Banpen Fugyo
by Takamatsu Sensei

No one possesses the knowledge concerning the events of tomorrow. This means that we do not know when our life will cease. However, you should not be surprised by any kind of happening. Whether a change in the divine process occurs, a cutting action is attempted by an opponent, or natural catastrophes take place, you should never feel such a thing as surprise. This is the spirit of Banpenfugyo. 'Banpen' means "change" and "Fugyo", "never surprised". What one should have in mind, first of all, is caring for one's own life; this is common sense. Health, both physical and spiritual, is needed in order to prevent accidents. Due to the impetuousness of the youth I made lots of errors until the age of forty. Now, every morning I massage myseIf using an ice cold towel and go with my dog for a walk. After that, I dedicate some time to painting and writing. Those who are evil minded will always do bad things. Even the bad intentioned ninja would be banished. This is applicable to any martial system.

Gambatte
by Soke Hatsumi Masaaki

Forget your sadness, anger, grudges and hatred. Let them pass like smoke caught in a breeze. You should not deviate from the path of righteousness; you should lead a life worthy of a man. Don't be possessed by greed, luxury, or your ego. You should accept sorrows, sadness and hatred as they are, and consider them a chance for trial given to you by the powers...a blessing given by nature. Have both your mind and your time fully engaged in budo, and have your mind deeply set on bujutsu.

Happiness
by Takamatsu Sensei

The way to experience ultimate happiness is to let go of all worries and regrets, and to know that being happy is the most satisfying of life's feelings. Reflect back on all the progress in your life and allow the positive, creative and joyous thoughts to outshine and overwhelm any sorrow or grief that may linger in the recesses of your mind. Knowing that disease and disaster are natural parts of life is the key to overcoming adversity with a calm and happy spirit. Happiness is waiting there in front of you. Only you can decide whether or not you choose to experience it. Take this to heart.

Kihon Happo
by Soke Hatsumi Masaaki

I have trained myself and instructed others in Kihon Happo and felt that those who have had previous training in Karate, Judo, Aikido, Kung Fu, and other fighting techniques tend to stay with those forms and have trouble learning Budo Taijutsu from a  "blank slate."  The fighting forms stay with the student even though he starts the training of Budo Taijutsu. When do the previous learned techniques disappear? I think it is up to a person's individual talent. The phenomenon is just like a dialect disappearing after one lives in a different part of the country.

No matter how hard one tries, he will never be a professional announcer if he speaks in dialect. The same can be said for Budo. I also studied various martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Aikido, old-style Budo, and Chinese Budo. In other words, until I encountered Takamatsu Sensei, I was a Budoka (martial artist) with many dialects. One day I began to wonder why and when did I lose those "dialects?"  I realized that it was after I lost all my muscle tone after five years of illness.  

Discovery of your own dialect is one way of improving Budo. When one reaches a certain degree of skill, he comes up against the "wall," something he has trouble overcoming. This is the so-called dialect of Taijutsu.

I want to write about how to train yourself when you reach a higher rank during Budo training. I would like to use a Cat Competition as an example. I have had lots of experience in the competition because my wife served as judge of the World Cat Club and I was also vice chairman of the club.

Suppose five top cats are chosen out of hundreds of cats. All of them are wonderful and beautiful, but that alone cannot be judged. With no other way to judge which cat is more beautiful then another, the judges start to look for faults. The one with the most faults drops to fifth, the next, fourth, then third, and so on.  The one with the least faults becomes Grand Champion.

Bugei is the same way. If one reaches to a higher rank, he need only eliminate his faults. It may sound easy, but eliminating faults is very difficult to accomplish, because we tend to think we are faultless. Faults can be translated into something different in Budo. They can be suki (unguarded points), or carelessness, presumption, arrogance, etc. they all become our fault. No fault, zero condition is the best. I am zero. I joke that the Soke has no Dan. Zero, no fault that is the target of Bufu Ikkan (living through the martial winds).