Learn Ninjutsu – Expanding the Number of Techniques You "Own" using the secret of Kihon Happo

Are you serious about mastering the martial art of “standing through thick and thin”? Do you want to learn ninjutsu, the art of the Ninja?

Learning ninjutsu is going beyond the conventional idea of ​​martial arts. What many see, including students and teachers within today’s art, is simply one aspect of a system of living life to the full, of recreating yourself to your fullest potential. And this system has been producing real results for its practitioners for over 900 years!

One of the qualities that you must develop, not only for effective self-defense, but to produce results in every facet of your life, is that of “strategic thinking.” What that means is that you have to move from being at the mercy of the habitual, automatic response way of thinking and acting that you developed as a child, to the mature, observational, problem-solving mindset that…

See what’s going on, behind and beyond the external actions…

…recognize how that fits into a bigger picture, or is part of a larger goal/outcome, and…

…take the best course of action that will produce the necessary results.

This is a lesson inherent in the Ninja’s kihon happo. But hidden within this seemingly fixed set of basic techniques is a method for discovering more than just how to block, punch, kick, and throw an opponent across a dojo floor.

Without going into the specific models most students are familiar with, this article will focus on the lesson, not what the lesson looks like. So what I’m going to do is outline a way to turn 1 simple technique example into much more. In fact…

…what I am going to give you should keep you busy for a long time and allow you to realize that your teacher only had to teach you one technique for each principle you had to learn, instead of the hundreds that everyone needs. seems to be bent on collecting.

So, let’s start with a simple model: one where you defend against a forehand to your attacker’s face. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that the base model has the attacker throwing what many consider to be a “traditional” straight punch.

And the model we’ll use is one where we step back and move away from his attack at a 45 degree angle, inside the attack, to regain his balance, and then we counter with an omote shuto, palm knife hand strike. up to the side. of his neck

So, let’s take the lesson of “creating variations” of the kihon happo and, after getting the basic model, let’s duplicate our technique by training it against a left hand. Then, in any order you like, you can…

  • Practice going off the attack – left and right. Now we have 4 techniques.
  • Do this with your attacker by landing a straight kick instead. Now we have how many? true… 8.
  • Replace the kick with a punch to the stomach. How many now?
  • Now defend against a hook strike.
  • How about a stab with a knife or a swinging blow from a club or hanbo (“half-mast”)?

Get the idea?

By my count, my master’s single technique model is now 24 techniques!

And believe it or not, each attack change will create different challenges that can only be answered by letting go of the limiting thinking of the beginner focused on step-by-step mechanics, and thinking strategically about distance, time, and the results you expect. you are trying to create.

And, that’s just for changing the attacks. What would happen if you changed the way you…

  • Take the hit, grab or kick?
  • Break his balance?
  • Take kamae at the beginning, middle and end of the raid?
  • Control your perceptions? Prayed…
  • Choose different blows or other abilities to counterattack?

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