Takamatsu Sensei DVD

[yorkshirelad]

A friend of mine recently showed me some footage from the Takamatsu DVD by Quest. The DVD is amazing. It's weird to see Hatsumi taking instruction as opposed to giving instruction. The thing that puzzled me, however is the use of white judo gis. Whenever you see footage of a Tai Kai or Daikomyosai most of the people are wearing, black gis with black tabi. In all my time training, I've never seen Bujinkan people wearing white judo gis. When was the shift from white gi/black hakama and maki to black gi with black tabi and leggings? I have never trained in the Genbukan or KJJR, but having seen footage on utube it would appear that the standard KJJR costume is the closest resemblance to the standard of Takamatsu Sensei.

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi,

That particular DVD is a favourite of mine...

As for the use of a white dogi rather than black, as far as I am aware the wearing of black as a standard was decided by Hatsumi Sensei in the late 60's or early 70's. Takamatsu Sensei used a white gi as that was the standard for pretty much all unarmed systems in Japan at the time (jujutsu, karate, judo etc). I have heard that it was a way to disguise the "Ninja" aspects, in other words, to make it look more mainstream and therefore accepted (at least from the outside). I don't know if I really believe that, but it is a theory I have heard, so I am repeating it here.

The thing to remember is that the uniform applied by an organisation or teacher is simply a personal choice by the authority in question. It really doesn't mean anything. It's just a colour, after all. And the origin of the uniform itself is less-than romantic. The gi is originally derived from the simple under-kimono, worn essentially as a form of underwear beneath the more formal kimono. When training, the practitioners would remove the valuable/delicate outer kimono and train in the under one, removing the danger of damaging the formal wear through pulling/pushing or sweat.

 

[Troy Wideman]

Hello,

Black does not get as dirty as a white keiko gi. If you are training outside it is better to wear a black gi, just a little hotter in the sun.

Troy

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hello,

Black does not get as dirty as a white keiko gi. If you are training outside it is better to wear a black gi, just a little hotter in the sun.

Troy

Absolutely. It also does not show the blood stains!

 

[yorkshirelad]

I was just looking through the "Ninjutsu.com" catalogue and found the Takamatsu DVD. I definatley going to order it. I was thinking about getting the Hatsumi "Kuden" series. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

 

[Chris Parker]

Depends on what you're after, really. Do you want the weapons first, or a particular Ryu? A large indepth class (Daikomyosai) or more intimate, "regular" style class (Kuden)? Do you just want Hatsumi Sensei, or do you want to learn from a variety of sources (Tanemura Sensei, Manaka Sensei, Moti Nativ, Hayes, Pedro Fleitas, Arnoud Cousergue etc)?

Personally, I choose an area I want to focus on (say, sojutsu - spear), and then look around for what I can find. In that regard, there is a very detailed book by Hatsumi Sensei, as well as a very easy to follow DVD from him, Tanemura Sensei had a great VHS tape out years ago that covered spear and naginata that I still use quite a lot, I believe there are senior instructors that also have spear videos or DVDs out.

So decide what you are after, and look for that. But if you're just beginning, and you're in the Bujinkan, I would suggest DVDs such as "Kobudo No Kihon" and "What Is Martial Arts", you can find these on Richard Van Donk's site (www.ninjutsu.com). If you are a member of the Jinenkan or Genbukan, there are great beginner products available there too.

 

[Cryozombie]

I agree with Chris.

We may do somthing in the course of training, and I go... Hmm.. I want to investigate that further, and I get a DVD watch it, often take notes, and then go back and ask questions about what I saw or my interpretation of things on it, and we work on it. I rarley pick one at random... unless my instructor says "you should watch this, I think it will help"

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

"Kobudo no Kihon" and "What is Martial Arts" by Hatsumi Sensei are definitely a great place to start. They are must viewing material by any Budo Taijutsu practitioner!

 

[yorkshirelad]

Depends on what you're after, really. Do you want the weapons first, or a particular Ryu? A large indepth class (Daikomyosai) or more intimate, "regular" style class (Kuden)? Do you just want Hatsumi Sensei, or do you want to learn from a variety of sources (Tanemura Sensei, Manaka Sensei, Moti Nativ, Hayes, Pedro Fleitas, Arnoud Cousergue etc)?http://www.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm intereasted in some Hanbo-Jutsu to begin with. I browsed RVD's website, and was impressed with all the material for sale. I think I'm going to go with the Moti Nativ, Hanbo-jutsu DVD first. I checked it out on u-tube for a preview and it seems well produced and easy. Other than that, I am interested in any instructionals by the X-kan Sokes. I trained in some Bujinkan in the mid to late '90s and have renewed my interest, so anything on Kihon-waza would be great.

