What Does Chi Mean to a Ninja?
By Dai Shihan Mark Roemke
One meaning for chi in Japanese is “Earth.” There are a lot of ways to examine the meaning of this word, be it for martial arts, meditation, or just looking at the Earth beneath your feet. One of the ways for martial artist to examine chi is to focus on grounding. When people start martial arts, people are usually in their heads thinking about everything. They need to sink down with their physical body, bending their knees, and “dropping in” as we say. But they also often need to ground in their mental, energetic and spiritual body.
How does this relate to Chi? It is important to learn how to become centered. If you are affected by someone yelling at you, calling you names, or pushing you off balance, then you are not centered. It is important to learn how to center yourself through training. One of the ways you can learn how to do this is to think of yourself as grounded to the Earth. Bending your knees and dropping your energy into your center will help to ground you. Then you will be part of the Earth element, the chi element.
As students progress over the years through the martial arts, you can see them drop from being in their head, down into their shoulders, their waist, their knees, and eventually the ankles and feet. When this happens, you have a complete being who is very solid in their own stature, feeling, and energy. We call this person a grounded martial artist.
In meditation, there is another way that you can view chi or the Earth element. If I am sitting in a meditation retreat and I want to be grounded to the Earth, I might think about tree roots growing out of the bottom of my feet, dropping down into the Earth. However, if I did this as a martial artist, I wouldn’t be able to move very fast because I would be so grounded that my feet would feel like they were locked in place. I might get hit by something swinging at me. But in meditation, you aren’t worried about this. You are in a safe space and you have time to shift your awareness internally to “drop in.” If you drop your energetic tree roots into the ground, you can feel your connection to the ground that we stand on every day.
The physical part of grounding leads to the mind, which leads to the spirit. The way to tap into this is called “Earthing.” This involves taking off your shoes and sinking your feet into the ground beneath you. I recommend hiking in nature without your shoes on. This can be a little challenging at first if your feet are tender, but you can find a grassy field to try to experience this feeling.
Over the years in my travels, I have loved to take my shoes off and feel what the place feels like with my bare feet, dropping my energy down through my feet into the Earth. Connecting to the Earth through your feet in nature is an amazing feeling.
For me, places like Hawaii feel very empty and light because the islands were just made recently. If I go to an older part of the world that has been around for a long time, you can feel the density beneath you. If you stand on concrete or metal and put your awareness beneath you, it has a whole different feeling.
These are a few ways that I like to think of Chi and relating to the Earth.
One of my favorite ways to tap into the energy of the Earth and to become grounded is to practice the 1 thru 10 meditation. Check out the video below where I lead you through this meditation that will connect you deeply to your personal source of chi.
In our 
Megumi Whittle describes herself with one word— passion. Her personal mission is to "...share the joy that empowers us to become better selves."
Megumi: I think that both are essential— they go side by side, and they are parts of a whole. There is an idiom called 文武両道 (Bunbu Ryōdō). Hatsumi Sensei mentions this in one of his books. He says, “...to follow both roads of scholarship and war. Do not become too absorbed by only one of them.” This idiom is widely used in many schools and dojos as a motto to commit to both scholarship and sports/martial arts. Also, it is used as a phrase that means to be good at both literature and sports. Historically, both 文 and 武 were the expected expertise for leaders. 文 may include calligraphy, arts, tea, poems etc. Having both qualities were equally valued.
Megumi: Many come to my mind. If I have to choose one, it would be 心 技 体.
Pathways: For someone new to the art of calligraphy, what do you recommend for a starting point for training in this art?
By Dai Shihan Mark Roemke
For those who haven't been to the hombu dojo (headquarters) in Nodashi, Japan, whenever Hatsumi teaches, about half way through the class, he will take a break. When this happens, students form a big line in the dojo, each holding a blank scroll or piece of blank calligraphy paper. An instructor then brings out paints, brushes and ink. Hatsumi Sensei will then do individual calligraphy or paintings for everyone waiting in line. Even better, he usually takes requests for his art.
There are so many amazing things about watching Soke wield a brush as the Grandmaster, as a martial artist, and as an artist. His art is an extension of who he is. His books and the walls of the Hombu dojo are filled with his paintings. His art also hangs on the walls of my home and in every one of my dojos.
