Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Sure, not sure that anything much else good is going to come of this thread....
I'm going to look at this from my arts perspective, as well as giving a few other examples from other arts to show the differences that can (and do) exist. Obviously the important thing is that each art is congruent and true to itself across board.
Within Ninjutsu the power source utilised is natural body weight in fluid motion.
By contrast, karate tends towards generating power by snapping the hips in order to transfer power; a number of Kung Fu (CMA) systems generate power through tension in the tendons; boxing (and JKD, for that matter) use kinetic chaining; Aikido is redirection of incoming energy/momentum by utilising circular movement; Judo focuses of hip movement and displacing the opponents balance; BJJ works with a combination of leverage and positioning..... the list can go on and on, really.
Within Ninjutsu we utilise an asterix-style approach to angling (forwards, backwards, left and right, forward and to the left, forward and to the right, back and to the left, back and to the right), as well as (to a lesser degree) up and down.
Karate tends towards straight line (linear) angles, primarily forwards and backwards, with some sideways movement as well; boxing is also very linear; Aikido is circular, moving around the opponents incoming force; Wing Chun has little evasive angling, as it deals more with intercepting incoming attacks, and has a primary angle of forwards; military movement tends towards forward, and outflanking forwards, with some retreating to a lesser degree, and so on.
Well, Ninjutsu is very much as generalist system, in that it deals with striking, kicking, grappling (stand-up), ground work, weapons, weapon defence, groups, and far more. That said, certain individual systems within the Ninjutsu schools are more one than another.
Good examples of grappling systems include BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, a number of traditional Jujutsu systems, and so on. Striking arts range from boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, TKD, Karate, and so on.
Generalist systems are modern RBSD systems, MMA, Shootfighting, JKD, and so on.
An important thing to note here is that just because a system is a specialist system (say, striking with TKD), that doesn't mean that's all it has, just that that specialisation makes up the dominant majority of the system.
For Ninjutsu, the majority of the old systems are designed for old-style Japanese attacks (stepping punches, grappling/throwing attacks, traditional Japanese weaponry etc), although modern interpretations are not uncommon. With my schools, the two (environments) are definitively seperate.
MMA's environment is a competitive ring (honestly rather grappler-friendly), boxing is similar, but with a firmer surface allowing faster striking and movement, Judo's environment is a Judo competition, RBSD deals with common "street" attacks and the realities of adrenaline and the law, traditional Japanese weapon systems deal with either battlefield usage (Katori Shinto Ryu, Toda-ha Buko Ryu etc), or more of a dueling situation (Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, Shinto Muso Ryu etc), or possibly arresting or policing methods (Hojojutsu, Juttejutsu etc). Chinese systems can be classed as "Northern" or "Southern" systems, where the terrain in which they developed lend themselves to very different body mechanics (the Northern systems, being a flatter environment, tend towards more "upright", narrow stances, whereas the Southern systems, being a rockier, more mountainous area, have a greater tendancy to deeper, lower stances for stability).
Oh, we have lots! Sword, short sword, knife, two sword, staff, short staff, half staff, naginata, spear, bisento, jutte, kusari fundo, kusarigama, kyoketsu shoge, hojo, chigiriki, shuriken, fukiya, shikomi zue, shuko, and more. Modern interpretations include firearms and defence as well, including defence against modern weapons such as machettes, baseball bats, chains, and so on.
It's really going to be far too long to try to go through all the other possibile weapon usages and systems that use them, but for some brevity, there is none in most competition based systems (Judo, boxing, MMA, etc), or specific weapons only (Kendo, Atarashii Naginatado, La Canne), some systems are weapons based (Katori Shinto Ryu, Toda-ha Buko Ryu, Escrima, Jodo etc), some are unarmed based with some weapons (Wing Chun - Butterfly swords and staff, some Karate systems - nunchaku, kama, tonfa, staff, sai, and so on).
Ah, the confusing one. For Ninjutsu, when you look at the scrolls, each system have their own rhythm, but to generalise, Ninjutsu-related traditions tend towards rhythms of 2 or 3 (two as an attacking rhythm [one as a set-up, the second as a knockdown/out], or three as a defensive rhythm [one as a block, two as a disrupting action, and a third to finish]). That is then combined with alternating angles/heights (hitting left, then right, or high then low, or reversed).
