34 Saturday-Sunday, February 23-24, 2008TThhee AAssaahhii SShhiimmbbuunn

第３種郵便物認可☆☆◎● SAVE OUR CITYGuidebook author SumikoEnbutsu works to preservethe classic Tokyo she loves

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2008-2-22 14:0:12 ID=ltemplado

THERE ARE THINGS you’d expectto find when you step into a ninjatraining studio—swords and stavesand shadowy shapes practicingstealthy kills. Then there are things

you wouldn’t. Take, for example, love—or aslinky something that looks like it whenwarriors in black—of both sexes—go at itmano a mano in the tight quarters of theBujinkan Dojo.

Substitute the strains of Astor Piazzollafor thuds and grunts, and you could swearyou’ve landed in a Buenos Aires tango hall,rather than a crowded martial arts den justoutside of Tokyo.

Located in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, theBujinkan Dojo is a ninja holy ground,drawing adepts of the black art from allquarters of the globe.

To them it’s the “Divine Palace,” theheadquarters from where MasaakiHatsumi—the grandmaster of no fewerthan nine ninja martial arts disciplines—passes down his accumulated knowledge tothose that have made the long trek.

“People want to make meaning from theworld they see around them,’’ saysHatsumi, 79 and remarkably fit. Said to bethe sole successor to Japan’s last realpracticing ninja, Hatsumi has been a bonesetter, a Hawaiian music singer, and anaction hero on television to boot.

“And the meaning they find is in combat.Everything is a struggle for life. It’s herewhere they tune themselves spiritually andphysically for that struggle.”

The master moves slowly but can stillthrow his students with ease.Demonstrating how to stun an opponentand then stab him when he’s down,

Hatsumi explains that the ninja respectshimself and his opponent, and that the ninjaway is “an expression of love.” A dojo fullof disciples nods in comprehension.

Some stay for a week or so while othersspend years in training. They come soregularly and in such numbers that groupsfrom different countries divide the yearinto time slots to avoid logjams.

“There’s a feeling here that’s different,’’says Carol Koch, part of an American groupthat descended on the dojo earlier thismonth. “I don’t come here to learntechniques, but to gather up some of thatfeeling and bring it back.”

Her sparring partner Emily Seagrist says:“I feel like I spin faster here. Like agyroscope, the faster it spins, the better itbalances.”

Yet the training looks like slo-mo “bullet-time” from “The Matrix” movies. Theirdaggers are floppy rubber and theirthrowing stars made of glove leather.

“Ninjutsu isn’t like karate or judo,’’explains Marcello Ramirez, an Argentinianwho teaches ninja techniques in GunmaPrefecture but continues to study at theBujinkan. “It is not a sport but an art form—a system. There are mechanics, but theimportant thing is to develop the ability tofeel.”

It can be put to painful test: To earn a fifth-level rank, an aspiring ninja must kneeldown, close his eyes and turn his back to aman armed with a wooden sword (in formertimes, a real one of sharpened steel). If thesenses are well-honed, they’ll tell when theblade will fall and how to avoid it. If not, thesword comes crashing down on theaspirant’s head—a form of tough love indeed.

Clockwise from top: A participant finds himself off-balance and in a headlock at the Bujinkan Dojo for ninjamartial arts; A pair of Spaniards wait anxiously to taketheir advancement test; The walls of the Bujinkan arestocked with all manner of weapons for training. Theplacards above the weapons bear the names ofparticipants, almost all of whom are non-Japanese;Training sessions draw scores of participants, whichprovides good practice in how to fight in confined spaces;To advance to the fifth level, the aspirant must avoid theswing of an unseen sword. Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumican be seen standing in the background; Women and mentrain and fight together at the dojo. Ninja couples are notunusual.

They come from all over the world to master the

spirit, sharpen the senses and pick up a few killer

moves. By Louis Templado/ Staff photographer

The danceof theninja