34 Saturday-Sunday, February 23-24, 2008TThhee AAssaahhii
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第３種郵便物認可☆☆◎● SAVE OUR CITYGuidebook author SumikoEnbutsu works
to preservethe classic Tokyo she loves
PPAAGGEE 3311
2008-2-22 14:0:12 ID=ltemplado
THERE ARE THINGS you’d expectto find when you step into a
ninjatraining studio—swords and stavesand shadowy shapes
practicingstealthy kills. Then there are things
you wouldn’t. Take, for example, love—or aslinky something that
looks like it whenwarriors in black—of both sexes—go at itmano a
mano in the tight quarters of theBujinkan Dojo.
Substitute the strains of Astor Piazzollafor thuds and grunts,
and you could swearyou’ve landed in a Buenos Aires tango
hall,rather than a crowded martial arts den justoutside of
Tokyo.
Located in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, theBujinkan Dojo is a ninja
holy ground,drawing adepts of the black art from allquarters of the
globe.
To them it’s the “Divine Palace,” theheadquarters from where
MasaakiHatsumi—the grandmaster of no fewerthan nine ninja martial
arts disciplines—passes down his accumulated knowledge tothose that
have made the long trek.
“People want to make meaning from theworld they see around
them,’’ saysHatsumi, 79 and remarkably fit. Said to bethe sole
successor to Japan’s last realpracticing ninja, Hatsumi has been a
bonesetter, a Hawaiian music singer, and anaction hero on
television to boot.
“And the meaning they find is in combat.Everything is a struggle
for life. It’s herewhere they tune themselves spiritually
andphysically for that struggle.”
The master moves slowly but can stillthrow his students with
ease.Demonstrating how to stun an opponentand then stab him when
he’s down,
Hatsumi explains that the ninja respectshimself and his
opponent, and that the ninjaway is “an expression of love.” A dojo
fullof disciples nods in comprehension.
Some stay for a week or so while othersspend years in training.
They come soregularly and in such numbers that groupsfrom different
countries divide the yearinto time slots to avoid logjams.
“There’s a feeling here that’s different,’’says Carol Koch, part
of an American groupthat descended on the dojo earlier thismonth.
“I don’t come here to learntechniques, but to gather up some of
thatfeeling and bring it back.”
Her sparring partner Emily Seagrist says:“I feel like I spin
faster here. Like agyroscope, the faster it spins, the better
itbalances.”
Yet the training looks like slo-mo “bullet-time” from “The
Matrix” movies. Theirdaggers are floppy rubber and theirthrowing
stars made of glove leather.
“Ninjutsu isn’t like karate or judo,’’explains Marcello Ramirez,
an Argentinianwho teaches ninja techniques in GunmaPrefecture but
continues to study at theBujinkan. “It is not a sport but an art
form—a system. There are mechanics, but theimportant thing is to
develop the ability tofeel.”
It can be put to painful test: To earn a fifth-level rank, an
aspiring ninja must kneeldown, close his eyes and turn his back to
aman armed with a wooden sword (in formertimes, a real one of
sharpened steel). If thesenses are well-honed, they’ll tell when
theblade will fall and how to avoid it. If not, thesword comes
crashing down on theaspirant’s head—a form of tough love
indeed.
Clockwise from top: A participant finds himself off-balance and
in a headlock at the Bujinkan Dojo for ninjamartial arts; A pair of
Spaniards wait anxiously to taketheir advancement test; The walls
of the Bujinkan arestocked with all manner of weapons for training.
Theplacards above the weapons bear the names ofparticipants, almost
all of whom are non-Japanese;Training sessions draw scores of
participants, whichprovides good practice in how to fight in
confined spaces;To advance to the fifth level, the aspirant must
avoid theswing of an unseen sword. Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumican
be seen standing in the background; Women and mentrain and fight
together at the dojo. Ninja couples are notunusual.
They come from all over the world to master the
spirit, sharpen the senses and pick up a few killer
moves. By Louis Templado/ Staff photographer
The danceof theninja