Arts such as boxing work on a variety of rhythms, typically trained as combination, and can range from two or three punches, to as many as 8 or more in a row. Karate systems can have a rhythm of one (one punch, one kill to oversimplify things....), with the idea that each action you take is completely self-dependant, and is designed to be as devestating as possible. Aikido works on rhythms of three or more, with the first action taking control of the opponents energy, the second redirecting it, and the third the application of the movement.
For us, the most fundamental posture is a defensive posture (Ichimonji, Seigan, Doko etc depending upon system). It features your weight being centred back, rather than forward, has one hand extended as a barrier/defence, and the rear hand guarding while being ready to strike/launch an attack. The primary strategy for our arts is escape and survival, so the posture reflects that.
In boxing, the main posture is forward, with the hands held high guarding the head, and the body held upright. The feet both point forwards and are close together for speed of movement. As the primary strategy for boxing is based around generating success in boxing matches, the posture is guarded, but aggressive, focused on forwards movement, and the hands held to protect the head, as that is the primary target in boxing.
Okay, first off, a clarification of what a strategy is, and what a tactic is.
A strategy is an overall plan of action. Examples might be "win a competition", or "get home safe". A tactic is a particular set of methods used to achieve that strategy, such as "push forward aggressively" to win a competition, or "evasive angles" for get home safe. The next thing is "technique", which, in the above examples, would be the specific footwork.
For us, the primary strategy changes depending on the environment. For the traditional, the strategy is to defeat the enemy (for the most part, Togakure Ryu is a bit different, for example). The tactics used for that strategy include evasive angling, damaging counter strikes, and devestating throws (designed to injure, and not allow the opponent/enemy to fall safely), as well as the use of weaponry. Our street strategy is simply, as listed above, "get home safe". The primary tactics are designed to minimalise the risk of injury to yourself, as well as to escape (or eject yourself from the situation) as quickly as possible. They include awareness to avoid confrontation before it happens, verbal de-escalation to stop a confrontation becoming physical, pre-emptive striking to avoid the risk of the attacker injuring you, and from there we get into close-quarter brawling, ground work, and so on.
Hope that helps a bit!
I'm going to look at this from my arts perspective, as well as giving a few other examples from other arts to show the differences that can (and do) exist. Obviously the important thing is that each art is congruent and true to itself across board.
Within Ninjutsu the power source utilised is natural body weight in fluid motion.
By contrast, karate tends towards generating power by snapping the hips in order to transfer power; a number of Kung Fu (CMA) systems generate power through tension in the tendons; boxing (and JKD, for that matter) use kinetic chaining; Aikido is redirection of incoming energy/momentum by utilising circular movement; Judo focuses of hip movement and displacing the opponents balance; BJJ works with a combination of leverage and positioning..... the list can go on and on, really.
Within Ninjutsu we utilise an asterix-style approach to angling (forwards, backwards, left and right, forward and to the left, forward and to the right, back and to the left, back and to the right), as well as (to a lesser degree) up and down.
Karate tends towards straight line (linear) angles, primarily forwards and backwards, with some sideways movement as well; boxing is also very linear; Aikido is circular, moving around the opponents incoming force; Wing Chun has little evasive angling, as it deals more with intercepting incoming attacks, and has a primary angle of forwards; military movement tends towards forward, and outflanking forwards, with some retreating to a lesser degree, and so on.
Well, Ninjutsu is very much as generalist system, in that it deals with striking, kicking, grappling (stand-up), ground work, weapons, weapon defence, groups, and far more. That said, certain individual systems within the Ninjutsu schools are more one than another.
Good examples of grappling systems include BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, a number of traditional Jujutsu systems, and so on. Striking arts range from boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, TKD, Karate, and so on.
Generalist systems are modern RBSD systems, MMA, Shootfighting, JKD, and so on.
An important thing to note here is that just because a system is a specialist system (say, striking with TKD), that doesn't mean that's all it has, just that that specialisation makes up the dominant majority of the system.
For Ninjutsu, the majority of the old systems are designed for old-style Japanese attacks (stepping punches, grappling/throwing attacks, traditional Japanese weaponry etc), although modern interpretations are not uncommon. With my schools, the two (environments) are definitively seperate.
