Ninja Self Defense - The Secret To Understanding And Using The Ninja's "fists"

Are you looking to master the art of Ninjutsu

? Do you want to know the secrets, strategies, and skills that make this arguably the most effective system of self protection that has ever been created by man?

I can understand why. And, even if you're only interested in knowing more about this deep, powerful, and highly effective system, it's probably because of the unique ways in which the Ninja approaches, not only combat, but anything in life.

One of the most important principles within this powerful self defense art is that...

All Ninja Weapons Are Designed to Be Utility Tools - Including the Fists

In the realm of the Ninja, the key principle is...no limits.

Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi often describes the goal of the training, regardless of whether he uses the term ninjutsu or budo, as that of "becoming a no-limits person."

As students new to the Ninja's arts soon learn, the secret contained even within the list of secret fists - the "secret-within-the- secret" so-to-speak, is that...the list is open-ended.

As a quick refresher, the basic list of the Ninja's 16 secret Fists includes:

Kikaku-ken - headbutt

Fudo-ken - clenched fist

Shako-ken - Claw-hand / palm-heel

Shikan-ken - Extended knuckle fist

Happa-ken - Open-hand (slap)

Boshi-ken - Thumb-drive fist

Shishin-ken - "Finger-needle"

Koppo-ken - Thumb-knuckle fist

Shitan-ken - Finger-tips strike (3 - 4 finger-tips reinforced together like a spear)

Shuto - Knife-hand

Shuki-ken - Elbow gun

Sokki-Ken - Knee

Sokuyaku - Heel of foot

Sokugyaku - Ball-of-foot and the toes

Tai-ken - entire body as a weapon

Shizen-ken "Natural body weapons"

What appears to be a finite list of "forms" that you need to learn so that you can move on to the "cool stuff" will eventually be seen as being "the cool stuff" without which, nothing else can be mastered.

Remember: The Basics ARE the Art.

Most people study the stances and strikes of their martial art just long enough to learn the form so they can move on to what they, in their limited beginner-mind, see as the "cool" stuff. In the Ninja's arts, the basics (called kihon), like stances and strikes, ARE the "cool stuff." This truth can be seen in the lessons passed on from 33rd Grandmaster, Toshitsugu Takamatsu, who said that the kihon happo, often translated as the "fundamental eight ways"* were all you needed. Implied is the idea that even the collective forms taught under this heading are, themselves, made up of kihon building blocks that must each be mastered if true proficiency is to be reached.

* The word happo also implies "infinite," just as the meaning of the figure "8" in the West changes meaning when it is layed on its side.

As is the case with the Kamae "postures" contained within the Ninja's taijutsu "body art," what appears to be necessary stepping stones that must be learned to move on to the mastery levels, actually becomes the very thing that contains the secrets of mastery itself.

What you'll see as we explore each of the fists, is that each has a multitude of, not only striking surfaces, but uses as well. In fact, each of the Ninja's fists are utility weapons that have, at the very least, striking AND grappling uses that can be employed in a defensive encounter.

And many, like the kiten-ken or shuto "hand-blade," has uses outside of self-defense and fighting. The trick is in seeing past the form to understand what allows the form to take its shape in the first place.

by: Jeffrey Miller

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