I came across a book I had read a few years ago. The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage

I believe the concepts in this book can be applied to how we teach ninjutsu.

In the book it talks about the different economies; agricultural, industrial, commodities, service, that we’re all familiar with and then the information economy, which most people feel we’re in now. The authors postulate that we are in what they call the Experience Economy where it’s not as much about your product as the experience you provide to your customer. The example they use most is Disney World for excellence in this area.

Near the end of the book they talk about the next economy beyond experience, which they call the transformational economy where the product you provide is the change in the customer themselves. This is the market they believe has the most potential.

I think these three economy descriptions (information, experience and transformational) could be applied to teaching and training levels also.

When people first start it is important for them to get information about the art. That is why it is so important to have an excellent source of information as we do.

If you take that same information and put it into something people can experience the effect can be very positive. Anyone who’s been in Dayton for a high, energy class with Shane Stevens will agree the experience is hard to forget.

Then there is transformational. People want to be more (or less) than they are now. That is why weight loss products sell so well. So how do we create transformational classes for our students?

The nice part is that most of the work is done simply by following the TSD curriculum. It is designed to take students along a path that transforms the way they deal with conflict. There are however detours that we can get lost in as teachers.

The first is, we present too much information. We say we just want the student to have all the information but sometimes we throw at them in three minutes what we learned in three years. It feels good to have all the answers, to have all the information but are we doing this for them or to make ourselves look intelligent?

The second is we demonstrate too much. We can get addicted to the stage. How much time are you demonstrating techniques in comparison to how much time the students get to train? Again it feels good to have people go “ooh and ahh” when you do something but remember you could have the most amazing skills but if you can’t pass those skills on you are failing as a teacher.

To avoid these detours as teachers we must know the curriculum so well that we can set up experiences where the student will discover on their own the inherent principles and literally transform themselves.

Dennis
Shinobi Martial Arts
95 Plaistow Road, Plaistow NH

One of our newer students asked why we train with ancient weapons like the katana. It’s a very good question.

To-Shin Do is practical self defense for our time in history. The principles taught come from a time when fighting unarmed was extremely rare. The principles taught by studying historical weapons still apply today. It goes to show how much more our art is then just a series of memorized movements.

Basic sword cutting can teach you proper punching if you understand the principles. Shuriken principles, other than the idea of being used as a distraction, can also be used in combat shooting with a pistol. The ideas and concepts or our art are timeless and limitless.

Training with weapons is a magnifier, if your taijutsu is good the weapons will magnify it. If your taijutsu needs work it will be much more evident when you use a weapon.

Be careful not to limit your training to only the way you think it should be. Remember our creed “I believe in what I study. I am disciplined. I am ready to learn and advance.”

Dennis
Shinobi Martial Arts
95 Plaistow Road, Plaistow NH

Back in the eighties when Mr. Hayes first presented ninjutsu, the elemental model was new to our culture (side note: If you visit the Native American Museum in Washington you will see that it was very prevalent among Native Americans). Mr. Hayes needed a way to demonstrate these concepts to us in a way we could understand. If you look at the Japanese model of the elemental movements in what most people call the San Shin no Kata the different movements were all done from the same Kamae and the differences are not so obvious.

Mr. Hayes created the Go Dai no Kata training tools for us because (my belief) we were martial arts children at the time and we needed something basic. I’ve always made the analogy that the Go Dai no Kata are like primary colors or the notes on a musical scale. They are the beginning of training but if you were to restrict yourself only to those, reaching the level of a Da Vinci or Mozart would be very difficult.

The Kamae are physical representations of our emotional, energetic and strategic reaction at that moment in time to the situation we are in. Mr. Hayes has taken in to account that the situations we are in today are different then they were in 1600’s Japan so the kamae are different.

We still use Jumonji No Kamae or Hira No Kamae today but they adjust to the situation. For some this is difficult because it is not “the way they learned it” but to me it is the beauty of this art. It is not a historic relic that must be done a certain way.

It is a living, adapting, growing art that answers the questions we have now as well as it did hundreds of years ago. It means every time I go to class there’s going to be more to learn no matter how long I train. That’s why I keep training.

Dennis
Shinobi Martial Arts
95 Plaistow Road, Plaistow NH