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Author’s Introduction

WHO I AM AND WHY YOU CAN BELIEVE IN THIS PROGRAM

My first memory of seeing martial arts was an early 1950s Lassie TV show. In total amazement, I watched a small Japanese boy use his martial arts training to defeat a gang of American schoolyard bullies, and then later restore the health of his tormentors. You can learn such power of making there be rightness, having the capacity for harming if forced, healing if permitted? My young spirit was electrified. I had to have that!

After years of longing, I finally began my martial arts training as a teen in the 1960s at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, studying with returning Vietnam War combat vets. I had thought I would be learning the grappling method of judo, but it turned out to be a form of karate striking and kicking. I took to the training with near religious commitment, and my martial arts training became a primary part of my personal identity. There is a science of combat that empowers a gentle-of-spirit person to defeat a rough and brutal antagonist when necessary? I had to have that!

Monk warriors on the Kung-Fu TV show inspired me in the early 1970s. They possessed enlightened spiritual intelligence coupled with compassionate care for others on one hand, and awesome physical protector powers on the other. There really is a tradition of mythic greatness based on timeless ideals of self-development and fullness of awakening human potential? Realms of mind and even spiritual power in the martial arts? I had to have that!

James Bond book and movie references to ninja as invisible warriors inspired me to search for new heights of training beyond physical toughness. I moved to Japan in the mid-1970s and was accepted for training in the home dojo of Togakure Ryu ninja grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi. All those martial art cliches about the power of mind being key to overcoming adversaries were really true, and facing hidden weaknesses in the depth of one’s own soul was the first step to learning how to find and exploit an enemy’s secret fears to paralyze him in combat? I had to have that!

Appalled that so few people would ever have access to what I had received through my ninja training in my teacher’s secret dojo with his fifteen students in Japan, I vowed to share the timeless knowledge with the world. I vowed to make my teacher internationally recognized and a warrior icon in the eyes of his students. I promised to make him financially wealthy as well, to repay him for what he gave me, even when others urged him to cut me off as a cultural and racial outsider. I had to do that!

I taught public seminars in the 1980s as a way to test my skills and knowledge. From what I learned through trial by fire, I transformed into actual combat-useful tools the stylized kihon classical fundamentals I studied in Japan. Somehow, in the midst of challenge, the ancient lineage spoke to me and guided me on to discover the power and principles deep in the secret heart of the forms.

During years of travel and teaching, I met many wonderful people. Famous martial arts icons saw my passion and offered guidance from their paths. Magazine editors and television producers invited me to featured positions in articles and programs showcasing my work. Thousands of people around the world joined my once solitary practice of the ninja combat methods, and many of those students in turn became masterful practitioners themselves.

I also learned much about the depraved and cowardly side of human nature in those years. I was challenged by the envious and betrayed by a few who resented the idealism, risk, and hard work that led to my success. No exaggeration—by the mid-1980s, government agents were investigating actual murder plots against me.

I retired from public attention in the late 1980s in a form of retreat, roaming the world in search of spiritual adventure. Through seemingly impossible coincidences, I ended up traveling regularly with His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a protective escort throughout the 1990s. I was moved and inspired by his authentic heroic presence, a kingly greatness I had sought since childhood. Encouraged by my first-hand experience of the Dalai Lama’s spiritual intelligence and compassionate care for all, I vowed to offer the highest ideals of the warrior path to other seekers like me.

Author Stephen K. Hayes served as personal security escort during Nobel Peace Prize Laureate His Holiness the Dali Lama’s American visits in the 1990s.

I founded a network of instructors in the 1990s for those who shared my passion for reaching the highest of human fulfillment by means of transforming the lowest of human instincts. Through realistic and honest training in how to defend against those degenerate enough to want to hurt others in order to feel pleasure, we can learn the principles for activating and unleashing the highest of our inherent human possibilities.

