i'm interested in learning the ways of ninjutsu but i don't have an instructor anywhere in the area, is there a good online course or some other way of learning this art, i know what y'all are thinking but i'm really good at reading and being able to do or watching and being able to do, i'm not mocking the art, i want to learn it and apply it but i mean no disrespect, i also wont do that whole i'm a black belt in ninjutsu under sensei TV, i won't even call myself white belt i just want to be able to learn and apply
i'm interested
- Thread starter firerex
- Start date
To echo what was already said....NO, you can't learn from a dvd, book or tape. Your profile says you live in Texas. Well, after looking at the following:
http://www.winjutsu.com/winlinks.html
Genbukan
Jinenkan
I find it very hard to believe that there are no dojos in your area to train at. If you really have a strong desire to train, then even if you had to drive a bit, that would be much better than trying to learn how to do something you've never done, off of a tape.
I'm sure there're many people who travel that and further in order to train. I work a 2nd shift job, 4pm-12am, with rotating days off, so it makes it hard for me to get to alot of training sessions, however, I make exceptions and train when I can.
I don't know your work schedule, but if you really want legit training and to get the most out of your training, I suggest getting to a dojo to train under a live teacher. Even if it means taking 1 class and 1 private lesson, there are ways.
Just came back to Michigan from North Carolina, where I was home on vacation for July. I drove 45 minutes each way three days a week to train at the closest dojo that teaches my style, Isshin-Ryu.
If it's worth it to you, you'll find a way. If you can't manage it, you would not have stuck with it anyway. The harder it is to obtain, the more it means to you.
You cannot learn martial arts from books or tapes. They can only supplement real training.
Jon-Bhoy
Yellow Belt
I dont think you look like an idiot at all. The best thing to do, is visit any dojos you can find, and make up your own mind. Try sending emails to any nearby instructors.
good luck.
good luck.
I feel it is true if someone really wants something, they many times will do almost anything to get to that goal. No matter what is in the way, they figure it out.
Here is what I just started myself as I am in a boat I am sure many are in. Lead busy lives, have many to-dos, many commitments, multiple jobs, etc... I too am super busy at my nearest dojo is 1.25 hours away. They meet once a week and have once a month Saturday sessions. Rest of the time it is on Tuesday. Just took my 1st class this week.
My class is an official Bujunkan Budo Taijutsu class and my goal is to go weekly, but like anything else, I may not always be able to attend. Away for business, etc... So, I also purchased the Richard Van Donk Black Belt DVD set as a suppliment. I will do 75% via classes and those times I can't attend or want to gather more info of work out more during the week, I will use the DVDs. I just watched about 25 minutes of the 9th Kyu DVD and it is quite good. I feel the DVD will be a great benefit to me and here is why.
In my 1st class, they only did a very little amount of stretching and warm-up. In this DVD, they really show a whole bunch of methods that I can use on my own and maybe do while I wait in class for class to start.
The other thing I like about the DVD set is there is a form of organization to the madness they call Bujinkan. In the 3 different dojos I attended, training, even for someone that has ZERO experience, you just get thrown in. At least the classes I took. I was used to very organzied sets of training from past martial arts where so far, from my experience, Bujinkan classes are very Ad Hoc. All over the place. Not linear. You jump from weapons to stances to blah blah blah. Something I will have to get used to.
Anyway, I like the DVD and Class route together. I think I will learn some good stuff from the DVDs and get my live training in class. Even if you can only go once a month, find that hour away dojo and go once a month and start up.
Will be interested to see if I can keep myself motivated and "if" I really want this or not myself. Time will tell.
So, if you "really" want to learn, force yourself to get to class and start working on it.
tj
Here is what I just started myself as I am in a boat I am sure many are in. Lead busy lives, have many to-dos, many commitments, multiple jobs, etc... I too am super busy at my nearest dojo is 1.25 hours away. They meet once a week and have once a month Saturday sessions. Rest of the time it is on Tuesday. Just took my 1st class this week.
My class is an official Bujunkan Budo Taijutsu class and my goal is to go weekly, but like anything else, I may not always be able to attend. Away for business, etc... So, I also purchased the Richard Van Donk Black Belt DVD set as a suppliment. I will do 75% via classes and those times I can't attend or want to gather more info of work out more during the week, I will use the DVDs. I just watched about 25 minutes of the 9th Kyu DVD and it is quite good. I feel the DVD will be a great benefit to me and here is why.
In my 1st class, they only did a very little amount of stretching and warm-up. In this DVD, they really show a whole bunch of methods that I can use on my own and maybe do while I wait in class for class to start.
