Everyday Ninja

Invisibility is often linked to mystic powers, technology that can bend light , or a ring placed on a finger of a hobbit that can transport the holder into another dimension making them invisible to those around.

Lets say that you didn’t have a magic cloak etc, there are still Practical ways to remove yourself from the view of predators or prey. Theses skills are really easy to practice and even easier to apply. For time sake we will break down invisibility down into three parts , Perception,  camouflage , Distraction

Perception

The mind  sees what it wants to believe or better said rationalize as familiar. For example you see a smaller person in statue dressed older clothing wrapped in a  shaw pushing a baby cart across the street would be just that. Only to look closer and find a small man dressed as an old lady pushing a cart full of money. If your  enemy cant perceive you ,you can consider yourself  invisible.

Camouflage

The military defines camouflage as paint or materials used to hide the body , personnel or equipment from detection. Material like paint or branches attached to helmets rifles etc  are used to dull, shape of the soldier, and or reflective surfaces from the soldiers weapon i.e rifle or equipment. Radio. Paint and brushes are a drastic measure used by the soldiers that protect our county on the battle field, However you will be surprised how far a WIG left over from Halloween or a False nose can go to through someone who is familiar to your normal make up goes. Even as far as hat pulled down over the eyes while you hunch your shoulders can make you look like a different person .

Distraction

Even though we are mentioning different methods of invisibility , it all comes down to the perception of the person you are trying to hide from, if the person perceives that your camouflage is out of place then his perception isn’t fooled and no type of guise will work. Distraction is used to pull the attention away from what is intended to be invisible. Rain , fire an explosion, a loud siren a sudden shout can take a pursuers eyes off of the target just long enough to aid in a simple disappearing act. Of course the distraction has to be used right before the escape or attempt at hiding.

The mind is the secret of Invisibility

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Practice like your life depends on it because it does; the way a person trains is exactly the way that they are going to perform when the fight is real.  So it’s very important that your partner attacks you with vigor and a level of intensity that simulates reality.  So here are some principles that you can follow in your Dojo/Dojang.

1. Practice Safety at all times, when you and your training partners know and trust each other with faster movements then you can actually get the feel of certain real takedowns. Confidence and competence goes up when there is a trust of hard training without injury.

2. Punch or kick all the way through your partner, meaning when practicing make sure that you or your uke punches straight towards you with the intent of impact. That way insures that you can practice using the momentum of the blow as you spin past the attack. Your partner isn’t helping you by throwing jabs or stationary attacks being that someone who is trying to kill you isn’t going to throw a sport jab.

3. Change the tempo its ok to break the pattern of attack for your partner as in reality attacks are unpredictable, mix it up a bit not to the point that the drill turns into a sloppy slap boxing session but teaches your partner to think on their feet and react to changing situations to get the drop on your attack

4. Resist, once again not to the point of injury or messing up the vibe of the drill just enough to let your partner know that you are there and they are in a struggle.

Its easy to feel like superman in a sterile environment with mats and gi’s etc so its important to make sure that you are pushing your training to a level of reality that serves the needs of your training core. If your training is centered on the aspects of fluid movement with the attitude that is open to the change of the dynamic the ninja shouldn’t have much of a problem surving depending oh how well the practice is set up. Make your partner take you down don’t just give in to complacent falling to pass the time make sure he/she know that they can really make the move work. Your doing them a great disservice by being a bad partner and building false confidence, which will get them in a bad situation that they thought, they were prepared for

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Its been said many times before that the eyes are the window to the soul, Well maybe but for sure the eyes are the windows to intent yours and your attacker. One of my old aiki ju jitsu teachers told me that you can see when a person has murder in their eyes” he spoke of this man that was attacking him and his eyes where so cold and focused that he would never forget the incident. I thought well this is the Bronx, then one day after working a late night security shifts years later i was attacked and the one thing i remembered before this man made a lunging attack at me was his eyes. He was so focused that it seemed that he was looking through me into my soul, hmmm maybe my teacher was right is there a tell tale in the eyes of the attacker before he or she is ready to strike. I know for a fact that most inexperienced fighters when then are about to launch an attack look directly at where they are about to hit. I also know that when in a group a person is about to swing their eyes roam around trying to find courage and make sure that thier friends are there to bail them out if they get into something that they didn’t expect in the attack. Still is there a correlation between the change of the eyes and and an intention to attack ? Who knows i do know that the eyes give away the subconscious thought in everyday life so why not during an attack?

For everyday ninjas the eyes are just one of the things that can give away your attackers thoughts. So are nervous hand movements giving away their nervous energy. Some people without knowing it show their teeth, like an animal showing their intention to devour their prey. There are a couple of things that one can look at for info on their opponent but here is some tips about the eyes.

Defense

1) first off use their eyes as a focal point and then draw an imaginary triangle starting for their head down to the solar plexus, that way you gan see what they are looking at while at the same time be able to watch their arms and legs with your peripherals

2) glance at what they look at but don’t stare. If you get caught up in their looking you off then they can guide you where they want and then bam they land a punch out of no where, glance and quickly look back at your focal point.

3) don’t get intimidated by their stare look beyond them and focus on everything at once .

Offense

1) look them off , if your gonna hit them in the face look down at their feet and then bam , they will direct their defenses low and Bam you’ve  landed a game changer.

2) look behind them once , this draws their eyes towards your look when they look back and they will … got em (don’t hold your look to long because they could swing at you also, it helps if you say something like here comes the police)

3) watch with a wide perspective see their whole being , that way you can catch them reaching for a weapon or looking for accomplices .

remember the true way of the ninja is to live a life that your enemies never even knows exists, that way they  can t appear in front of you to attack , when you get careless in your awareness , that’s when your physical self defense kicks in never before that. (The crazy man that attacked me that night after work was so focused on his lunge that i was easily able to sidestep leaving a piece of my leg out to trip him, He falls into the street and i ran ran off in the dark.) laughing of course.

