Home Study Ninjitsu Courses.

[Deaf]

Originally posted by Shadow Hunter

By the same token, without a lot of experience, you are basically trusting your instructor to teach a strong form of Bujinkan without any holes or variations. If you study under a scmuck, your whole outlook will be shaped by him.

Scary, huh?

Ummm...what is soo scary about it? Getting a schmuck for an instructor? or just trusting your instructor to teach you correctly?

I tend to think that even to the inexperienced student, you have to give them credit that they are not going to be THAT STOOOPID! and not recognize a schmuck when they see one!

Student/Instructor relationship is extremely important if you ask me. It is a bond that is totally different than anything else and that is with all arts!

Originally posted by Technopunk
True... although I feel that I have been lucky in that I have had the opportunity to visit several bujinkan schools, and see how different instructors teach and move... Am I in a position to say who is the best, most accurate? Nope. But at least having a basis of comparison helps, I think.

I think that is great! Getting to see a variety of different instructors etc. Every instructor is different. Just look at Hatsumi Sensei, Nagato Sensei, Shirashi Sensei etc. Each one has their own unique "flavor" which I think makes things soo interesting! You just have to try the "flavors" out and pick the one you like the best and enjoy it! It doesn't matter who is best or most accurate. What matters is that YOU enjoy what you are doing!

Deaf

 

[Shadow Hunter]

Originally posted by Deaf
I tend to think that even to the inexperienced student, you have to give them credit that they are not going to be THAT STOOOPID! and not recognize a schmuck when they see one!

If that is the case, then why do so many obvious frauds and morons have so many students?

 

[Cryozombie]

Originally posted by Shadow Hunter
If that is the case, then why do so many obvious frauds and morons have so many students?

My guess is becuase they "prey" on the lowest common denominator...

 

[csalmo]

This is my first time on this site, and I am a rookie in Martial Arts, so bear with me. I have been studying RVD home black belt course, and so far it has definetly helped me alot to begin to learn this art. Now the only reason I even bought this series is because this is the art I really want to learn, and living in Dubuque, Iowa, there is nothing or no one near me that I can find that practices or teaches this. The closest place is at least 2 hours away, and I really cannot find the time right now to drive that far, although I would if I could. I am a police officer and this stuff is really practical for my job, and I really love all aspects of the art. If I could find someone near me that I can study under then I would definelty do that before resorting to video's, but right now I have to work with the best I have!

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

There is only one way to judge whether or not your current instructor is any good, which, incidentally, is my suggested solution to the problem of not having an instructor nearby.

Attend seminars and training camps and train with everyone you can. EVERYONE.

BTW, I've seen Steffen in action with my own eyes...:tantrum:

 

[Kreth]

It depends, doesn't it? Just how qualified is your instructor. The big problem with the Bujinkan is that there is so many poor instructors and for students it is hard to tell if they have a good one or a poor one.

It all comes down to common sense...

He will show pictures of him with Hatsumi, talk about how he drank over at his house, etc.

Well, I didn't drink at Sensei's house, but he did try to give me what I can only describe as squid candy (*shudder*). But that has no bearing on my skill level. I tell anyone I train with to train with as many people as possible, and if they find something that works better for them, then they should go there...

Jeff

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

It all comes down to common sense...

I honestly wish I could believe that...there is a dojo in my city whose students and instructors stopped going to Japan and training with other people as far back as perhaps 5-6 years ago.
I visited them once, and what we did for most of the time was plain old boxing training, complete with gloves and all...after a while it was time for, what they told me, some boxing sparring. I thought okay, that's done at my dojo from time to time as a warmup anyhow. And so the first thing that happened was that I received a kick to the head. Sparring with people you already know from before is one thing, but this time I had no idea about what was accepted and not. Without warning people threw elbows, knees, roundhouses, shoots, headbutts and shin kicks at one another at full speed. Afterwards they said something about "training against realistic street attacks". Right, everyone you meet on the str33t is a trained shootfighter.

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with one of their students at another online forum...he mentioned something about Ishizuka and Muramatsu being the best fighters the Bujinkan has to offer. When I told him "uncle H" doesn't want us to train with them anymore, his response was "all the more reason to do so".
Earlier we'd been discussing the attending of seminars, upon which he said that he wasn't going to be spending hundreds of dollars worth of money practicing techniques he only gets to see once or twice before the training starts, which also MIGHT work if your attacker is drunk and gives you his hand voluntarily.

Now this guy has, according to himself, trained only ONCE at a place other than his dojo, and apparently sees no need to venture out again. It's obvious that these people don't want to have anything to do with the rest of the Bujinkan, but I don't think you ever see their beginners ask questions about why they're not attending seminars or going to Japan and such... not after they're told the same things I was anyhow.

