NightOwl

Yes, but no elbow strikes. Think about it though -> All of the following arts have failed to overcome the greatness known as Bill Duff: Karate, Pankration, Sambo, Savate, MMA, and even the dreaded ninja. Since we all know that only a ninja can defeat a ninja, we are left with one simple fact. Bill Duff = Ninja. The fight quest guys have no chance. Speaking of which, how did the two kali episodes compare? It seemed to me like they were the closest...but I still don't have a way of watching them yet.

Wow PS1! A rough training experience! I'm glad that despite all of that, you have stuck with martial arts despite everything that has happened...

I carry a STAINLESS STEEL knife BATTLE TESTED by outdoors men and men in uniform all over the world. Not only that, but it is the OFFICIAL knife of the SWISS ARMY (in convenient keychain size). I can also dish out punishing amounts of PAIN with a built in nail filer for doin' nails 'On the Streets' .

Hats off to you on the testing Pittbulljudoka! I think I would have been done on pushup #25

Well done sir!

Wow! A huge milestone indeed! Will there be cake?

I've had the equivalent of a foster child experience during my martial arts training. First it was a joining of schools, then the split (I stayed with my original group), then that gym shut down and I found the instructor at a smaller dojang, then they went out of business. Fortunately I got the information that my old assistant instructor started his own school and went there. I eventually left both the school and the art because I felt that I wasn't growing except in rank and wasn't getting what I was looking for from my training (although I liked the teacher and many of the students very much). However I felt that children's teaching and forms (and lots of exercise) was basically what I was doing. I was out of martial arts for quite awhile, then stuck with wing chun for a couple of months before leaving that after deciding the art wasn't for me. Finally I found a great MMA gym that unfortunately due to college I've only been able to attend in blocks of time but I've gotten the best training in my life at that place. Now I train at the kodokan...I've never left a place on bad terms- in fact I've never left a place on terms at all, usually just leaving things behind. A lot of people seem to leave only after something bad has happened which is something that I have always been fortunate enough not to have happen. Needless to say though, I've never really gotten attached to a place since my TKD days. I figure that at this point I am some sort of martial gypsy I guess I've learned what I am seeking in martial arts training from my experiences if I had to narrow it down one thing. That principle has changed how I've look at training at any location since I left for the first time not due to conditions outside of my control. Fortunately, Judo looks like it is in for the long haul (due to logistics on returning I might take up BJJ as a complementary art). At the very least I am determined to get proficient so I can shout 'JUDOOOOOOOOOOOO!' as I leap from the shadows at passing evildoers

One last thing- the bujinkan does contain koryu techniques. Both Hatsumi and the founder practiced in koryu schools and Hatsumi was supposedly a high ranking judoka. So in that sense you are learning koryu, but it is a modern system. Then again, MMA contains moves that can be traced back to koryu (like the triangle choke), so...

Taekwondo

What have been your experiences leaving dojos/dojangs/gyms/clubs? What have you taken away from those experiences and how did you grow from them?

I recently saw the TKD episode- hoping to put up a review of that soon!

Has anyone seen it yet? How did it compare?

what do you mean by chakra? It's used as the term for chi/magic power in the manga/anime series Naruto but outside of that...

