The Philosophy of THE BUJINKAN to Me

by Kris Quinn

When I was boy growing up in Brooklyn, I began studying the art of Tae Kwon Do.  I didn't study the art for long, mainly because no matter how hard I tried, I was never really able to accomplish all those kicks that are such a foundation of that art.  I learned a few of the Kata that I was supposed to become familiar with, but memorizing set moves to imaginary opponents never really appealed.  We had sparring matches, but it seemed they had little to do with the Kata we were learning.  It didn't take me long to get bored.

It wasn't too many years later that I started seeing articles about some martial art with guys dressed in black who used cool looking throwing stars and were good with a sword.  Around this time, there was a made for TV movie, the name of it escapes me at the moment (note: "The Last Ninja", 1983), about a child who is brought up by a Japanese family living here in America.  When the fathers two sons are killed in Vietnam, the man decides to begin instructing the boy... against his better judgment.  To this day, that movie is the most accurate depiction of Ninjutsu I've ever seen on celluloid.

Ninjutsu is not about the fancy moves or the cool martial arts equipment we get to train with.  It is a philosophy of knowledge.  The knowledge of how to use your body.. the knowledge of how man interacts with nature... its about learning all that you can and using that information.

There are lots of truths about the practitioners of Ninjutsu.  Once, they were assassins... but they were also police officers.  Once they were soldiers, but they were also monks, spiritual teachers and farmers.  The real truth is that there have been as many types of practitioners of the art as there are types of people.

Which brings me to me.  I never had the intention of becoming some martial arts superstar... okay, maybe when I was a kid, but I outgrew that... I study this art because it encompasses so many things.. because the Bujinkan is ultimately about knowledge.  There are always new things to learn.  And to me, Ninpo is the foundation that allows me to grow... whether I'm actively studying the art or not.