To provide western people the most useful and valuable personal protection training based on my study and testing of the historical Japanese ninja combat method, I had to do a lot of adapting. As a researcher, I enjoyed putting the historical puzzle pieces together to produce a useful defense method. At the same time, I knew very few people would be able or willing to spend years translating Japanese classics into modern western tools. In order to be of relevance in my home community, I had to adapt the ancient principles into a new and culturally relevant shape.

Fights in 1500s Japan were different from fights in 21st century America. Culture, laws, environmental factors—and even clothing of the time—influenced the development of Japan’s feudal age fighting systems. Some major differences from today are important:

Warriors in old Japan wore kimono robes with broad sleeves, waraji rice straw sandals tied to the bottoms of their feet, and various forms of hakama voluminous leggings.

Genetically, the Japanese body trunk was long and the limbs short, when compared with Western people of today.

Ground beneath the feet of battlers was either earth, grass, or in a few cases tatami rice straw matting.

With no policing authority on patrol everywhere, law was often left in the hands of rival combatants, and so many a fight concluded with the ending of life to prevent the defeated from rising up to return for vengeance.

In a state of unceasing warfare, people were psychologically conditioned to watch for the worst from any stranger approaching from a distance.

All these factors influenced the development of the ninja and samurai martial art of taijutsu 体術, literally translated as “the art or science of using the body in combat.” In this classic Japanese fighting form, fighters strategically stayed far apart until the moment of clash, flexed their knees deeply to lower the seat close to the slippery or dusty ground, and often began attacks with long lunging footwork characteristic of Japanese sword cutting, where a right leg would step and propel a same-side right hand shove, grab, or stab.

Contrarily, in modern physical altercations, different factors come into play:

People today wear form-fitting clothes with pockets that can conceal weapons, and hard-edged leather or rubber sole shoes.

Genetically, the Euro-African ancestry body trunk is relatively short and the limbs long, when compared with people of ancient Japan.

The ground is routinely hard, covered with concrete, blacktop, or wooden flooring, and is not so likely to be soft and giving.

With strong police authority in the community, the law is very specific in limiting how far a citizen may go even in rightful self-defense against a criminal; sometimes the defender ends up in court facing judicial action against him for “too harsh” a defense.

In an age of supposed enforced civility, people expect to be treated decently and to avoid wanton violence, giving a criminal a psychological advantage.

In contemporary fighting, an aggressor often uses extremely offensive language to intimidate or shock and then moves inside his intended victim’s safety range before throwing hits or grabs. Fighters tend to hold their shoulders higher in variations of sport boxer postures with speed hand forward and power hand in back, and they move on quickly shuffling feet. Hands dart or swing in with rapid flurries of punches, slaps, grabs, and stabs rather than singular focused blows.

Bearing in mind so many differences in ancient Japanese and modern Western fight challenges, it seems obvious we need an updated method of ninja protector combat for today. It would not be the best route to rely on the details of an antique Japanese training system to solve modern American or European problems. On the other hand, the principles that made the Japanese fighting arts so effective are still valid, and I vowed to refurbished them to serve our new age.

It would be presumptuous of me to use an established historical name like ninjutsu to describe what I am offering as contemporary personal protection. For that reason I needed a term to differentiate between the classical ninja martial arts I was licensed by the grandmaster to teach and the modern adaptations I had developed. To label my modern derivation of the ancient ninjutsu principles, I created the new name To-Shin Do.

Even though new, the name is based on the structure of the old name. I separated the single letter character for nin 忍 of ninja and their secret art of ninjutsu into its two composite parts (with one small tweak). To 刀 for “sword” implies the technology we study. Shin 心 for “heart” reflects the cultivation of intelligence and intention. Do 道 translates as “road” or pathway to mastery.

It is important to remember that this is not something I just made up or pulled together from speculation. The martial art of To-Shin Do was born of the historical legacy behind three important roots of the ancient cultural heritage of Japan:

TO - Sword

From the ninja combat methods of the legendary phantom warriors born of Mt. Togakure and cultivated in the wooded mountains and marshes of Iga comes the core of our physical protection principles and strategies. To-Shin Do martial arts practice is a great way to reduce stress and increase strength, endurance, and flexibility, while fostering a sense of peace, security, and control in life.

