Our school is very fond of a quote from our art’s 33rd Grandmaster, Toshitugu Takamatsu. He said, “ninpo is is the way of attaining that which we need while making the world a better place.” So, to follow the path of ninpo is as much about finding out how we can help the world as it is about honing our skills for our own purposes. Each month, we structure our learning through a conceptual theme and a value theme. Our concept this month is called “Building Dreams” and the value is Honesty. What we’re doing is taking the value of honesty and applying it to an examination of our own lives, asking: “What dreams are important to me? Not what do others hope or expect me to do, but what dreams do I truly value and want to build?”
In martial arts training, it’s no different than life: if we strive for a dream that doesn’t matter to us in our core, we can’t fully realize it. For a dream to become a reality, it must be grounded by inner reflection, by integrity to what’s inside us. If this is lacking, the dream will crumble because it’s foundation isn’t solid. Fredrick Buechner found that “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” While we are not a school with any particular religious affiliation, we relate to the idea of feeling called in a certain direction. And that this place, where what you need and what the world needs from you intersect, is the most powerful place for a person to be. So powerful that Takamtsu Sensei called it “the way of ninpo”. If we are walking in this way, this path, we have a sense of comfort. A sense that we don’t need to be anywhere else.
That’s how we felt last Saturday, as a busy dojo full of messy, happy kids made about 150 dog treats for Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. All last week, the kids class addressed this question: “How can any random kid take a big dream of helping the world be a better place and make it a reality?” In sharing their hopes for the future of the world, many students said they dreamt of a world where every animal was loved and cared for. That’s why this Saturday felt bigger than just one service event. It was a simple hour of time, yet is made a tangible difference in the lives of others. It brought our community together for what we feel is one of it’s most important purposes: service. It gave the kids a sense that they can really do something right now towards those big dreams they have of helping this world be a better place. And at the same time, it helped us attain exactly what we needed. That’s ninpo in action, aka: “martial arts with heart”.