If one is feeling “off-center” or has a negative attitude your taijutsu will reflect this. Taijutsu is the way you move your body. Soke Hatsumi talks of how everyone has taijutsu. For example, a shopkeeper, as he sweeps the floor, has taijutsu. The ninja should move in the correct manner of ninpo taijutsu. Taijutsu is also a reflection of one’s heart. Sanshin, as in sanshin no kata, refers to the “triple heart” (or in American terms mind, body, and spirit). If one has a clear heart or a good heart, he can move freely, without the bondage and constraints of incorrect motives, mindsets or paradigms. On the other hand, if one has a clouded heart, this only produces a cold rain devoid of freedom, clarity, and happiness.
Train with a pure heart, unclouded and true. Otherwise, your very movements will tell on you. A wrong attitude affects or infects your taijutsu. Kyojutsu tenkan ho can also help in this dimension. Be what you need to be at that moment…..
Enjoy life, and realize that life is only 10 percent of what happens and 90 percent of how we respond to it….HAVE A GOOD HEART!! Good taijutsu without a good heart is purely one-dimensional in this multi-dimensional world.
Shidoshi Spangler, 8/28/00