SHIN - Spirit of intention

From the kuji-kiri intention-channeling training of the shugenja mountain spirit seekers of Mt. Yoshino comes the essence of our program for the discovery and development of the key qualities that characterize a fully actualized human being. We can achieve a more focused and disciplined understanding of the cause and effect dynamics that lead to success and fulfillment in life.

DO - Path to mastery

From the originally Himalayan esoteric vajrayana mikkyo mind and spirit sciences of Mt. Hiei comes the technique of cultivating into powers our mental, emotional, and spiritual potentials. We can learn skillful ways to transform the inner and outer challenges of life into success, and ultimately come to grips with the question of how to experience directly the significance of life itself.

From deep roots in the principles of classic Japanese ninja martial arts, To-Shin Do training is a thorough system of personal preparation for facing the kinds of conflict and opposition that can surprise us in the course of daily living. Our training program leads to the ability to live life fully, fearlessly, and freely.

The lessons in our training method are based on ancient well-tested warrior disciplines handed down through historical martial traditions I studied with the ninja grandmaster in Japan, along with the spiritual and ethical lessons I learned traveling with the Dalai Lama of Tibet. At the same time, To-Shin Do training is built around a very modern approach to handling successfully the kind of threats and confrontations most likely in our own contemporary culture, and for seeking answers to to the deepest questions of life.

To-Shin Do is a realistic martial arts training system that includes instruction in techniques and strategies for dealing with:

grappling, throwing, choking, and joint-locking

striking, kicking, and punching

stick, blade, cord, and projectile weapons

handling multiple assailants and surprise attacks

overcoming psychological intimidation or bullying

Beyond the basic training that leads to Black Belt in To-Shin Do is a collection of optional advanced courses including:

first-response emergency medical treatment

methods for survival in hostile environments

security protection for dignitaries

law enforcement specialties

intelligence gathering systems

how to instruct classes and run a school

classical Japanese weapons.

Through exposure to the physical, intellectual, and spiritual challenges posed in the many facets of our training program, you will gain first-hand experience in identifying and enhancing those aspects of your life that facilitate growth, confidence, peace of mind, and the joy that accompanies living well and powerfully. To-Shin Do martial arts self development promotes a mandala of 5 spheres of life-fulfilling aspects each of us desires to experience:

1. Abundance – Authority to cast your own definition of success – living a rich and important life, seeing the value of all you encounter.

2. Authenticity – Knowledge of your own true nature – realizing personal peace through intelligence, seeing things as they truly are.

3. Association – Connection to friends, family, and allies – expressing who you really are and sharing respect and admiration with others.

4. Accomplishment – A sense that you are needed – fighting the good fight to serve a worthy cause way bigger than you as an individual.

5. Actualization – Personal fulfillment – time and space to live up to your dreams and see the big picture of how significant life is.

To-Shin Do martial arts training is founded on a very strong and bluntly stated code of mindful action—how to live a worthy noble life. You cannot learn how to become a winner by spending time with losers. Ally yourself with proven role models who have been through the battles and can demonstrate what powerful living looks like, and you develop the momentum of accomplishment that leads to being a winner in life.

I am still inspired to this day by those exaggerated images of intelligence, compassion, and strength I saw in those novels, TV shows, and movies of my youth. There is a tradition of inspiration for people longing for the taste of mythic-level self-expansion in pursuit of an ideal so high that we never will surpass it? I have to have that!

Preparation for the cultivation of new strengths begins with intelligence gathering. Enjoy this book, and any new awareness it sparks in your life. Share its ideas with others. Remember to re-read these chapters several times. Look for the direct applications to life right now, and use the insights to plan ahead for future confidence and power. By all means, use it to inspire ever more happiness in your life. The world needs your bright strength.

A To-Shin Do belt rank promotion is an invitation to enter the next phase of personal challenge.