I told my friend Jack Hoban that I am getting a lot of questions from my friends about our up-coming ethical leadership seminar. Martial arts practitioners and spiritual seekers alike want to know why I have chosen to make such a boldly different move in my presentation for this event. I tell my friends I am doing this because I have passed the 60-year mark and there is much I have learned in my decades of study that I have not taught because it just did not seem to be in demand yet. But now things are different. I can no longer wait for my seniors in their 70s and 80s to take that initiative in teaching, and the world seems different now, suffering from financial, ethical, and health crises that have caused so many to question the way they live their lives. I feel morally compelled to do it.

I asked Jack what he tells his friends. Give it to me straight, I said. Why should people trust us on this one, and make it happen to be there with us on this special day in March?

Here’s what Jack wrote back:

Some people (actually many people) have asked about the seminar I am giving in two weeks with Stephen Hayes.

The first question is: Why? Answer: Because I want to. I have been friends with Stephen for almost 30 years. Our lives took different paths over that time, but our friendship remained strong. He introduced me to Hatsumi Sensei at his house and facilitated my first extended solo visit to Japan. He is a brilliant guy with many interesting experiences to share – and I want to continue to share them, and I want my friends to have that opportunity, as well. If they want to.

Second question: What is it about? Answer: It is about ethics, leadership and warriorship. While not a martial arts seminar, per se, it will have all the elements of the sanhsin: body, mind, spirit. We will draw from our martial arts experiences, military experiences, experiences in Tibet and with the Dalai Lama, business…in other words, LIFE. How do you live in the REAL world as an ethical person, a leader and a warrior. You do not need a martial arts uniform (loose-fitting business casual clothing is appropriate) but this ain’t going to be no Anthony Robbins workshop.

Third question: Should I go? Answer: Only you can answer that. But if you agree that the world needs some fierce, ethical leadership in this day and age, you may want to join us. Because that’s what Stephen and I think.

Fourth, (and unspoken) question: You are confusing me – Is this some weird twisting of the Bujinkan? Answer: Bujinkan is Masaaki Hatsumi’s martial art. So, no, this is not Bujinkan. Have both both Stephen Hayes’ and my perspectives of life been impacted by our (very different) experiences with Hatsumi Sensei? Absolutely, and that is part of who we are and what we will present. But this is not a martial arts class. This is an ethics and leadership workshop – for warriors willing to take the lead in their lives.

There is an agenda posted RGI. Check the bottom of the page.

My perception is that we are in the midst of one of the lowest points we have ever experienced in the world when it comes to demonstrated noble big-vision leadership. When I say “we” I mean all of us alive now, from the newest baby to the seniormost life veteran.

Whatever happened to ethics? Whatever happened to statesmanship? Whatever happened to noble ideals?

Politically, we see time and again bitter divisiveness as the rule of the day. Despite popular talk of “bipartisanship”, stopping the other team seems to be the goal, regardless of outcome, based on evidence I see. Bolsheviks align from the left to punish productive earners through odious levels of taxation and regulation, and Fatcats out on the right lure pitiful wage slaves into helplessly providing egregious profits.

Popular gods of the times – multi-millionaire sports figures – cause us to gasp and wince at scandalous betrayals of trust. Betrayal of family (wild tigers), betrayal of sportsmanship ideals (shrieking profanity at officials), betrayal of humane living (dogfight investors), and betrayal of healthy living (ballplayer dopers) cannot fail to sadden any idealist.

How ‘bout those bankers and money movers? CEO paid 385 million dollars for the few years it took to destroy Lehman Brothers, devastating the financial security of countless hard-working Americans but providing for a full lifetime of over-the-top luxury for one heartless former CEO now sipping drinks with fellow killers at private beachfront palaces. And that’s only one; there are plenty more like him in the private and government sectors.

Anyway, you get my point. I do not see much heroic behavior these days. I see a lot of selfish taking with little regard for the grander welfare of all.

So what would it take for things to change?

Most will not like this because it is so undramatic and so middle of the path, but…
We need balance, heroic big visioned big brained big hearted big shovel and big stick balance.

Where does balance start?

