When the myth wears off...

 In this discussion I would like to talk a little bit about the things I see that sort of disturb me whenever I look around the internet for Ninjutsu related information. Whether they are budoka who insist that Ninjutsu is something it isn't, people with more bad information than good, people who hate for little to no reason at all, or simply "crazies" in black pajamas (and they are there in abundance!). All of these things are not good for our art and should be treated with a certain respect and manner.

 Most of it seems to stem from people thinking they know more than they actually do. They may read an article or webpage and think they have concrete information. Rather than cross referencing this information they post it all over the internet, be it on sites like YouTube, forums, etc. Please double check what you think you know before you start an argument or "flame war" over some tidbit that may not be accurate anyways. On the same note however, practitioners of Ninjutsu, or any martial art for that matter should practice tolerance. Even if someone is wrong and will not accept being corrected sometimes it's just best to let it go.

 We must strive to respect others if we ourselves are to get any respect in return. I often see people leave comments on certain sites that put down other martial arts, simply because they reference Ninjutsu, or call themselves a school of Ninjutsu. This cannot be allowed, and true budoka should know better.

 For example, and you may know the organisation I'm talking about, there is a man who posts free martial arts lessons on YouTube. He once called what he taught Ninjutsu. People attacked him for it (Bujinkan and Genbukan students among them). He went so far as to respectfully change the name of his martial art to suit these people. They still attack him to this day, and the worse thing about it all is that his goal was to offer martial arts training / classes to the poor. Devoting his own time, money, effort, and reputation without any thought of reward or personal gain only got him slandered and attacked from every angle. It is my belief that if  Soke Hatsumi knew of this man and his efforts he would praise him, not denounce him.

 As a student of Ninjutsu you must with every action that you make pertaining to it, ask yourself, "Is this in the best interest of the art?". As budoka of this art we all carry the burden of upholding it's honor, and most importantly our own honor as individuals.