The other thing I like about the DVD set is there is a form of organization to the madness they call Bujinkan. In the 3 different dojos I attended, training, even for someone that has ZERO experience, you just get thrown in. At least the classes I took. I was used to very organzied sets of training from past martial arts where so far, from my experience, Bujinkan classes are very Ad Hoc. All over the place. Not linear. You jump from weapons to stances to blah blah blah. Something I will have to get used to.
Anyway, I like the DVD and Class route together. I think I will learn some good stuff from the DVDs and get my live training in class. Even if you can only go once a month, find that hour away dojo and go once a month and start up.
Will be interested to see if I can keep myself motivated and "if" I really want this or not myself. Time will tell.
So, if you "really" want to learn, force yourself to get to class and start working on it.
tj
I know it is difficult to visualize, but there are good reasons you cannot learn martial arts from dvd's and books.
One of them is that there is no one to give you feedback. Little things are critical, and you won't notice yourself doing them wrong, even if the book or dvd explains them well and warns against them.
A block, for example, sounds simple and easy to do - and it is, more or less. But, if you block too low or too high, it's ineffective. If you lean forward or back, it's ineffective. If you...well, you get the idea.
Likewise, you need training partners. People to practice your skills on and have them practice on you. Learning to block, you have to have a punch coming in to react to. Slowly at first, but then with increasing power and speed, until you can block well and effectively without thinking about it. This will never happen if you have only yourself to train with.
There is also training material selection. The instructor will move you through exercises you're weak in over and over again, while you may not spend much time on the things you're best at. This is contrary to human nature - we tend to practice the things we like and are best at, because we like them and are good at them. If you're using a book or dvd, you won't know what you're good at and what you're bad at, just what you enjoy doing and what you don't. And who will be there to make you practice the things you don't particularly care for?
No one to encourage you when you're not getting it fast enough. No one to test yourself against to see how you're coming along. No one to help you push yourself to the limit. I would lose interest quickly myself if that was what I was facing. You have to actually do it, for real, in person.
I hope that you find a way to acheive your goals. Consider this a test of your desire. It may seem impossible for you now, but if you want it, you can make it happen. If you don't, then you know you didn't really want it that bad. No harm, no foul, but it's a great way to find out what you really want to do.
One of them is that there is no one to give you feedback. Little things are critical, and you won't notice yourself doing them wrong, even if the book or dvd explains them well and warns against them.
A block, for example, sounds simple and easy to do - and it is, more or less. But, if you block too low or too high, it's ineffective. If you lean forward or back, it's ineffective. If you...well, you get the idea.
Likewise, you need training partners. People to practice your skills on and have them practice on you. Learning to block, you have to have a punch coming in to react to. Slowly at first, but then with increasing power and speed, until you can block well and effectively without thinking about it. This will never happen if you have only yourself to train with.
There is also training material selection. The instructor will move you through exercises you're weak in over and over again, while you may not spend much time on the things you're best at. This is contrary to human nature - we tend to practice the things we like and are best at, because we like them and are good at them. If you're using a book or dvd, you won't know what you're good at and what you're bad at, just what you enjoy doing and what you don't. And who will be there to make you practice the things you don't particularly care for?
No one to encourage you when you're not getting it fast enough. No one to test yourself against to see how you're coming along. No one to help you push yourself to the limit. I would lose interest quickly myself if that was what I was facing. You have to actually do it, for real, in person.
I hope that you find a way to acheive your goals. Consider this a test of your desire. It may seem impossible for you now, but if you want it, you can make it happen. If you don't, then you know you didn't really want it that bad. No harm, no foul, but it's a great way to find out what you really want to do.
Huh ... offhand, I can't think of anything in (ninjutsu/ninpo taijutsu/Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu/whatever you want to call it) that would make you better at tae kwon do - even if you had an actual instructor. The body mechanics are just too different.
Ninpo taijutsu and BJJ are more compatible, but for improving your BJJ no amount of taijutsu training (especially from a video) would be as useful as your regular training with your BJJ instuctor. (Who is your BJJ instructor anyway?)
Did you have something in particular you were wanting to learn from ninjutsu? What is it that you feel you're missing from the arts you have training in?
Bruno@MT
Senior Master
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Funny you should say that. We share a communal dojo with other clubs, and on thursday, the class before ours is TKD.
Having looked at it a couple of times, I can honestly say that they have NOTHING in common. And any principles of one that you'd try to apply in the other would get you into trouble. It's like trying to mix oil and water. Just doesn't work that way.
If you are interested then I would check out one of those school's 45 minutes away or so and drive to them when you can to train. Live training under an instructor is essential in all the martial sciences. Good luck!