We have an ideal – warrior protector virtue, in the real original meaning of the word virtue as “manly valor perfected through taking care of all”.

We have a vision of what blocks such an ideal from blossoming – imitation of warrior strength, in the sense of confusing manliness with “mean little boy” taking whatever desired by beating anyone who might get in the way.

We cultivate that balance by becoming as strong as possible through training and becoming as ethical as possible through study.

I have been saying it since the 1980s. The ethical warrior winner gets everything he or she needs, and the world is a better place as a result of it.

Want to see what that kind of training looks like?

Join me and my friend Jack Hoban for a full day of ethical warrior preparation March 13 in Newark, NJ. Enroll at RGI and become part of our revitalization of the responsible warrior leader taking ground in a long overdue battle.

Here’s a trivial note for friends with martial arts schools that feature a Japanese-style kamiza “spirit focal point” shelf on the main wall of their training space.

As described in the book Enlightened Self Protection, a kamiza can be compared to the family mantelpiece tradition familiar to American and European homes. As the mantel holds special pictures, artifacts, and memories of our family history, the kamiza serves as a reminder of the historic al and cultural legacy that stretches out behind the teachings embodied in our martial art today.

The items on the kamidana “spirit shelf” are Japanese in origin, but they are equally relevant to us in the West as reminders of our connection to the forces of nature, our gratitude to our teachers – even those teachers we have never met – for handing the knowledge down to us, and our personal responsibility for discovering the keys to actualizing our potential in ways that will carry our legacy on to new generations.

• Tomyo candles symbolize the light we carry in our hearts
• The kagami mirror symbolizes a stainless heart, pure in its reflection of “what is”
• A dish of salt symbolizes willingness to sacrifice and gift others in order to grow
• The shinden wooden house-like structure contains a small ofuda plank talisman as symbol of the ancient spirit that guides our training (concealed behind the doors behind the mirror, so not visible in photo below)
• Sakaki greenery reminds us of our place in the richness of nature

(For a sense of size perspective, check the photo in my birthday party post)

When I was living in Japan in the 1970s to train at the house dojo of my ninja teacher, my job during each weekly dojo clean-up was to replace the water in the sakaki vases. I was “the tall guy’ in those days, and my reach allowed me to get to those vases of greens without having to drag out a step ladder.

Today, most of us in the West use artificial greens since fresh branches from sakaki plants are very hard to come by or grow in most of the USA and Europe. Sakaki (cleyera japonica) is a low-spreading, medium-sized evergreen tree of the plant family which also includes tea and camellia.

Even if you cannot get sakaki, you can get bountiful boughs of greenery for your kamiza – holly or any other waxy green leafed shrubs – or at least tasteful artificial ones.

And here’s the point: be sure your kamiza has those boughs. I have seen a lot of photos of various dojo kamiza on internet sites of martial arts schools in America and Europe, and more often than not, there for all to see are a lot of pitiful naked kamiza shelves. Avoid that. Celebrate your tradition with lots of rich green.

Avoid scraggly wisps reminiscent of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Avoid little potted plants with roots. Avoid avoiding greenery altogether.

If you are going for a traditional look in your dojo, be sure that you fully understand the tradition. And avoid ignorant “tradition for tradition’s sake”, just as you would avoid pointlessly odd technique in your curriculum if you are teaching useful methods as opposed to mere museum-like cultural imitation.

I have known fighting and fitness trainer Scott Sonnon for some years, and I am impressed with his work.

He has developed a physical fitness program called TACFIT, based on natural body weight movement, as opposed to iron weights or lever/pulley equipment. Over the years, several of my friends have asked me for this kind of information, but that is not really my specialty.

Anyone up for trying this out and sending me your feedback? It is relatively inexpensive, and based on my review of preliminary material, I believe the program looks quite solid.

If interested, get started by clicking here to order your program.

Let me hear your success (or “not”) stories.

I had a conversation with a person who commented that our taijutsu looked “too slow” to him. He felt that for a real fight, we should be practicing with what he called “realistic speed”.

I understand how he could feel that way. Once upon a time a long time ago, I too studied a less mature form of martial art, a less sophisticated form of martial art, in which beating people to the punch or throw was the only way to win.

