The Bujinkan Arts have this idea of Fudoshin within them – that is of being enduring or having an immovable or unflappable heart. I understand the character for ‘Nin’ means to endure or survive.
Within our training we must always strive for this idea of preserving our heart or our spirit. This should spill out into our daily lives as a natural extension of being a Budoka. This also is connected to this concept of ’10,000 changes and no surprises’. That is, you keep your head and deal with what is happening about you with this immovable or unshakeable spirit.
These are heady ideals, but I think worth striving for.
I also think, as a Shidoshi I have an important role to play with this idea of preserving the arts that make up the Bujinkan. The Bujinkan itself is a recent creation, but the actual methodology, techniques and principles are much, much older. As a Shidoshi I have a part to maintain this connection between the future of the Bujinkan, its present and its past. In other words, I have to ensure I preserve the heart of what makes up the essence of the martial arts I have learnt, through maintaining my own training and development but also to share what I know with the people who come to train with me. In the future they may in turn have this responsibility and be Shidoshi themselves.
Strangely enough, as I understand it, Shidoshi means something like a ‘keeper of the way’, not teacher or instructor. The certificate that is issued once the Godan test is passed doesn’t state you know it all – it simply says that you have some knowledge. It is not a certificate of mastery. As a Shidoshi then I have a role to develop my understanding further, but also to preserve and pass on what knowledge I have. There is obviously a danger here of passing on information that you have not fully grasped to others. This is a potential pit fall, but one can only aim to persevere at improving all the time and making sure that anyone attending your training recognises that you are simply passing on what you understand of the arts.
