How does a Ninja learn when nobody gives him a complete lesson or answer?
At some point, serious martial arts training has to move beyond imitating movement, and simply remembering what the teacher told you. Especially if your goal is real-world self-defense.
You have to learn how to observe, gather information, recognize your own assumptions, form a working interpretation, test it against experience, and change your understanding when the evidence tells you that you were wrong.
In KUDEN! e323, Dai-Shihan Jeffrey M. Miller explores the next stage in the developmental journey we’ve been following:
The Ninja as Researcher & Navigator.
We’ll look at why seeing something doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what you’re seeing, how previous experience can help—or unknowingly distort—your interpretation of something new, and why mature students must learn to ask better questions rather than simply waiting for someone to give them better answers.
We’ll also look at a deceptively simple example from Japanese swordsmanship.
Why do people naturally approach the two-handed Japanese sword using movement and other assumptions learned from completely different objects, and think it’s all the same?
That question opens the door to a much larger lesson about martial arts, Ninjutsu, learning, research, perception, and the assumptions we unknowingly bring into unfamiliar territory.
Because eventually the serious student has to become capable of learning even when there is no instructor standing beside him providing every answer.
In this episode:
- Why observation and understanding aren’t the same thing
- How familiar experience can create incorrect assumptions
- The difference between collecting answers and learning how to investigate
- How to form and test a working interpretation
- Why Japanese martial arts training places responsibility on the student
- How better research leads to better questions for your teacher
- Why incomplete information is itself part of the Ninja’s training model
- The connection between research, perception, Discern, and adaptability
THE SAMURAI SWORD PRIMER
If the sword discussion in this episode has you thinking differently about the Japanese Katana, I’ve created a progressive introductory course designed to help you begin learning how to actually wield the weapon—not merely watch someone else demonstrate it.
Learn more about The Samurai Sword Primer: A Progressive Introduction to Wielding the Japanese Katana:
https://onlineninjaacademy.com/samurai-sword-primer/
Subscribe and join us for more lessons on Ninjutsu, Budo-Taijutsu, personal protection, Warrior development, and the deeper lessons hidden within the martial arts.
KUDEN! — The Lessons Behind the Lessons Hosted by Dai-Shihan Jeffrey M. Miller & Sensei James Alexander
Bujinkan Mori no Tora Dojo
Warrior Concepts International