The Strange Case of the Fox in the Gym!

The British Press is so jumpy about Foxes at the moment. A couple of
them got into a flat and bit a baby. Since then the Fox has had a
really bad press. The truth is in my opinion that this is a bit of
prepublicity for a reintroduction of Fox hunting by the New govenment.

For this reason a experience that was really lovely involving a fox
may come across differently to others .

I was working out on a hotel on Cobham. I find in most hotel gyms I am
the only one working out . Today was no exception although the gum
door had been left open by a member of staff due to the heat. I was lifting weights and gazing out of the window across the meadow at the back of the hotel. I noticed a small face looking back and me. Between sets I went to investigate. Each time the fox backed off. He was a beautiful creature with the most amazingly solid bushy tail. He looked hot and his tongue was hanging out. So I suspected he wanted something to drink. The gym had a drink dispenser so I filled a cup with water for him and placed it between him and me. As he came to drink I feel a great kinship between us. I sat and made sure he had as many refills and he liked.

The Fox is an interesting figure in English culture known in children's tales for his cunning. To the Japanese ninja in the 16th century it was a figure to be looked up to for its stealth not cunning. In fact they even names a secret stealth technique after the Fox called "kitsune bashiri" or fox running

To the Ninja A Toad not a fox was a figure of cunning.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with Stephen K Hayes in his Dojo in Dayton Ohio.

I once asked “What does the Toad signify in Ninja Tradition ?”

Here is Stephens response

“Well, Martin, it has many layers of meaning. Just like we have the saying ‘as cunning as a fox’, the Japanese have a saying that the toad is cunning and resourceful. However, here you see that the man is riding the toad. So it could mean that he has taken on the power of Nature or dominated the power of Nature. For the Ninja, uniting with Nature and using the knowledge of the nature of things held the greatest might, for if you are at one with Nature and part of all things, who can defeat you?

There is also a story in Japan about how to keep a toad in a basket. If you have a hole in your basket and you want to carry the toad home without it escaping, you should make two other small holes; then the toad will keep trying to escape through a different route. He will try one hole and then if that’s not easy, he will try the next and keep moving on. If there is only one hole, he will simply work at it until he is free. So in many ways the toad could represent our enemy, whom we defeat by our use of cunning; we overcome his nature by working with his nature."

Today I wonder Could this also represent the controlling of the animal in ourselves?