I think you're still missing the point here. Let me explain....If you have never done, lets say, BJJ, and you run out and spend $300 on a dvd set, you could pop those dvd's in, watch them, and attempt to figure out what they're doing. You could think that you know, but in reality, a) chances are, your basics are going to suck, b) you're going to be making mistakes, c) there will be nobody to correct you, d) if you tried anything on the tapes, theres a very good chance you'll end up getting hurt. Lets see...spend $300 dollars on a dvd set, that you're not going to get much out of or......spend $300 for some lessons under a live teacher. Hmmm.....
I have a few different BJJ tapes/dvds. I watch them. I also have people who I train BJJ with, I have a live teacher, who can fix my mistakes, give feedback, all the very important things. I can watch one of those dvds, and take something to class and work it and ask questions, but again, I'm not learning from the tape, I'm learning from a teacher.
That is the difference.This is starting to remind me of the first Karate Kid movie, where, after Daniel got his *** kicked the first time, he pulled out a book, and was doing kicks, when Mr. M walked in. What did he say? "Ahh...you learn Karate from book?" Same thing here.
I know you're probably getting very frustrated here, because you're not getting the answers that you're hoping for. There are many people here, with some very strong martial arts backgrounds, that are giving advice. You're free to do what you want, however, IMO, you haven't given a good reason, for not getting in your car, driving down and watching a class from any of those links I gave the other day.
My suggestion would be to pick a few, call and set up a time to speak with the instructor. Explain your situation and maybe, just maybe, they can work with you. If you're really sincere about training and learning and the desire is there, then I'm sure things will work out. But you're not going to know until you pick up the phone and make a call.
Even if you were attending an actual Bujinkan, Genbukan, or Jinenkan school, it wouldn't help with the appropriate reflexes for TKD or BJJ. Likewise, the footwork doesn't really carry over between those arts.
Of course, books and videos are never going to help you develop faster reflexes in any case, no matter what art you're studying. (I say this as someone who likes instructional books and videos and who has a good collection of both.)
There's not a whole lot of footwork to learn for BJJ anyway. If you want to learn better footwork for your TKD, perhaps you'd have more luck posting in the TKD forum and asking for tips.
Kajowaraku
Green Belt
visual media can be an important contribution to your training, but not as a way of learning. What DVD's and such are great for is to refresh previous grades, aid in better understanding something you are learning and training at that time, or getting new insights by watching (hopefully) very skilled people do a certain technique. However, to actually learn MA you'll REALLY need to commit your moves to muscle memory (check out
Bruno@MT 's blog here on mt, he has a very clear understanding of it I think), which you cannot do by watching a dvd, even when you try to mimic it. Best that can happen is that you don't completely get EVERY technique wrong, but chances are a RL practitioner (with a proper sensei to guide him) will immediatly sense it when somebody has only videoknowledge.
You don't learn to fly a helicopter just by watching an instructional video either, why would ninpo (or any other fairly complex art) be any different?
anyway, good luck.
Bruno@MT 's blog here on mt, he has a very clear understanding of it I think), which you cannot do by watching a dvd, even when you try to mimic it. Best that can happen is that you don't completely get EVERY technique wrong, but chances are a RL practitioner (with a proper sensei to guide him) will immediatly sense it when somebody has only videoknowledge.
You don't learn to fly a helicopter just by watching an instructional video either, why would ninpo (or any other fairly complex art) be any different?
anyway, good luck.
Shinobi Teikiatsu
Green Belt
There's no way to "supplement" your training in a specific art with another art. The only way to get better at BJJ is to practice BJJ. The only way to get better at Budo Taijutsu is to practice Budo Taijutsu. Now, if you want to just start up a new art and can't find a X-kan school around you, there's an age old saying around here to look at instructor, not an art, as a bad instructor can teacher you your choice art poorly, but a great instructor can teacher you your least "favorite" art expertly. Look at the instructors around you and see if maybe you want to join up with them, regardless of style.
I think that DVD's are fine tools but they cannot replace real, one on one instruction and there are those that will disagree with this wholeheartedly on both sides of the fence.
If you really want to get some DVD's try Shihan Van Donk's web site or you could go anohter route and take a look at Anshu Hayes site for his To Shin Do DVD's. I am the proud owner of a set, along with some Soke Hatsumi stuff as well.
One thing I hear alot of is "It is the little things you will miss instruction on." But at 9th kyu/yellow belt levels gross skills passable to most instructors.
Also check youtube and make sure your computer is set to be able to download videos. Just dont do anything crazy like become a video blackbelt....
If you really want to get some DVD's try Shihan Van Donk's web site or you could go anohter route and take a look at Anshu Hayes site for his To Shin Do DVD's. I am the proud owner of a set, along with some Soke Hatsumi stuff as well.
One thing I hear alot of is "It is the little things you will miss instruction on." But at 9th kyu/yellow belt levels gross skills passable to most instructors.
Also check youtube and make sure your computer is set to be able to download videos. Just dont do anything crazy like become a video blackbelt....