Is it possible that many of the Soke before him died earlier than anticipated? I don't find this too difficult to believe. Afterall, the warrior class came to power in Japan during the Heian period (794-1185). It's reasonable to believe this is also the period when espionage units would have begun to be used. That's around 1000 years to go through 34 soke in the 9 ryu that combined to make up the bujinkan. The timelines seem reasonable to me. My argument is based solely on speculation. I admit I'm not well read when it comes to ninpo. What period does Hatsumi claim it orginated? I do find it interesting, however, that Hatsumi's art was not accepted as a traditional Ryu. Here's a website interview with Steven K Hayes that talks a little more about the reformation of Ninjitsu to Bujinkan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T50WRzzbhlY Except that one of the oldest martial arts schools in Japan has a starting date of as late as around 1480 making it only 500 years old or so. This was also the time when organized martial arts schools started in Japan (before hand there were no sokes since to be a soke of a system you have to have an organized system in the first place). The Bujinkan claims a starting date in one of its systems (Shinden Fudo-ryu) to the mid 11th century- making it almost 400 years older than the oldest known martial arts school in japan. A very lofty claim. As for Hayes- he was a member of the earlier Bujinkan days before splitting off and selling the ninja angle in the US to great effect. He has written books giving a VERY detailed history of ninjitsu- try reading these off to any historian of Japanese history and you will at best get a blank stare. On a side note, the husband of my girlfriend's elderly friend (sorry for the many connections there) is a well respected Japanese History professor whom I plan to reference on a report on the origins of ninja mythology. Also I am working on a minor in Asian history so I'm not in a bubble on things. And yes, it is not accepted as Koryu which is very significant. There are two major organizations which do investigations for official Koryu recognition- Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai and the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai. These are not groups of random JJJ students or rival Koga ninjas, but a very serious historical research groups in which you will see both doctorates and every member with a heavy dedication to the martial arts (many of whom have significant training experience). To be accepted, you must have your lineage claims as well as any documentation examined by a panel of experts. Hatsumi makes no secret that he claims to have scrolls backing up the system- however from what I have heard he keeps a very tight control on them and refuses to let them be examined out of his sight. Anyways he did apply to the Kobudo Shinkokai but upon examination the documents could not be shown to have been created before at the most as early as the turn of the century and he was denied koryu status. Finally I would like to again emphasize that it isn't taken very well inside of its home country. Major classical martial arts demonstrations have turned it down, as well as demographically speaking you find few Japanese members. It can contribute a great deal to its success in fact, to the efforts of Hayes in the United States. Again, please do look into it (I have participated in a Bujinkan lesson before myself). If you like it, give it a go. But from what I have heard and studied it is a system started by Takamatsu and tweaked by Hatsumi derived from their own various martial arts training and individual creation. There are plenty of modern styles- modern doesn't mean bad...

If you are able to you could get a couple of different opinions. Keep in mind however that risking your health isn't worth skipping out for a break to heal up- spleens come in handy sometimes ya know

Hey no problem- and again I want to reiterate that by no means am I saying that you shouldn't check it out. Let us know how it goes, and if you like it try it for a bit.

I've researched the Bujinkan very heavily (and have visited a Bijinkan dojo as well as done light sparring with a bujinkan practitioner). Personally, my conclusions lead me to believe that it is not real (as far as lineage and the ninja angle goes). For just an example, Hatsumi claims to be the 34th soke of the art, however the oldest known martial arts systems in japan (such as Katori-Shinto-ryu and Kashima-Shinryu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Koryu_bujutsu) are only on their 20th generation respectively. This (and the claimed origin period for the art) place it well before the warring states period in japan at a time when a special espionage class would not have been needed at all. Add this in with the fact that it has almost zero popularity in its home country (watch the Human weapon episode and you will see that besides the two head instructors everyone else is non Japanese in the main dojo), and I give it little credibility. Having said that, whether it is fabricated or not it is still a martial arts system. There is nothing wrong with trying it out and if you like it then I say go for it. Just keep in mind that you are probably not studying ninjitsu.

