I myself would love to see them learn Ninjutsu, But I not sure if there to many place that still teach, But I would guest that the Discovery channel could find the place that still teachs LOL
Just to clear something up, Ninjutsu is not a martial art as most people think of it. Ninjutsu by translation are the arts of stealth and endurance, the "martial art" portion of ninjutsu (the hand to hand techniques) is called Tai-Jutsu, and the only real schools belong to the Bujinkan ryu (which is a collection of the nine major ryu of the Iga mountains). Bujinkan is an extremely popular school and isn't nearly as hard or mysterious as some people think it is to find. Bujinkan shows up every year at the Budokai in Japan for example.
Now while it would great for Doug and Jimmy to find a tai-jutsu dojo and learn this excellent and well balanced art, it does not lend itself toward competition well. However, if they could participate in kali in a non-lethal enviornment, I'm sure they could do something similar with Tai-jutsu.
...I just hope they avoid Stephen K Hayes if they do.
Hatsumi-sensei is the Soke (grandmaster/succesor) to the Bujinkan dojo, so yes his ryu the best in Japan and probably anywhere else.
Dux, Frank Dux has been virtually 100% discredited both in terms of martial arts (his records were falsified) and his CIA/Military service (he was succesfully sued by a coalition of veternas who were offended by his claims). While Mr Dux was a talented martial artist, his style is closer to Tae Kwon Do and his claim that he was trained in Koga-ryu ninjutsu is pretty inane given that the Koga ryu were absorbed by the surviving Iga-ryu after Nobunaga's assault on those mountains.
I still think it woudl be excellent if Fight Quest did an episode abotu Tai-Jutsu/ninjutsu, and hope that if they do they go to one of the Bujinkan dojo.
If a Ninjutsu episode is to be done in the future,which would be a great idea! The best opportunity of getting an accurate idea of traditional ninpo training is through the Genbukan by its present "Soke" (Grandmaster) Shoto Tanemura, a descendant of an old and respected samurai family with roots tracing back to the imperial family of Japan.
As shown on their website:
quote:
The art of the Ninja, the legendary shadow warriors of Japan, is the primary focus of the International Genbukan Ninpo Bugei organization headed by Grandmaster Shoto Tanemura of Matsubishi Japan. In the interests of maintaining the integrity of the ancient Ninja tradition, Grandmaster Tanemura founded the Genbukan in November of 1984. The Genbukan is dedicated to the factual portrayal and teaching of the Ninja arts in the traditional Japanese manner.
Fun fact (one I just came upon yesterday): Hatsumei and Tanemura (who are cousins) both studied under Takamatsu-sensei. They split due to a family dispute and the primary difference in teaching seems to be philosophical rather than technique based. In training their styles seem *extremely* similar (which would figure given they had the same sensei) so if there ever is an episode about tai-jutsu either dojo would be options.
Just for clearification, Tanemura Soke and Hatsumi Soke are cousins not by blood, but through marriage on their sides of the family. The "speculation" on the split is just that, speculation. Tanemura Soke has personally come out and let some of the accurate details come to light to clearify the many "internet rumors". The actual article can be found here in PDF: Tanemura's former teacher Hatsumi
The Genbukan and Bujinkan are very different in training and philosophy on numerous levels. Ask anyone who trains in either organization and they will tell you, while they both stem from the same teacher. They are very different in their approach to training and what they train in.
The Bujinkan do not train in the actual Ryu ha. They have "themes of the year" which are Ryu ha but these are only for the feeling of training for that year. They train in a collective school "ie. Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu". It is a collection of what their Kancho/Soke Hatsumi deem important for his own organization. The ranking is awarded as Budo Taijutsu, not actual rank in a specific school/Ryu ha. The training is more free form and spontaneous. Less emphasis is placed on tradition,manners,spiritual practice, and the actual ryu ha.
However, this can vary dojo to dojo since there is no quality control in the Bujinkan ,and what they teach on their own is often never questioned. The Bujinkan's rank is also a "modern" adaptation of awarding Dan grades up to 15th dan. This puts some practitioners at Dan levels (with much less time in training) above other Martial Artist that have dedicated their lives and even founded systems. (i.e. Aikido, etc.)As the traditional Japanese ranking system only goes to 10th Dan.
In the Genbukan the student is given the opportunity to learn and get rank in the actual Ryu itself. The Genbukan has a much more traditional approach to the training. Manners are stressed as are extremely solid basics and each dojo follows the same structure to create a sense of unity and cohesiveness in the overall organization. Rank is in the traditional system of 10 kyu-10th Dan. While the "core" of the Ninpo Bugei is a collection of various Ryu's up to a certain level, afterwards the actual Ryu's can be studied.
I would highly recommend spending some time reading over the very accurate and informative website of Genbukan Jun-Shihan Roy Ron. It has a lot of great information at: Ninpo
Both organizations offer something to those that seek them out. It is all in what the practitioner wants personally.
i heard that the toughest training in the world wuld be ninjutsu. but since the art has been kept a well hidden secret, the next hardest is U.S. marines training.
Originally posted by crimson360: i heard that the toughest training in the world wuld be ninjutsu. but since the art has been kept a well hidden secret, the next hardest is U.S. marines training.
You watch too much TV...USMC training, while very tough, is tame compared to some other military units around the world.
I think they should do an episode on the bujinkan. As long as it is not an exact copy of what they did on humen weapon. One of the should train in Soke Masasaaki Hatsumi's School in chiba prefecture Japan and the other train with Tanemura in the genbukan.(Bujinkan is better
I think they should do an episode on the bujinkan. As long as it is not an exact copy of what they did on humen weapon. One of the should train in Soke Masasaaki Hatsumi's School in chiba prefecture Japan and the other train with Tanemura in the genbukan.(Bujinkan is better
Not really sure how you constitute one is better than the other (please see/re-read my above post), but definitely a episode should be on Ninpo/Ninjutsu. The human weapon episode was pretty pathetic given the large options that could have been engaged in with Ninjutsu. Padded swords? Come on guys. Seen any padded weapons on Fight Quest?...I think not. And why did they leave the Bujinkan Dojo to train with two other instructors (completely different from Bujinkan and completely non related in Ninjutsu/Ninpo) for knife defense and shuriken throwing? This just made absolutely zero sense to me. If your doing a Ninpo/Ninjutsu episode stay with the Dojo that does it, not other dojos that have some facets of it.
Everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinion, but I would much rather see some of the harder traditional training of Ninjutsu and Ninpo, versus another challenge with padded swords. But to each their own.
If they trained with the Genbukan, they could also along with learning Ninpo/Ninjutsu fighting techniques, be shown traditional Japanese Jujutsu and compare it to what they did with Brazilian Jujutsu. Since Brazilian Jujutsu's roots are from the Japanese. Would could make for an interesting comparison.
Even with my heavy personal bias towards Bujinkan, I try to stay away from the "My kung fu is better than yours" discussions, and it was my Bujinkan shidoshi who drilled that through my skull. Regardless something makes me glad that I missed the above mentioned HW episode. The fact that there are two different schools of Ninpo would fit FQ very well, personally I'd vote for Doug to train on the Bujinkan side, but that's my own Army and martial history speaking.
However, given that tai-jutsu doesn't lend itself towards tournaments, what would result would probably be something more along the lines of what this week's Krav Maga episode would be (a slightly regulated exchange of beatings). Still be a great show though.