 

[Chris Parker]

Great. Moti has spent quite a long time researching and studying the Kukishin Ryuha, especially the aspects of bojutsu, so he will be a great resource for you. I would also look to Hatsumi Sensei's Kukishinden Ryu Hanbojutsu Shikomi Zue DVD, and Tanemura Sensei's Kukishin Ryu Bojutsu Shobukyoku System CD-ROM, which I believe covers the Hanbo/Jo section as well as the Bo.

 

[ElfTengu]

Budomart is based in Europe and has a good selection.

And there is always ebay, although watch out for copies as they can muck up your player or become erased if you leave them near speakers, and of course they are ripping off the people who went to all the trouble of creating the originals, including Soke.

 

[orang_baik]

I have never trained in the Genbukan or KJJR, but having seen footage on utube it would appear that the standard KJJR costume is the closest resemblance to the standard of Takamatsu Sensei.

White Gi was used by Takamatsu + Hatsumi during their training, because white gi is not really a trainning clothes, it was actually an underwear.
They use it because they dont want to make their clothes dirty
Thats why karate, judo etc that use white gi are not allowed (cmmiw) to use any shirt inside


Black Gi is use by farmer as their working suit. ninjutsu use black because ???
(think by your self )

 

[ElfTengu]

White Gi was used by Takamatsu + Hatsumi during their training, because white gi is not really a trainning clothes, it was actually an underwear.
They use it because they dont want to make their clothes dirty
Thats why karate, judo etc that use white gi are not allowed (cmmiw) to use any shirt inside


Black Gi is use by farmer as their working suit. ninjutsu use black because ???
(think by your self )

I wonder about this. Most ordinary traditional Japanese clothing would not stand up to more than 5 minutes of grappling (which is probably why Sumo is performed almost naked) but we have had grappling styles such as jujutsu for centuries, and not all armour based styles.

The shitagi worn under the keikogi of kendoka and iadoka is a very lightweight piece of clothing and would not stand up as a training jacket.

Remember that judo had been around for many decades when Takamatsu Sensei was teaching the young Hatsumi Sensei, and a dedicated gi was around by then as a general uniform for judo. But most judo or aikido jackets by today's standards would be far too thick and bulky to wear as underwear beneath kimono, yukata, samue happi/haori clothing.

I believe that training gi have existed for much longer than is commonly thought, but that they weren't as thick and reinforced as today's apparel, and that whilst some people probably did train in their underwear, sometimes an actual training gi is mistaken for underwear because it is more lightweight than what we are used to. I doubt if there was more than one type of keikogi and that karateka, aikidoka, judoka and jujutsu/ninpo practitioners all wore something like we see Takamatsu Sensei and Hatsumi Sensei wearing in those old photographs.

And today, we have people training in all sorts of gi colours, karateka in black gi, judo gi available in black (not that I know of an organisation that wears them), and we even have a few Bujinkan/BJJ cross trainers who wear white gi for taijutsu!

I agree that our black gi probably helped with marketing 'ninjutsu' in the 80s before we called it budo taijutsu or ninpo taijutsu, but I don't think many of us feel particularly ninjerish in our tatty old grey karategi. At least the more recent kit seems to hold its colour better! I now train in a black BJJ gi that is still black as jet and tough as carpet after a year and a half of training. It is hard on the nipples after a day's training, but at least I don't lose whole sleeves these days!

 

[Bruno@MT]

I simply dyed my old JJ gi with black fabric dye (to be honest, I took it to my mother to do this because I did not want risk risk the wrath of my wife by using our washing machine ). The color holds up really good, and the black is still black.

The only problem were the white nylon stitches which didn't hold any of the dye. I simply colored them black with a CD marker pen. Probably silly thing to do, but it saved me the money for a new gi when I just started and had to pay membership, insurance, etc. And the color is holding well so I'll continue using it.

 

[ElfTengu]

I simply dyed my old JJ gi with black fabric dye (to be honest, I took it to my mother to do this because I did not want risk risk the wrath of my wife by using our washing machine ). The color holds up really good, and the black is still black.

The only problem were the white nylon stitches which didn't hold any of the dye. I simply colored them black with a CD marker pen. Probably silly thing to do, but it saved me the money for a new gi when I just started and had to pay membership, insurance, etc. And the color is holding well so I'll continue using it.

I still sometimes wear an aikido gi I did exactly the same thing with, with the same results, except that I left the stitching white and as the dyed gi has faded to a green-grey it doesn't really show that much now.

Imagine the problems a kunoichi has when she wants a purple gi!