EDN

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there is a level of “kuji in”  training ancient meditation methods used by shaman ,buddhist  monks and later practitioners of ninjutsu that is called RETSU – MASTERY OF TIME AND SPACE this along with eight other meditation methods were utilized to bring power to the ninja. Well its a matter of belief however on a practical sense mastery of time and space is easily attainable.

Speed can beat strength meaning if your attacker is stronger than you its best not to be in the way of his attack . And if your fast enough , even his attack that manages to hit you will be a grazing blow at best . However timing can beat speed. someone with great speed can be thwarted by a person with great time because the speed of the persons attack it not able to line up with the timing of the target.

So when you put the two together you have whats called time and space , how much time does it take to close the gap between attacker and attackee. how fast can you close the gap and you can close it in time enough to hit what your aiming at. No matter what the device is hand, foot ,stick ,bullet there is a speed verses timing factor which should be used to better your outcome in a violent encounter.

The fastest way between two points is often a straight line but if that point is moving its ok to use a curving line to meet that moving point. being completely still and then attacking with great energy can be a good way to put surprise and thus speed on your side , on the other hand moving around your opponent in a constant circle give him less of a target, if you don’t want to get hit use timing that is off and not predictable

when i fight , or practice sparr, i teach to never stand in one place more than 3 seconds , that throws of most types of plans to attack you because they cant calculate where your going to be while at the same time you get to time them and make a well timed and devastating blow to the person hypnotized by your movement

so when you find yourself in a situation whether you facing some one on your level or a person that is strong or faster make you time and space a weapon to even the score .

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when you are walking or sitting in a bar club museum etc , how do you see? Most people have what is called tunnel vision. Meaning they are only able to notice a small of activity that is in their path, blinding them to dangers  and villains flanking them ready to pounce at the right time. The versed ninja has to develop two types of vision.

360 degree vision. When walking make it a habit to look up and around, look at people that are coming in your direction , look at the passenger windows of cars driving in your direction, look at roof tops , and at bushes are they moving?, look and see who is looking at you.  This is a easy and crucial skill to develop, take the time to look all around and you will see ways in and out of every situation,

Picture vision, The second type of vision involves taking is a mental picture at first glance.   Notice and see everything all at once in one glance , then turn away and still visualize the picture that you have taken , was there anything strange or out of place. The advantage of this is that you are still in the moment but are able to look off any attackers making them think that you are unaware. Kinda like a Quarter Back that looks off the DB and then turns back in the direction and throws a touch down. This is a continuation to 360 vision practice seeing everything the first time and then taking a mental picture of what you saw, notice in great detail everything and you will find that this skill will develop into and certain type of esp .

Now im not advocating that a person goes out and starts mean muggin people which can cause an instant problem. What i am saying is make your observing subtle and quick then turn away and memorize what you saw in your first glance , Gentlemen you would be amazed how well this works on the ladies.  Pay attention to detail the first time and then you can walk through the situation with your eyes closed .

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There is a huge misconception about the martial arts, what they are and what they are used for. Before we start this article in depth i would like for you to take sometime to look at the definition of the word martial arts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts

Right now lets get into it.

There has been a huge shift from the reality of martial arts to what we have today, being that our society has been civilized by some standards the real meaning of the art of war has been forgotten. As the definition points out , the martial arts where methods of combat armed and unarmed to defend ones self from evading forces using any means necesesarry. Fast forward we are quickly returning to that type of warfare society, the economy, rising political tension and civil unrest are proof our our return to warrior times. So to prepare for that change the martial artist and person wanting to survive has to change channels in the brain from sport or dance to real martial arts training. The Latest MMA Champion or BJJ Black beltcan kick ass inside the ring but how dangerous this mindset will turn out to be in time of war. Why one might asks , simply put the navy seal or street thug that carries a 45 on a mission , or on the corner everyday for survival is gonna wipe the floor with Broc Lessner because they are going into battle with the understanding that they must survive and not just win by points. They are not just thinking about wrestling and a take down mount and ground & pound scenario . They are prepared and willing to take away their enemies life with the tools that they have been practicing with . It Blows my mind when i talk to MMA practitioners that don’t have weapons training??? I’m not talking about clearing rooms, or shooting from the hip, the difference between cover and concealment etc, I’m talking about simple knife training how not to get stabbed or slashed in a fatal way. Or how to use a stick for defense and distance against another person wielding a knife. Now some ignorant people will say that’s not martial arts ,no that’s not martial sport. See i practice a front kick to the chest  or palm to the face to get  enough space to pull out my glock and shoot. Or i practice ground work and “Rolling”to be able to defend against the bJJ black belt while I’m pulling out my knife from my boot to stick in his neck! (Ouch where did that come from)

So here is a list of martial Skills that one can practice to better prepare them for real COMBAT

Mental Refinement, Spiritual Refinement, Practical Physical striking, take-downs/throwing , joint dislocations, Weapons training, Stick short and long , aerosol weapons, chains, scarfs , ropes , Knives, shurikens, Fire arms, evasive defensive driving, stealth , disguise , strategy , urban/ wilderness/ survival.

Don’t get caught up in the method of these skill sets, just like hand to hand skr ills there are hundreds of ways to kick and punch depending on styles, the same goes with firearms and stealth training there different ways to do it, the most important thing is to find a good teacher one that wont get you killed.

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