 

[mpearce]

Sensei is Soke. There are currently no 15th Dan in the Bujinkan (unless Hatsumi sensei is sneaking one around ) As far as I understand, Hatsumi sensei created the kyu/dan setup for Budo Taijutsu.

Sorry I can't be more clear...I just honestly am un-sure

Have a good one,

Jay

Actually there are several 15th dans around the world I know of several from the US. And for my source it is me. I live just down the road from the hombu and train with Sensei once a week, and have for the past 13 years.

 

[Dale Seago]

Actually there are several 15th dans around the world I know of several from the US. . .

Quite correct, Michael -- but please note that Jay's post you're quoting was written a bit over three years ago.

 

[mpearce]

Doh! I guess I should look at the dates sometime. Of course you also realize that Noda is about three years behind the rest of the world anyway. We live in this weird time bubble over here :idunno:

 

[nneedd]

I honestly have no idea. There's a thread on Kutaki about how many 14th Dans made it to the Tai Kai over there this year. Some people that acheive high rank view it as a very personal thing, so there's honestly no real way of knowing.

I just got mine,and sat down and watched most of it,i think it' pretty good,it's complete,unlike any books I've had on ninjutsu,I think eventually you'd be able to learn what you see on it.if you have a good imagination.you get tested for your black belt in person.so if you cant learn from the dvd's and the manual you wont be given your black belt anyway.i was trying to find out when it was made,that's how I found this site.but this page seems to be 16 years old!the videos look at least 30 years old.i personaly have learned to fight much better from just reading books and practicing alone.though I don't have any belts.i got in a real fight one night with two guys and one attacked me,trying to beat me to death with his skateboard and I easily reflected it off my left forearm again and again about 4 times.in my right arm I held a krypton bike lock,which may have kept his friend back.the guy got scared because he couldn't hit me,and he walked away quickly and his friend followed him.i've read books by ashida kim and ha ha lung and others.i started practicing from books 10 years ago and never really stopped.i've never been in a dojo with a teacher.so in my opinion stuff like books and videos is much better than nothing.i've learned meditation techniques from them also.im sure the home study course will be just like that,if I follow through with it.it didn't cost much either,plus you can practice it 5 hours a day if you want,that's much more than twice a week at a school.it's free also.

 

[Tez3]

Is this the oldest thread resurrection going if we take it from the date of the first post? 16 years old, cool.

 

[JP3]

Miyagi: "You learn Karate from book, Daniel-san?"

 

[Yamabushii]

I notice that both Home - Ninjutsu and http://www.ninjitsu.com offer home study courses in ninjitsu. The latter seems to be a newly created art but the former, offered by Richard J. Van Donk (10th degree in something and 12th degree equivalent in Bujinkan, apparently), appears to be a course leading to up to 4th degree black belt that the web site gives every appearance of being authorized by Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi.

Is it the case that Mr. Hatsumi (I seem to recall that perhaps it's Dr. Hatsumi?) has authorized a home study course in ninjutsu, or is Mr. Van Donk acting on his own? I'm also a bit confused by his ranking--I gather he interprets his menkyo license as being the equivalent of a 12th degree, but then I am unsure what he is 10th degree in and am a bit surprised that such a high-ranking individual isn't e.g. a Hanshi (above the Shihan he claims).

I would stay away from "home study" courses unless it's from your direct teacher and meant to complement your training with him/her.

 

[Yamabushii]

Is this the oldest thread resurrection going if we take it from the date of the first post? 16 years old, cool.

Hah. After seeing your post, I went and checked how old the original post was. Wonder how his training has fared since then...hopefully not an online grandmaster now... (jokes).

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I just got mine,and sat down and watched most of it,i think it' pretty good,it's complete,unlike any books I've had on ninjutsu,I think eventually you'd be able to learn what you see on it.if you have a good imagination.you get tested for your black belt in person.so if you cant learn from the dvd's and the manual you wont be given your black belt anyway.i was trying to find out when it was made,that's how I found this site.but this page seems to be 16 years old!the videos look at least 30 years old.i personaly have learned to fight much better from just reading books and practicing alone.though I don't have any belts.i got in a real fight one night with two guys and one attacked me,trying to beat me to death with his skateboard and I easily reflected it off my left forearm again and again about 4 times.in my right arm I held a krypton bike lock,which may have kept his friend back.the guy got scared because he couldn't hit me,and he walked away quickly and his friend followed him.i've read books by ashida kim and ha ha lung and others.i started practicing from books 10 years ago and never really stopped.i've never been in a dojo with a teacher.so in my opinion stuff like books and videos is much better than nothing.i've learned meditation techniques from them also.im sure the home study course will be just like that,if I follow through with it.it didn't cost much either,plus you can practice it 5 hours a day if you want,that's much more than twice a week at a school.it's free also.

Paragraphs.

And welcome to MT.