I did not say it that way to him, though, because it would only have resulted in an argument based on emotional hopes and beliefs. Instead, I invited him to look at a video clip of our art in action.

He wasn’t impressed. “See? There you go. You guys are moving slowly. Your art works as long as you guys agree to move slow.”

I knew he would say that. I was ready for his misperception. “OK. Now watch the clip again and this time, only watch the attackers. Check out how quickly and explosively they move.”

He watched and this time he remained silent. I could tell he was confused and did not know what to think.

I helped him out. “There is absolute speed. And there is relative speed. In the same way, there is power and there is relative power. If your timing is right, you can fit into furious action with minimal motion. Of course, if you are not aware of timing, or you are not experienced enough to use timing to your advantage, you will not be able to pull it off.”

It is all about mastery. The master painter may indeed need less paint and fewer strokes to tell more of a story. The master mechanic uses only minimal elbow grease action to get the most from tuning up a racing engine. Little children use high volume to express the importance they feel their words carry, while a master story teller may instead use a hushed voice to really capture an audience.

Of course, you have to be ready to hear such logic. If you are still a splash and slap painter, a bang-around mechanic, or an exuberant little kid, none of this makes sense.

Check out the video clip of spontaneous totally unrehearsed sword clashes and only watch the attackers’ speed and explosiveness. Do not even consider my speed. Then reflect on the results of each clash.

Can you see it? Can you get it? Are you ready to get it?

Living in a way that keeps you ever aware of the preciousness of each moment and fullness of potential held in each encounter is called being mindful. Developing such a habit is a part of the To-Shin Do 8-Step Personal Perfection Plan for personal transformation from the inside out

7. IDEAL MINDFULNESS – “Perfect way to be aware”
“I use every moment as an opportunity to grow. Everything matters!”

So many people move through life in a way best described as semi-focused and partially distracted. They creep from moment to moment waiting for whatever might come along. Whatever pops up, they deal with it or duck it, and then go back to dull ease. It becomes a habit.

They certainly do not keep their eye on any prize they have committed to win. They move through meetings, take or make phone calls, talk to coworkers on the job, share space with family members, maybe go to a party or event with friends, all the while taking things as they come. Life is a pattern of winging it, docilely and mildly comatose.

Such people are not clear about the specific outcome they want from each interaction. They certainly have no sense of looking for and expecting the potential magic of every encounter. Life is perceived as “not too bad” but never soars or roars. Unguided and undefined, life eases along and becomes whatever it it becomes.

As long as life never falls into states that challenge survival, few people seem to consider it a problem to live in an aimless and random manner. Even fewer think to look for a solution. Only a very few know how to implement the solution.

If you did realize that an unfocused life just using up days is a problem, and if you did want a solution, one simple change is extremely effective. Create a new habit of asking yourself before you start any activity, “What do I want to get out of this? What is the outcome I want to generate?” Pay attention to paying attention. Even the smallest thing – a cup of coffee, a casual conversation, a walk to your car on a hot sunny day – becomes an opportunity to live with depth and purpose. Do not waste time or opportunities.

To make asking this question a habit, put visual reminder icons where you cannot miss them. One friend uses an exaggerated exclamation point as a talisman. One uses a bug-eyed smiley face. One uses a grinning Tibetan skull caricature to remind him of the swiftness and shortness of life. Pencil your reminder in your daily schedule, on a card in your briefcase, or post-it note on the bottom of your computer monitor.

Constantly seeing these reminders makes it easy to develop a new way of thinking. That leads to a new way of operating. Whatever you do repetitively and consistently can develop into a habit, so make sure you pick the most ideal habits to invite into blossom in your life.

Shikin Haramitsu Dai-Ko-Myo! Every moment has its lesson, if only we are alert enough to be ready for it. Stay mindful of all the possibilities. What is the higher value of what you are experiencing right now? What is there to enjoy and build from right here?

I asked some of my training friends what keeps them going in their To-Shin Do martial arts study. Why are you doing this? If you are not anticipating a lot of life-or-death fights in the next few weeks, what is the pull to keep on training? Give it to me straight. What is the pay-off beyond the exceptional physical combat efficiency we offer? My friend Russ Nemhauser sent me some heart-warming thoughts of how To-Shin training reaches beyond combat and addresses other realms of chance-taking and risky exploration.

