The Height of a Tree…

The height of a tree is determined by the depth of its roots.

Unfortunately, I do not have a person to credit the above quote. When I first read it, back in high school in the 1990′s, it moved me. To borrow a phrase my mother sometimes uses, you could say that the quote “spoke to me”. So much so, I bought the card it was printed on and hung it on my wall for a time. I don’t remember if the card listed an author, but the quote will be etched in my memory forever as a powerful reminder of the importance of growth – of the need to be grounded and balanced as we reach skyward to catch our dreams in the heavens.

I’d like to extend this analogy…

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See the Kamae

I am an American woman who had little experience with learning strictly through observation prior to beginning my training in the Bujinkan at the age of 30. In my earliest weeks of training, I grew to love training in a traditional Japanese style where we observe but do not speak and do not ask questions. I felt then, and still do now, that the practice not only helps me learn the physical techniques more quickly through the pain, energy, and feeling of the techniques, but also helps train my observation skills so I will be better able to sense and counter how my opponent is moving in a real situation, particularly if they are untrained.

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The Shape of Space (Kukan)

Think back to when you were first learning how to drive, to the first time you pulled onto a multi-lane freeway. Remember how nervous you were and how you couldn’t keep your eyes off the cars zooming past as you attempted to merge into moving traffic.

At that time, where were you looking? At the cars themselves? Or at the spaces between them?

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