any one here of ashida kim?

[White Warlock]

Yes, not legitimate. He made plenty of money off his books though. Well timed, as he targeted his books to hit the market during the ninja craze. Unfortunately, it looks as if he wasn't too keen on legal contracts, since he's claiming to have been taken-in by Paladin Press and other publishing companies.

As to his background, he is an American. His real name is Radford W. Davis and he lives in Florida with his daddy (want the exact address?). His books are loaded with entertaining, but incorrect information. Budo taijutsu schools refer to him, and some others, as 'pretenders.' I visited his website and found no substance, and a lot of unhealthiness. In a list he has there, he demonstrates tremendous unhealthy hostility towards some publishing companies. It looks to me as if he was either robbed by them, or more likely, he failed to pay attention to the details of his contracts. In any event, he runs on about these companies, and some individuals, with quite a bit of "can't let it go." I don't believe he's anywhere near the 'true path' he purports to have attained.

On his website, he claims to have fought a Phil Tempel, of which i've never heard of, and that the video is at https://www.fightauthority.com . I contacted them, and one moderator informed me the video is no longer available. But, he did have this to say about it:

We used to have the video here. Ashida wore his mask, so it could've been anyone. Like you said, Phil Tempel is a name that nobody knows. The match basically looked like a San Shou exhibition with snappy striking and fast throws, rather than the "swinging for the fences" and rolling around that you'd see in most professional fights. Furthermore, Ashida actually did a pro-wrestling drop kick after bouncing Mr. Tempel off the ropes. It was an obvious work, and not even a very entertaining one.

Moving on...

No... his book presents many 'Chinese' names for things and he at one time claimed that it was a sort of 'Chinese' ninjutsu, taught by a Japanese guy named Shendai, which... of course, makes no sense. It also makes no sense that he is unable, or unwilling, to provide any information on this teacher. His response to such, as noted on his website:

"My Sensei's name, as given in Forbidden Fighting Techniques, (one of the many titles Paladin Press has stolen from me), was Shendai. Does that help? What difference does it make? My teacher will not fight for me. Nor will any certificate shield me from harm. I am who I am, a traveler on the Way. I have had many teachers and many friends, but I learned what I know through patience, practice, and perseverance. The Ninja have a saying, "Train yourself and be your own master."

Well, the difference it makes, is that he claims to be a practitioner of ninjutsu and that he presented many books purporting to be legitimate. Moreso, his gripe with Paladin Press should be no less than our gripe with him, in that he sold products under false pretenses and many people purchased, and still purchase, said products under the belief they were/are getting legitimate information.

Additional information can be obtained at his website: http://www.ashidakim.com

And at wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashida_Kim

Definitely need to visit wikipedia's discussion archives, where you'll find plenty of additional links for further research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ashida_Kim/archive1

Also, take a notice of this: http://www.ashidakim.com/proof.html

In this particular article, on his own site, Chris Hunter claims that Ashida Kim surreptitiously partook in a Stephen Hayes seminar. Yet the thank you letter to Stephen Hayes was written by Chris Hunter, not Ashida Kim. In this article, Chris Hunter speaks of Ashida Kim in the second person, while in truth... they are one and the same. Chris Hunter is one of Mr. Davis' aliases, as is Ashida Kim.

My sources were many, but most notable were Davis' own books and the 'many' articles presented at https://www.wikipedia.org . Btw, i also own a few of his books. They are a mish mash of 'borrowed' information and mock techniques. I suppose sometime later i'll start up book/video reviews. Something this community talked about awhile back, but it never got the community support it needed (hint hint).

[Manabimasho1]

Yeah man Chris Hunter is Ashida Kim, .......he has so many alias its not a freaking wonder someone hasn't killed him and just assumed one of his identities lol.

He signed up at the Steven Hayes seminar, and under another name too lol. Steven Hayes is from the Iga Clan, but right round the time Steven Hayes got popular all the Ninja clans and schools formed up into Bujikan for thier own well being so they put it. But basicaly there are like 3 or 4 groups....but they all go through Bujikan now.

The only problem with Bujikan is that you can get multiple teachers and thier styles are so far apart it's insaine. I have went to a few instructors demos and each ones style was as differnt as karate to Capeoria.

I am not a big fan of that movement or Bujikan because I think they messed up royaly. Iga and Koga clans however are legit and should have just broken off and went thier own ways.

[Ninjitsu]

Oh, how much I hate that man I swear if you think you know anything about being a ninjitsu by reading his books, then your gonna get seriously hurt. If you wanna read informational (I recommend not trying to learn a martial art instructions out of a book) books on the art, then read some of Stephen Hayes's books.