MMA's environment is a competitive ring (honestly rather grappler-friendly), boxing is similar, but with a firmer surface allowing faster striking and movement, Judo's environment is a Judo competition, RBSD deals with common "street" attacks and the realities of adrenaline and the law, traditional Japanese weapon systems deal with either battlefield usage (Katori Shinto Ryu, Toda-ha Buko Ryu etc), or more of a dueling situation (Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, Shinto Muso Ryu etc), or possibly arresting or policing methods (Hojojutsu, Juttejutsu etc). Chinese systems can be classed as "Northern" or "Southern" systems, where the terrain in which they developed lend themselves to very different body mechanics (the Northern systems, being a flatter environment, tend towards more "upright", narrow stances, whereas the Southern systems, being a rockier, more mountainous area, have a greater tendancy to deeper, lower stances for stability).
Oh, we have lots! Sword, short sword, knife, two sword, staff, short staff, half staff, naginata, spear, bisento, jutte, kusari fundo, kusarigama, kyoketsu shoge, hojo, chigiriki, shuriken, fukiya, shikomi zue, shuko, and more. Modern interpretations include firearms and defence as well, including defence against modern weapons such as machettes, baseball bats, chains, and so on.
It's really going to be far too long to try to go through all the other possibile weapon usages and systems that use them, but for some brevity, there is none in most competition based systems (Judo, boxing, MMA, etc), or specific weapons only (Kendo, Atarashii Naginatado, La Canne), some systems are weapons based (Katori Shinto Ryu, Toda-ha Buko Ryu, Escrima, Jodo etc), some are unarmed based with some weapons (Wing Chun - Butterfly swords and staff, some Karate systems - nunchaku, kama, tonfa, staff, sai, and so on).
Ah, the confusing one. For Ninjutsu, when you look at the scrolls, each system have their own rhythm, but to generalise, Ninjutsu-related traditions tend towards rhythms of 2 or 3 (two as an attacking rhythm [one as a set-up, the second as a knockdown/out], or three as a defensive rhythm [one as a block, two as a disrupting action, and a third to finish]). That is then combined with alternating angles/heights (hitting left, then right, or high then low, or reversed).
Arts such as boxing work on a variety of rhythms, typically trained as combination, and can range from two or three punches, to as many as 8 or more in a row. Karate systems can have a rhythm of one (one punch, one kill to oversimplify things....), with the idea that each action you take is completely self-dependant, and is designed to be as devestating as possible. Aikido works on rhythms of three or more, with the first action taking control of the opponents energy, the second redirecting it, and the third the application of the movement.
For us, the most fundamental posture is a defensive posture (Ichimonji, Seigan, Doko etc depending upon system). It features your weight being centred back, rather than forward, has one hand extended as a barrier/defence, and the rear hand guarding while being ready to strike/launch an attack. The primary strategy for our arts is escape and survival, so the posture reflects that.
In boxing, the main posture is forward, with the hands held high guarding the head, and the body held upright. The feet both point forwards and are close together for speed of movement. As the primary strategy for boxing is based around generating success in boxing matches, the posture is guarded, but aggressive, focused on forwards movement, and the hands held to protect the head, as that is the primary target in boxing.
Okay, first off, a clarification of what a strategy is, and what a tactic is.
A strategy is an overall plan of action. Examples might be "win a competition", or "get home safe". A tactic is a particular set of methods used to achieve that strategy, such as "push forward aggressively" to win a competition, or "evasive angles" for get home safe. The next thing is "technique", which, in the above examples, would be the specific footwork.
For us, the primary strategy changes depending on the environment. For the traditional, the strategy is to defeat the enemy (for the most part, Togakure Ryu is a bit different, for example). The tactics used for that strategy include evasive angling, damaging counter strikes, and devestating throws (designed to injure, and not allow the opponent/enemy to fall safely), as well as the use of weaponry. Our street strategy is simply, as listed above, "get home safe". The primary tactics are designed to minimalise the risk of injury to yourself, as well as to escape (or eject yourself from the situation) as quickly as possible. They include awareness to avoid confrontation before it happens, verbal de-escalation to stop a confrontation becoming physical, pre-emptive striking to avoid the risk of the attacker injuring you, and from there we get into close-quarter brawling, ground work, and so on.
Hope that helps a bit!