In the early 1980's, a national health crisis emerged in Japan that resulted from increasing industrialization and a culture of overwork. During this time, researchers in Japan discovered that trees released certain chemicals to protect themselves and the forest around them from diseases and pests. They discovered when humans were exposed to these chemicals known as phytoncides, they too demonstrated increased health and vigor as evidenced by elevated moods, lowered stress hormones, increased immune responses and more. Government officials in Japan encouraged people to practice “Shinrin-yoku” which translates to “bathe in the forest atmosphere” and thus “Forest Bathing” was born.
Pathways: For people not familiar with Forest Therapy or the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, could you describe this practice?
Caitlin: There are so many benefits to forest bathing and simply spending time in nature. There is a growing body of scientific research that confirms what seems like an obvious truth— human beings benefit from engaging with the natural world. The list of well documented benefits of forest bathing is quite extensive. Benefits include lowered cortisol and stress hormones, reduced inflammation, elevated mood, lowered blood pressure, increased focus and attention, and enhanced creativity. There are many more documented benefits. One of the most exciting discoveries, which sparked the movement of Forest Bathing, is the discovery that chemicals released by trees to protect themselves and their forest communities from pests and diseases also dramatically enhance immunity in human beings. When we spend time in nature, and specifically amongst trees, we are exposed to these chemicals and it causes our immune systems to produce a special white blood cell called a "natural killer cell". It's a scary little name for a highly beneficial cell that has the ability to find and combat disease in a cell before the cell has any signs of damage. In a sense, the forest has the potential to heal us before we are even sick.
There are two outcomes that are most universal and profound for people. One is the increased understanding of how to create a non-coercive experience for others. Learning to do this is a big part of the training and it is also profound because it is something that is rarely modeled or experienced in the western world. The other outcome that is closely tied with this is an increased faith in nature to give people exactly what they need, when they need it.
Caitlin: I think one of the coveted gifts of this martial art is the ability to blend in and to be invisible. Besides the obvious health benefits that I already mentioned, I think this practice may be of particular interest to a ninjutsu practitioner for one simple and esoteric reason—you do not become invisible by hiding in the forest. You become invisible by being hidden by the forest. It takes attunement and relationship-building with nature to understand how to let the land fold you into itself. Attunement with nature is at the heart of the forest therapy guide training.
There is a little book I love called "What a Plant Knows" by Daniel Chamovitz. It's all about the sensory experience of plants that science has confirmed thus far. The first sentence of the book says "Think about this: plants see you." I think it is important to take this type of understanding with us into our forest bathing experiences because not only does it increase the benefits that we as humans get from the experience, but it also increases the likelihood that we will develop a sense of stewardship and reciprocity with the natural world. It matters that we understand we are not alone in this world, for our own health, and for the health of this world we co-occupy with other life.
Hi, this is Mark Roemke with 
Today's blog is about a roll called hicho kaiten, the "flying bird" roll. This roll is from Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, or ninjutsu, the "art of the ninja". This particular roll is an amazing roll. It has saved my life on multiple occasions and has prevented me from getting broken bones or worse. Here is a true story of how hicho kaiten saved my life.
Kyle: I grew up on the outskirts of Milwaukee Wisconsin. When I was younger I was interested in rough housing and physical arts. Later, after becoming an IT technician I realized that all of my personal skills depended upon equipment. I relied solely on technology to express my skills. My life was changed when I took a survival course where they taught us how to make shelter, fire, and how to move in nature. I remember making my first bow drill fire at that course. At that moment I realized my greater potential. I realized I was capable of so much with so little. Then I studied and eventually became an instructor at Wilderness Awareness School in Washington State. After years of sitting at a desk as an IT professional, my experience in the wilderness taught me that nature allowed me to express myself physically in the way that I wanted to be. I’ve been teaching since then. Now I facilitate transformative experiences in nature centered around movement and play.
Pathways: Why would a practitioner of ninjutsu (or any martial art) benefit from this training?
on patrol in nature as a job occupation. Another thing we have in common is that we both eventually had our minds blown by the language of birds.
and hearing to try and detect the enemy when on patrol. My martial arts awareness training complimented this military training. Through years of martial arts training, I learned how to heighten my awareness.
He took me to a trail in the nearby redwood hills near where I live in Santa Cruz. A few miles into our morning hike we stopped. He turned to me and said, “Let's just stand here for a minute and tune in.”
