Novicewarrior

Whats up everyone. SO I am thinking of giving up Ninjutsu training. I use DVDs for training, but i feel like there is not enough material for me. Plus I do not like all the disputes over lineages and if Ninjutsu is authentic. What I am looking for is martial arts for self defense mainly and of course martial arts for my mind and spirit. I was thinking of looking into Kyokushin Karate, but I am not sure. Are there any suggestions? Overall when it comes to self defense I would like to train with a way that uses many different ranges, such as long range, trapping ranges, grappling etc. I look forward to your responses Thanks Fam

Yes Zatoichi! Zatoichi series (the older one) is my favorite series.

It is mentioned here in this thread that Kuji came from Mikkyo and Shinto practices. What I see left out is Taoism. Taoism also uses hand seals. Going back to the esoteric buddhism view, the Tibetans also have extensive knowledge of hand seals. The Ninja also learned teachings of Shugendo, which is a blend of Taoism, Buddhism, Shintoism. Unfortunately with esoteric schools you have to find a teacher to train you. I wish it was simple enough that you could learn it from a book, but that would be too easy I suppose.

Yea it seems availability of a sangha is what keeps people away from many different dharma paths. Shingon was a school of Buddhism I was interested in. When I moved back to Ann Arbor, I was excited to hear that a Shingon priest was coming to our location. Unfortunately they ended up cancelling. So in my local area you have Zen, Tibetan buddhism, Tian Tai, and Theravada. There is not much besides these. I am still lost myself, but I am leaning towards Pure Land Buddhism, because I do not feel that I have the ability to attain enlightenment myself. I have too many attachments and I consistently make bad decisions in my life. So I am reading into Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu, because I need an easy practice such as Nembutsu (Namo Amida Butsu). Its great to see some followers of Dharma on here.

Is there anyone who is into Pure Land Buddhism? I know when it comes to martial arts it is mainly Chan and Zen (besides Taoism) that is usually adopted. There were others such as those who trained in Ninjutsu adopted the way of Shugendo and later Tendai and Shingon. I do not hear too much about Pure Land Buddhism in martial arts. I do know that there were some Samurai in Japan that converted to the Pure Land way. I am particularly interested in Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu. For those unfamiliar with Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinshu you can check out this material: (Jodo Shinshu) http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/ (Jodo Shu) http://jodo.org/

Hello all, I am not good with introductions, but I'll try. I am 28 years old and have done martial arts on and off as a kid and teenager. I recently bot back into martial arts, but mainly through DvDs and online trainings. I like in particular Ninjutsu, but I also enjoy learning about Karate and Kung Fu. I am open to many martial arts. For me martial arts is something I want to train for survival and to raise my potential. It is one of the few things in life that seem to calm my busy mind. I look forward to learning from everyone here and picking up on many of the philosophies of martial arts. -Juan