# Who is Jim Pritchard?



## Albertus (Jul 18, 2016)

Dear members,

Can anyone tell me more about Jim Pritchard? I bought his book _The Warrior Mind _ in which he describes himself as a disciple of *Ninjitsu* and *Taijitsu* (notice the spelling!) with advanced training in in the Ninjitsu way of the Shadow Warrior. And that is...?????

He doesn't name his teachers nor the style in which he has trained, although he has mentioned the name of Masaaki Hatsumi a few times in the book but not directly as his Sensei. Nor does he mention the Bujinkan.
So I am curious which kind of Shadow Warrior is he?

Hopefully someone can share some light on this matter.
The book also gives his website but this doesnot exist anymore. By the way this book is from 2006 and it is NOT about Ninjutsu but gives psychological advice with regard to self-defense situations.

Thanks for helping me.


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## Chris Parker (Jul 19, 2016)

Hmm… no fraud-busting… this won't be easy.

From all that I can find, the most accurate description I can come up with is delusional lunatic… I've skimmed through his book, and bluntly, it's complete trash. It could have been a 5 page booklet, for all that's worth, and even then not really worth reading. He has no credibility in anything listed, from his "multiple black belts", his "ninjitsu and taijitsu", or to do with any basis in psychology, spiritual teachings, or anything of the kind. Much of the "Buddhist sayings" I can't find in any Buddhist literature at all, his stories of Hatsumi don't match reality (he was carrying Hatsumi's card on a streetcar in Toronto? With Hatsumi's credentials on it, so not just a Bujinkan membership card, then? And put it next to a guy, who nodded, so it was "proof" that he was "right" that the other guy was a martial artist?!?!). I personally wouldn't be surprised if his entire military history is fabricated as well.

He mentions teaching at "Hatashita Martial Arts Centre" with Wayne Erdman… except there's no mention of any such place in any of Erdman's history, and the only Hatashita Martial Arts business in Canada is a supply store, not a training facility. In fact, outside of the book, there's no mention anywhere of any connection between Pritchard and Erdman at all.

Seriously, in all ways, ignore the book and give the author a wide berth.


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## frank raud (Jul 19, 2016)

There used to be Hatashita judo clubs in various locations throughout Ontario. John Hatashita used to run the club in Kitchener.


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## Chris Parker (Jul 20, 2016)

Cool, thanks Frank. Still haven't found any corroborating connection between Pritchard and Erdman, though… and the book is still junk… with highly dubious stories littering it. So I'm going to stick with my initial assessment…


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## frank raud (Jul 20, 2016)

Chris Parker said:


> Cool, thanks Frank. Still haven't found any corroborating connection between Pritchard and Erdman, though… and the book is still junk… with highly dubious stories littering it. So I'm going to stick with my initial assessment…



Not doubting the book is junk, but Erdman did write a dedication for it, so there must be some connection between them.


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## Chris Parker (Jul 20, 2016)

Yeah, I saw that… have you read it? The dedication, I mean...


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## frank raud (Jul 20, 2016)

Chris Parker said:


> Yeah, I saw that… have you read it? The dedication, I mean...


That's about all I read.


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## Albertus (Jul 20, 2016)

Thanks for the information Chris, unfortunally for me to late because I allready bought the book. I also found out there are a few reviews on Amazon on the book which I wish I had read earlier. But I didn't pay so much for the book, just 13,50 euro, which is probably 10 dollar?

So basically it looks like Jim is more likely a Judoka rather than a Ninja. But it would be nice if Jim Pritchard himself would respond on this forum though.


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## JR 137 (Jul 21, 2016)

Jim Pritchard is part of the Tanaka clan.  He was Frank Dux's disciple, having taken over competing in the kumite and dominating it after Dux's retirement from competition.  He came quite close to breaking all his records, but backed off because he didn't feel he was Dux's equal and didn't want to erase his Shidoshi's name from the record books.  

In all seriousness, I have no idea.  Going by what's been said here, he seems very Dux-ish.


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## Chris Parker (Jul 21, 2016)

frank raud said:


> That's about all I read.



Lucky… 

But my point is that Wayne's dedication doesn't say much to Jim's credibility, other than that Wayne didn't like sparring with him or his students, as Jim taught "street smarts", and comments such as "the don't confer the rank of Shadow Warrior on just anyone, you know" don't exactly make me feel much confidence in the comments of either man in this regard… 



Albertus said:


> Thanks for the information Chris, unfortunally for me to late because I allready bought the book. I also found out there are a few reviews on Amazon on the book which I wish I had read earlier. But I didn't pay so much for the book, just 13,50 euro, which is probably 10 dollar?



Hmm… if you really wanted to subject yourself to this tome, a simply google search gave me a free PDF version of it straight away… personally, I still find it overpriced there, but hey, that's me. By the same token, I recently got another book sent from Japan for just under $30 (Australian)… and, to me, that's worth 10 times the price, if not more, so it all evens out in the end, I suppose… 



Albertus said:


> So basically it looks like Jim is more likely a Judoka rather than a Ninja. But it would be nice if Jim Pritchard himself would respond on this forum though.



No, I wouldn't necessarily say that… Wayne Erdman is a Judoka, yeah… and they (apparently) taught in the same dojo for a time… but I don't see any indication that Jim taught Judo… or that Judo is one of the "several martial arts" he apparently has black belt ranking in (he might, who knows? But there's no indication one way or the other). All we can say is that he is/was apparently some kind of martial arts instructor with some kind of ranking in some kind of arts, and knows enough to name-drop Hatsumi's name, but his stories don't add up to any actual contact other than some fantasy in his head, and there is no record that I could find of any dojo, ranking, teaching, or anything else associated with him, other than the vague comments in his book (and the various pages that quote it).

I will say that, perhaps the most suspicious aspect to all of this, even beyond the bizarre stories and baseless "psychology" in the book, is that his primary claim of credibility is taken from his time as a martial arts instructor… but there is no mention (besides the Hatsumi claims) of any teacher at all… no acknowledgment in the beginning, no thanking, no mention at all. Personally, if I was to write a book based on the credibility of myself as a martial artist, my teachers are the first names on my thank-you and acknowledgement list.


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