Friday Knight News
“The warrior learns of the spiritual realm by dwelling on the cutting edge of the sword, standing at the edge of the fire pit, venturing right up to the edge of starvation if necessary. Vibrant and intense living is the warrior's form of worship.” Stephen K. Hayes
We all
have heard about aliens and ninja alike, and both are known to be elusive. They
have a rating system for encounters with aliens, my question is can't we apply
the same system of measurement to close encounters with a ninja? In UFO related
lingo a close encounter of the first kind is sighting a UFO. While an
encounter of the second type, is to have physical evidence to prove the
existence of an alien or aliens. Then we come to the close encounters of the
third kind, this is where there is actual contact with an alien life form or
in our cause ninja.
My first
encounter of the first kind with a ninja was online in the old days of IRC. We had just been introduced in a metaphysics oriented chat room when I
had an epiphany. I told the woman in question that judging by her sky dancer
moniker she was either a Native American or ninja. It was just a feeling that I
had. I didn’t even know that she was a female, but that had also been one of
my predictions. She dropped out of the chat room immediately, I had freaked her
out. Three weeks later she came back and told me I was correct. She also sent me a few
photos of her amazing artwork where she combined Tibetan and Native American art
together on American Indian shields. She told me that the week before I had
made my prediction she’d been sitting on a couch with Masaaki Hatsumi.
My first contact
(an encounter of the third kind), with the ninja would have probably been with Cliff Lenderman. I believe he was a student of Stephen K. Hayes at one time or
another. The reason I said probably was that his skills as a ninja was so
complete that I didn’t realize he had studied it. His skills blended into the martial art camouflage of styles so well that it was difficult to
pinpoint any particular system that the man knew. He could demonstrate Muay Thai, Kali, Karate, JKD concepts in a flow.
This was
followed up shortly thereafter by meeting Masaaki Hatsumi; most likely early
nineties. I had just given a seminar in the Cincinnati/Dayton area and was in
the mall when I encountered Masaaki Hatsumi in a bookstore. I was looking at
his photo in a book that I was holding and I held it up and he smiled and stepped out of the store. He walked off with a gaggle of young, much taller, Japanese men. Sadly I didn’t
get a chance to ask for an autograph of the book.
After
this I happened, I came across a school of ninja out in the middle of nowhere in
Southwest Ohio. They were part of the Bujinkan from Lynchburg. They gave me a
training manual as a gift so this was an encounter of both the second and third
type with a ninja.
My next encounter was with two students of Robert Bussey, (one of the ninja was Robert's brother). After a seminar, we were discussing similarities between Kempo jutsu and
ninjutsu. Precisely we were focusing on the Kigan (praying hands position), of kempo arts. The hands are held in a triangular or a spear shaped wedge position as it is very adaptable to flinch response to whatever an attacker does. Tony Blauer was there as
well, and the ninja invited him to come over to join our conversation but he declined and was content to listen.
This takes me to probably the most influential martial art
writer of our time, Stephen K. Hayes. I love how he had so eloquently
encapsulated the concept of Thought, Word, Deed to express the teaching that I
had long followed. Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch
your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become
habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for
it becomes your destiny. I had invited him and his lovely wife over to Hanover
College to hear a talk from a Tibetan teacher. I, unfortunately, was unable to attend but I did show up to apologize
for my absence. However, the doors were closed and I didn’t want to interrupt
them. I waited outside by his car for as long as I could before having to
leave. I was delighted to see a photo of them at a place referred to as "The Point", located on campus overlooking the Ohio River. This was an encounter of the first
type.
"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path." Joseph Campbell
My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with some science fiction, conspiracies, laughter, love and mystic experiences. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream meditation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.
Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to cope with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past.
The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.
Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.
Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, which is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.
Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.
Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.
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