The Foot Clan

...trying to capitalize on a recently popular market. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmDzyS6LRto

Finally saw the NINJA episode! What are my impressions? Check it out after the link: So what did I think of it? I was simultaneously horrified and elated with a joy that only ninjas can bring. Joyful, because it was a pretty fun episode if I do say so myself- horrified, because it was about as historical as my 'Report' on the great carrot famine of 1789 that I wrote for the 5th grade (trust me, you didn't want to be around for that tragic event). To sum up the episode: They start off stopping by the bunjinkan, do some knife, shiruken, and sword training, some other quick bujinkan stuff, a ninja house, an obstacle course, and the challenge. Pretty much all of this is fun to watch, and it might even be one of the more entertaining episodes. Now, if you all only interested in whether it fills the entertainment quotient, you can stop right here. However, there are some deeper criticisms that I have, the first I will address is of the history. Mind, Human weapon's history and factoids have always been a bit sketchy- I remember cringing when they mentioned the 'hitting the nose to drive it to the brain' myth in a previous episode. But in saying things like: 'Ninjitsu influenced all the martial arts from Jujitsu to karate', and calling the rolled tatami mats a 'traditional ninja training dummy', I shook my head while watching more than once (I mean, come on- Karate isn't even Japanese!). Another thing is that most of the episode isn't even bujinkan. The so called 'ninja masters' that teach them the weapons are actually from completely different samurai derived arts. For example, the shiruken training is actually from a system that I might study a bit called Meifu Shinkage ryu. This is a modern system focusing on shiruken, however the founder first derived it from the traditional samurai koryu school of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, which teaches shiruken as one of its weapons. Shiruken despite the common western name of 'ninja stars', were used by the samurai and often were in a nail shape since you assumed that you lost the weapon as soon as you used it, and thus having a complicated design would cost too much to constantly produce. The knife and sword training as well, had no correlation to the bunjinkan, and for the record, the word ninja means 'one who perseveres'. The only actual bunjinkan training was pretty much the rolling (which I do an almost exact version of as an ukemi in judo) and the shoulder lock. I am surprised that they spent so much time on weapons, as the bujinkan teaches mostly unarmed stuff. The obstacle course is actually just a structure in a park in japan, and has no relation to any martial arts affiliation. The challenge was...interesting. The bujinkan has a non sparring policy, so they kind of made it up on the spot (the blog of one of the head trainers involved mentions this in his review of the show http://henka.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/human-weapon-aftermath/ ). Thus the criticism of how the hosts did quite well for zero experience against a 13th and 15th dan doesn't really apply since they haven't really done too much (relative) weapons training either, especially not in a live setting. So that's that...my thoughts on the episode. Feel free to put in your input as you please.

Keep your cool and don't mouth off- it keeps you out of trouble. Case in point : The other night I was walking to the train station to meet up with my girlfriend and ran into about 6 drunk guys in their 20's causing trouble (shouting, banging on passing cars, etc). I knew that since I am a foreigner, I would stand out...sure enough as soon as they saw me they got really excited and started crowding me. They weren't saying anything overly threatening- mostly 'merry christmas' and some rather impolite phrases in broken English along with generally being annoying. As I broke out of the group, two ran up behind me and flanked me on both sides asking crazy questions. Now I was in my rights to tell these guys some things that I am not allowed to type here- they were being jerks to everyone passing by and they weren't letting me be. I actually thought 'Oh bother, am I going to have to fight these two?' as no matter what I said they wouldn't leave me be. However I stayed polite and upbeat and eventually they left. On the way back with my girlfriend however, I ran into them again- and the cycle repeated. Fed up, I looked them in the eyes, grabbed their hands, and said, 'Merry christmas to you too! And a happy new year!'. I then saluted as I walked off. As they passed farther and father into the distance, I heard one say, 'That gaijin was SO COOL!'. ...I must admit I chuckled a little bit

Good point about the gi. That's probably my biggest pet peeve. People wear the gis around town?

They are from two different languages and cultures, so it would have to be a 'new' system (although as mentioned, most call such a pairing MMA)

This can only mean one thing- Jason and Bill vs Fight quest. Fight. To the death.

Ninjutsu (although it's pretty much spelled ninjitsu in english) doesn't really do too much with weapons beyond one step drills- most of the emphasis is on unarmed techniques. If you are looking for an art with lots of weapon work I'd recommend: Kali Escima Kendo ARMA kenjutsu/koryu schools