Growing up we’ve probably all heard the words of wisdom, “A quitter never wins, and winners never quit.” “Never give up.” “A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.” And of course, the contradictory wisdom, “You have to know when to cut your losses.” “Don’t throw good money and time after bad.” […]
Force of the Killer
I used to teach this a long time ago. But then I sensed that people could not really understand or grasp it. Anyway, here it is again, the three variations to applying sak-ki “force of the killer” as taught to me in the ninja dojo back in the 1970s: Sak-ki – Experiencing and projecting a […]
Codes in Martial Arts Training?
A friend wrote critically of codes and creeds in martial arts schools. He feels people just want fitness and self-defense and do not sign up for what he calls “Boy Scouts or Sunday School”. He has a valid point. But what of people who want more than fitness and fighting from their martial arts study? […]
The Cost of Your Attachments
One of my life coaching clients was very distraught over the belief that he would never be able to attract a life mate. In fact, he was obsessed with it. So I asked him why he believes this. He explained that he had been through a couple of rejections when asking people for a date […]
Removing Excess Tension In Training
I’ve been talking about excess tension in some of my recent classes. No doubt every one of us has been told to relax at some point in our training. But that language can be confusing. How can one be relaxed when you’re in the middle of a fight? What is really meant by that is […]
External Focus
One of our training members asked a question recently while we were experimenting with the body movement for slipping past straight punches coming toward our head. His question was about the sequence of body movements and which body part moved first. The question was a very logical question based on the steps of the experiment […]
Questions Are The Answer
By Dennis Fuutoshi Mahoney on December 23, 2020 in Teacher Insights, Uncategorized, Warrior Philosophy
Part 1: “Abby…someone. Abby Normal” I’ve been reading over the holiday break which, as my students know, means I have new ideas of how to explain what we’re doing in Shinobi Science. What’s new in neuroscience has been the focus this time and it is not normal. Most people have heard of the concept of […]
Training In Five Dimensions
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to humans. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of human fears and the summit of human knowledge. This is […]
How Is This Helping?
Previously I mentioned that our brains are literally hardwired to push us toward focusing on the negative, to be scanning for perceived danger and threats. To make matters worse, our neocortex, which is the seat of imagination, is good at making things up. This is a formula for a lot of negative fantasies. With all […]
COVID Meditation for Restored Health
Let’s look at one action we can all take to diminish the effects of another wave of Covid in the world. Sit comfortably, either on the floor or in a chair. Keep your spine straight. Close your eyes. Place your hands in your lap, palms up, right hand on the left. Enjoy a few relaxing […]
Simple Keys to Guide Everyday Living
(A take on some thoughts from Dave Kovar) How would you breathe if you were totally calm and confident? Breathe like that. How would you walk if you were amazingly vibrant and healthy? Walk that way. What would your posture look like if you extremely alert and awake? Stand like that. What would you eat […]
Hard-Wired
Recently I took on a new life coach client. At our first meeting he got very emotional and asked me why he felt he was always struggling with a sense of negativity. He said he had looked into whether he was clinically depressed and felt that this was not the case. “I’m not really depressed […]
Secrets to Transforming Fear
What is the biggest enemy we face? It may be fear. Fear that you will not know the right thing to do in an emergency. Fear that an enemy might have more fierceness, more determination, more techniques, more toughness, and more experience than you. Fear that you will not live up to your own expectations […]
Doing Your Best
We are all trying to do our best. What does that really mean though? If we are not clear on what the definition of our “best” is, we are very likely to seriously reduce our ability to our best. If our perspective is not based on clarity and realistic expectations, we are setting ourselves up […]
Five Minds in the Middle of Conflict
Traditional martial arts training, back when martial arts prepared the practitioner for living accurately and safely, offers us a series of five states of mind to explore while training and moving about in the world. 初 心 Sho-shin, the “beginners mind”,a state of awareness that remains fully prepared to enjoy things for the first time. […]