Here’s what Russ had to say:

Since beginning To-Shin Do I have noticed that my personal growth has really taken off. I was growing and succeeding in my work life, something that nearly monopolized my attention for twenty years, but I was at a near stand-still when it came to personal growth.

At 37 years old, I made my first trip to Europe. While there I toured buildings that have been standing four times longer than the United States has been a country. I engaged with the locals in their culture and history. At times I could literally feel the bigness of where I was. I found it most invigorating. Ironically, for my first 30-plus years I had no interest in exploring other countries. Now I can’t wait to get out there and see more.

Since my trip I wake up in the morning eager to find ways to expand my horizons. I’m ready for new ways of thinking instead of the same old repetition. I like to use the Internet to learn more about why things are the way they are in today’s world. What happened? How can I use that information as a lesson before I need to learn that lesson?

When we’re bored by routines, it’s easy to become distracted by the next fancy car, the fastest new computer, or that next promotion and raise. Sometimes we begin to think those material goals are what life is all about. It‘s easy to forget that the toys often serve as a “treatment” for unhappiness. By the time you notice it, the daily grind defines your life and it can be difficult to break out and start a new, fresh path. The lucky ones realize that material rewards are a treatment and not a cure, and much like for an addict on drugs, the rewards need to get bigger and bigger in order for you to feel enough happiness.

To-Shin Do opened this door for me and helped me to realize new horizons. It helped me to think beyond the boundaries of what I accepted as my life. I encourage everyone to do what I’ve only just started to do: break the mental routine. Instead of obsessing over work tomorrow, spend 20 minutes feeding your own interests. It may be a book you want to read (or write), a long quiet walk, meeting new people, exploring areas you generally don’t frequent, or anything that isn’t part of your normal day. Do something fresh and stimulating. You’ll find something new and exciting to add to your life. I think you’ll be surprised at how good it feels to add to your internal toy chest new things that aren’t made of metal or wood and can’t be measured by money. It made me feel ten years younger, and I’ve only just begun.

I received a note in which a sentence contained the word string, “…are supposably caring sensi their in the dojo…” What the writer actually meant to write was, “…our supposedly caring sensei there in the dojo…”

He was writing to ask about how to become an affiliate instructor in our SKH Quest network of schools and clubs. Our office team was stumped as to the best reply.

One member pointed out that we were dealing with someone who was uneducated, lazily careless, or dull. None of those three qualities are positives when considering taking on the role of teaching our technologies for how to be a powerful presence in the world.

Certainly there are plenty of ignorant, sloppy, or stupid people teaching martial arts in the world. Sure, such a person might teach a little self-defense, or maybe even some pretty effective martial violence. But our program only starts with not getting beaten in fights; real power over assailants and enemies who would shut down your life requires knowledge, initiative, and intelligence.

Another friend suggested that maybe I was being too uptight about what he called “the tiny details”. He asked if I understood what the writer meant. Obviously, since I could successfully translate and correct his sentence, I understood. “Well there you go,” my friend chided. The writer was doing OK because he got his message across to me, and the message was more important than the mere words that carried the message.

No. The words communicated a message way bigger than the desires of the writer. The words told me that I was dealing with an uneducated, careless, or dull person, and as such a person, he would have a very difficult time qualifying as a teacher in our network. Not to mention that he told me he had not even taken lesson one in our martial art. There was little encouragement I could give him.

“Yes but what if he were a truly good person, and with the right coaching, he might be a great martial arts instructor?” my friend continued.

Indeed possible. In that case I would urge him to:

• Study a remedial writing course, or at least read a lot of clear writing and notice its form; overcome lack of education
• Pay attention to and engage actively in the details; learn to overcome laziness
• Spend lots of time with people more accomplished than him; it is possible to be inspired into performing above our latent capacities
• And yes, at least get a few DVDs to see why our martial art is so different from what he was practicing.

