Becoming Imperceptible: Ninpo Taijutsu as a Praxis for Cultivating Eco-Awareness

Описание: Numinous Earth: Ecopsychology at the Edge
Conference at California Institute of Integral Studies
East-West Psychology Department
April 17-18, 2025

Becoming Imperceptible: Ninpo Taijutsu as a Praxis for Cultivating Ecological
Awareness in a Disconnected World

by David Glover

As ecological and social crises intensify, cultivating ecological awareness—perception grounded in embeddedness and interconnection with the more-than-human world—has become essential for addressing the disconnections of modern life. While many advocate for an ecological worldview, few explore how to train the perceptual, relational, and embodied capacities needed to live it. This paper presents ninpo taijutsu, a Japanese martial art emphasizing blending within systems of conflict rather than opposing them, as a praxis for developing ecological awareness. Focusing on the concept of becoming imperceptible—understood not as vanishing but as dissolving
rigid boundaries to support responsive engagement with Earth and others—this study draws on the author’s lived experience of ninpo taijutsu practice. Partner-based movement and dynamic interaction within gravity become a technology for cultivating awareness, adaptability, and relational sensitivity. Integrating ecopsychology, Gibson’s affordance theory, Deleuze’s concept of becoming imperceptible, somatic learning, and complexity theory, this paper outlines a transdisciplinary model for eco-spiritual cultivation. It highlights how embodied partner practices can challenge cultural dualisms, such as mind-body and human-nature, while supporting the repair of ecological and social disconnection. In this context, ninpo taijutsu becomes more than a martial discipline; it offers a grounded, relational mode of perception and action—one capable of supporting individuals in meeting the uncertainty of Earth’s unfolding crises with fluid, embodied participation in the web of life.

Bio
David B. Glover, PhD, recently completed his doctorate in East-West Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His dissertation utilized phenomenological autoethnography to investigate ninpo taijutsu as a technology of the self, examining its potential for personal transformation through intentional, dedicated practice. David’s diverse background includes a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Exercise Physiology, serving as a U.S. Navy officer on a nuclear submarine, surviving cancer, competing as a professional triathlete, and transforming his experience of depression. Inspired by Rilke’s call to “live the questions,” he blends analytical, philosophical, and embodied perspectives to explore topics like perception, martial arts training, transformative learning, and selfcultivation. By bridging academic inquiry and lived experience, his work offers a distinctive lens on the interplay of perception awareness, movement, relational dynamics, ecology, and personal transformation.