patiently through psychological attacks without losing equilibrium will achieve a great deal.
146Hatsumi taught students through activities beyond martial arts because the feeling and inner attitude in one pursuit carries into others.
147Mendelssohn said where conversation ends, music begins — the thread is in the feeling.
148By building links between all aspects of one's life, one becomes connected to a greater, infinite life.
149The transmission system from master to a single pupil was followed for centuries.
150Those who had the true sense and feeling of the art were the medium through which tradition was transmitted.
151Such people were naturally spiritually very fine human beings.
152Form without essence is just an aspect of materialistic culture.
153Some schools preserve only the form, not the essence — that is materialism.
154Budo always encompasses two opposing aspects: yin and yang, good and bad, the deceptive and the true.
155Even within form, this duality must be present.
156There are people in every era who, however adverse the environment, are not corrupted.
157Everything that is not strong and healthy tends to fall by the wayside and disappear.
158Ninjutsu has survived uncorrupted for close to a millennium through every variety of circumstance.
159What destroys life and endangers health is people's lusting after fame, fortune, and power.
160The tradition must be maintained strong, true, and uncorrupted.
Final Reflection
161With no thought for winning or losing, you just go all out regardless — utterly simple but extremely difficult.
162Transcendence is vital — the fifth dan test requires entering a state of mu, nothingness.
163Transcendence is not complex or sophisticated — it is very, very simple.
164To be Grandmaster, one must surrender entirely the sense of being Grandmaster.
165One must distance oneself from ordinary actions of everyday life to live an unattached, unconfined life.
166Those who become teachers make a mistake when they want to be grand in other people's eyes.
167Those who are after money are off the track.
168The real highlights of Hatsumi's training were illness, betrayal, and exhaustion — each became a gift.
169The ninja must live without self-pity and without regret.
170A betrayal should not be judged as bad — good and bad are parts of the same continuum.
171It is up to us to choose the good through our attitude and perception.
172People create all their own obstacles — it is foolish to be hindered by self-created barriers.
173When you seem unable to make it, just keep walking.
174Even painful attacks in training can have a beneficial side since they are part of practice.
175Soke signifies nothingness and the void — someone living under an invisible divine commission.
176The Bujinkan does not have a fixed form — it can change and does change with every changing circumstance.
177Birth, aging, illness, and death are the four inevitable phases, and training involves bad things as well as good.
178The mission of the Bujinkan is to protect the good.
179Among religious people there are some fine characters and some rotten ones — keep your eyes open.
180Mikkyo and Zen have intangible aspects related to ninjutsu, but one need not worship any religion.
181The budoka's job is to home in on weaknesses and openings — in religions as in opponents.
182A man should look another man straight in the eyes — linking hands and meeting gazes is the honest approach.
183The Buddhist statue of Takamatsu has neither eyes nor ears because the whole body must act as eyes and ears.
184In any venture, the nature of the human being must never be forgotten.
185The soul has its own food, the mind has its food, just as the body does.
186Books can be food; a meeting with a good person can nourish.
187Through training you learn to discriminate — to accept only things that are naturally good.
188Animals in the wild won't eat harmful food — only man eats anything at any level.
189That is why man must undergo training and has been blessed with guides and intelligence.
190Hatsumi's life in its stages: love of budo came first, then destiny, then students appeared out of nowhere like creations from the void.
191Hell gapes beneath the lifted foot, and heaven is the reward for those who persevere.
192Nothing ventured, nothing gained — but a person must be willing to sacrifice in order to gain.
193When truth comes, each person must choose whether to go ahead or to run away.
194It is ninjutsu's way to keep going even while walking, even while the body is failing.
195Satori is ordinary — there is nothing special about it.
196The simple life is one of the most important qualities.
197Ninjutsu in the West is passing from its childish stage into adolescence — and that is exactly as it should be.