Effective speech is one of eight qualities we need to pursue for self-perfection. In short form, when it comes to using communication to get the most out of life when dealing with others, the guiding question becomes, “What is the perfect thing to say here; what would be the ideal way to say it?” Learn to communicate in a way that produces the results you want.

One associate of mine (cannot honestly call him a “friend”) thought our dojo holiday classes were “unnecessarily frivolous”. The ninja martial art is a serious thing, he scolded. I chided back that we were indeed so very serious and our techniques so scaldingly deadly that we did not have to go around acting serious and deadly; only those who doubted their authenticity needed to maintain a grim and righteous look.

A friend once asked me in light of all my work with Tibetan Buddhist monks and Japanese yamabushi priests if I was offended by receiving Christmas cards.

Astonished, I replied, “No! Not at all!”

My family loves the Christmas celebration. We have two Christmas trees in two different living rooms in our house, both with haloed angles at the top. Rumiko loves to have pine boughs and red satin ribbons everywhere. When the girls were tiny, we used to go to a living Bethlehem manger display, complete with live donkeys, wisepersons, and baby Jesus. We get into the season.

In elementary school, my daughters brought home year-end dreidels that their Jewish friends had given them.

And early December is a Japanese celebration of Buddha enlightenment day. We’ve got that in there too.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa Joy, Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu, Tashi Delek, Solstice Brightness.

I never turn down an opportunity to join a celebration of anyone’s approach to brightness, warmth, family, and spiritual advancement.

Greetings of the appropriate season to you!

When I was a child in the late 1950s, my TV cowboy hero was Bat Masterson. I watched the show every week and never failed to be enthralled. The Bat Masterson show was based on a real character who lived in the old West. Born in 1853 in Quebec, Masterson worked as a US Army Indian fighter, a sports writer, newspaper columnist, and US Marshal. He died in New York City in 1921 at the age of 67.

The TV show featured a somewhat fictionalized Bat Masterson as a gunfighter gambler during his days in Dodge City. Actor Gene Barry played Bat with a look distinctive among TV Westerns in the 1950s. Rather than a dust-blown 10 gallon hat, Bat wore a derby. Rather than a cowboy jacket, Bat wore an elegant silk vest. More often than not when it came to fighting, Gene Barry’s TV Bat Masterson preferred to take out attackers with his gold-topped walking stick cane as opposed to shooting a gun. The TV Bat Masterson was cool, incredibly suave for 1950s television, and… well, real different from all the rest.

Even as a 10 year old, I liked that “real different from all the rest.” In a realm of scruffy, unsophisticated, scuffling barroom brawling cowboys, Bat Masterson had class. Bat knew the finer aspects of living, dining, and dressing well. And yet he was one real tough guy (history claims he killed 6 men in one-on-one gunfights, aside from the Indian wars, though legends have him in lots more gunfights).

I bought a souvenir child’s toy Bat Masterson 3-foot cane and got my start at hanbo fight training with a 4th grade school chum in my backyard. We took turns whacking each other with that cowboy hanbo as the other tried to draw and fire his pistol. I liked that silk brocade vest, too, and wore one for my Halloween costume one year dressed as my favorite TV western star.

I still really like different, fifty years after watching Gene Barry’s Bat Masterson on TV. In a martial arts world full of crass scufflers, I want there to be room for a cool but deadly gentleman combatant. In a pay per view realm of screaming profanity, I want there to be a place for a poetically spoken ultimate warrior.

After hanging up the cane weapon and brocade vest, Barry went on to a new TV series where he played police captain Amos Burke who instead of wearing blue serge and driving a cruiser with siren and dome light, travelled in custom tailored suits to crime scenes in a Rolls-Royce. I instantly became a fan of the show Burke’s Law. I couldn’t help it. I really do enjoy “different”.

Actor Gene Barry died peacefully at 90 years old last week.

I still have my hanbo and gold brocade vest and my car – in newer form – maybe just a little bit because Gene Barry’s elegant fighters so impressed me on the small screen of my youth. I salute the wonderful actor for his iconoclast roles that defied a cookie-cutter conformity on an older generation’s TV, and helped prepare me to see that wild possibilities sometimes open up for the bold of spirit.