Читать книгу Ninja Fighting Techniques - Stephen K. Hayes - Страница 8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I started in my teens studying martial arts which, in 1960s America, was a strange and little-understood activity. Eight years later, in the 1970s, I journeyed to Japan in a hunt for the then elusive ninja, determined to learn their martial arts. In the 1980s, I brought the unheard of martial art of the ninja back to America, and taught willing people the intricacies through seminars and my smash hit books. In the 1990s, I felt the need to upgrade the 1500s mechanics of the ninja martial art to better fit the physical realities and the psychological demands of 21st century America, giving birth to the legacy of To-Shin Do.

This, then, is my first acknowledgement for this book: I express my deepest appreciation for all those fellow students who trained alongside of me and encouraged me along my more than 50 years of martial arts. You granted me the ability to pursue my heart’s longing for the utmost in warrior protector skill training day in and day out. I was blessed to never ever have “a real job.” Throughout the decades I was free to pursue full-time the evasive knowledge, thanks to your support of me through buying books, subscribing to our internet service, and enrolling in my seminars and my personal school. I am truly honored in this lifetime, and I know it.

I also must secondly acknowledge the loving care of my family who allowed me to devote my days to martial and meditative study—from parents, Ira and Carol, who supported me as I awakened to my life’s calling, to my wife Rumiko who shared the joyful and yet terrifying years of developing To-Shin Do, to my daughters Reina and Marissa who grew up in the dojo with their parents, and now to my grandkids who wave swords and tumble around the dojo with me.

Thirdly, I appreciate and acknowledge all my fellow warriors who agreed to be the action models in this latest volume of modern ninja personal protection. Just one more example of folks gathering together to celebrate my vision as their commitment to their own growth. Beautiful. Thank you so much.

My salute? To all who encouraged me to be exactly what I was born to be.

An-shu Stephen and An-shu Rumiko Hayes at the beginning of the legacy that became To-Shin Do.