Charles Daniel
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ElfTengu
Blue Belt
In the spirit of MT, I will look to the good in these clips, rather than criticise.
For me this was the first time I have seen Charles in motion, having had both his books since they were first published in the 1980s, and which don't do him justice.
No matter how much training people have, they will always adapt their taijutsu to their own physiology, and indeed are encouraged to do so, and if Charles looks to be doing his own thing, I would venture that this is the main reason and that if you look at some of the other more gangly practitioners on the Quest DVDs you will see similar movement.
Personally I liked the clips, they looked effective and flowing, but not unrealistically so, and it must also be borne in mind that they are teaching clips, not demonstrations of aliveness. On another forum the lack of zanshin was criticised but IMO maintaining 100% zanshin during teaching is about as practical as talking the spectators through the finer points of your technique during a real fight!
For me this was the first time I have seen Charles in motion, having had both his books since they were first published in the 1980s, and which don't do him justice.
No matter how much training people have, they will always adapt their taijutsu to their own physiology, and indeed are encouraged to do so, and if Charles looks to be doing his own thing, I would venture that this is the main reason and that if you look at some of the other more gangly practitioners on the Quest DVDs you will see similar movement.
Personally I liked the clips, they looked effective and flowing, but not unrealistically so, and it must also be borne in mind that they are teaching clips, not demonstrations of aliveness. On another forum the lack of zanshin was criticised but IMO maintaining 100% zanshin during teaching is about as practical as talking the spectators through the finer points of your technique during a real fight!
Dale Seago
Black Belt
Agreed. Even given that this was 17 years ago, I think it's pretty good. To understand why this is so, however, you have to have a good understanding of what my friend & colleague Doug Wilson often refers to as "the kihon of the kihon". Charles has definitely got it goin' on in that respect.
It's an interesting contrast to something a current Bujinkan instructor just posted to YouTube showing a particular kihon waza, wherein the instructor has superficially good form but none of the things that make it "real" and usable. (And no, I won't identify it or the instructor, as I make it a practice not to badmouth identifiable "family members" in public.) If you look around you can find a gazillion similarly deficient clips, and if you look beneath the surface to see what Charles is actually doing (assuming you have "the eyes to see") they make a very interesting contrast to the clips posted here.
The "no zanshin" criticism reminds me of the first-ever public embu my dojo performed (augmented by Bill Atkins and some of his folks, including a snot-nosed little kid named Doug Wilson), at the Cherry Blossom Festival at Nihonmachi in San Francisco in April of 1989. Several friends who were instructors of various other martial arts were in the audience watching, and afterward I made a point of asking them what they thought.
They all said the same thing: "It was great to watch: Obviously very effective stuff, and the movement was amazingly natural. But there was no respect. . ."
Since I felt that everyone participating was highly respectful of me, each other, and the art, I naturally pressed them on this. Turned out that what they meant was that everyone lined up kneeling on the stage, waiting for me to call on them, should have been stone-faced statues instead of interestedly observing what their friends were doing, commenting on points to each other, etc.
When I realized what they were getting at I stopped being concerned: If they wanted to mistake the outward form for the reality that was their problem, not mine.
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Agreed and it is the best way to do things. We can all nit-pick on this or that but it's the whole of the video and what the (instructor) is trying to convey to his students and others watching the video.
:lol: Agree again, one has to practice again and again and again to gain muscle memory of the movements and techniques. Things happen in a real fight very quickly and almost never goes exactly the way they're practiced in the dojo.
I am not knowledgeable about specific Ninjutsu techniques and while I have met dozens who "say" they are, from my browsing here on MT I find most of those whom I've met (outside MT) are the Hollywoodized rip-off versions and not true practitioners of the true art, and that's sad.
Great find, great clips. Thanks for sharing.
Kevin Geaslin
White Belt
Strange to see him in action. I've got two or three of his books from the "ninja boom" days, but I've never met him or heard him speak. Wasn't he also big into European fencing and weapons? I was just assuming he'd still have his blonde hair as well!
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Yeah, Charles was very interested in as many different Warrior cultures as he could find (and I am assuming still is...), which included Western arts such as fencing and other older bodies of knowledge, as well as some less-well known cultures. There was a series of interviews he did with my Chief Instructor in the early 90's for a magazine here covering range of them, including Vikings, the Knights Templar, the Assassins, and Sufi cultures. Charles actually spent time in the Middle East studying the Sufi at one time, the pics I've seen of him in costume and sword are pretty interesting, and show how seriously he always took his research.
Dale Seago
Black Belt
He's teaching a seminar in Pennsylvania at the end of August, sponsored by Ed ("Papa san") Martin.
Sad but true. While I can understand someone putting up some boot leg clip that they gained without permission, being frowned upon, IMO, I think it'd be good for the art, to see some of the top guys. Thats the problem...if all people see is average or below average, that is the standard that they're setting for everyone in the art. Now, if they see some top guys, with some quality stuff, that may change their mind.
I recall, quite a while ago on here, someone gave me flack for posting clips of Hatsumi. These are clips that I found on youtube. However, I think its great to watch the head of the system in action.
As for the bootleg copies....I recall going around and around with a fellow Kenpoist over some Kenpo clips that were taken at a seminar, supposedly without permission. My reply to him was, "How is it possible, in a packed room, that nobody sees someone either setting up or walking around with a camera?" If its clear that no video and pics are to be taken, and someone is doing that, not only should the tape be taken, but the person doing the taping needs to be removed from the seminar. BTW, I never got a straight answer from that person either. Hmm...makes ya wonder.
Dale Seago
Black Belt
I recall, quite a while ago on here, someone gave me flack for posting clips of Hatsumi. These are clips that I found on youtube. However, I think its great to watch the head of the system in action.
While I don't disagree with that sentiment, the problem is that the Bujinkan's detractors typically can't understand good taijutsu when they see it either. They often conclude, for example, that whoever Hatsumi sensei is using as his "uke of the moment" is doing an unrealistic attack, doesn't know how to attack effectively, etc., because they have no idea of the things Sensei is doing to make the uke "look stupid" and ineffective. That's the essence of the art right there, not whatever technique happens to be born from it.
ElfTengu
Blue Belt
Very true Dale, for most people, watching clips of Soke is like going straight to a PhD level lecture without a foundation in the subject matter.
But even his highest level students sometimes don't understand what he is doing, so how are the general public going to?
This is why we could do with more good intermediate clips to help bridge the gap and explain to the public what is going on sufficiently for them to think "Hmm, there may be something to this".
Bad clips of practitioners, combined with clips of Soke that also appear questionable to the untrained eye, do nothing for the reputation of our art.
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