i think you had a lucky escape with roy, at least if you want to learn what hatsumi sensei is teaching anyway. students are told it is modern ninjutsu, which is fine if thats what you want. (and want to believe) it does quite clearly say 'as taught by wayne roy' not masaaki hatsumi, so he can teach what he see's fit i suppose. imho. if the man has any sense, he should go back to japan, tell them he has been a fool, and try to learn what budo is. isn't ninjakia any good? i looked at the web page and it looked fun, a nice teacher too i thought(seemed to do a lot for the local area)
Hatsie Shihan John Ang is a highly intelligent, capable and spiritual person. He is the Grandmaster of a pseudo-ninja art with the rank of 6th dan. The facilities a quite good and instruction is respectful to the student (no berating etc). I've seen posts around the net from people that say it looks a bit like karate or judo. Ang taught Judo at the Uni of Singapore and also achieved a black belt in shokotan (sp?) karate when he was younger so it's no surprise to see those influences. It's sorta wierd 'cause its not true ninjutsu yet bears little mcdojoness: non profit org, he is still only a 6th dan (ie hasn't promoted himself so he can 'be all that'). His ethics seem beyond reproach. He has done much in past years for violent crime victims/victims of racial hate bashings etc. My concern, which I only see now that I have looked somewhere else is that he is the keeper of the art yet only 6th dan ie it's dying out y'know, he got the Grandmatership from an 8th dan, next generation a 4th??????? I'm not sure how I feel about Ninjutsu though, basically 'cause I got unceremoniously beaten to a pulp at my first class (well, wrist locked to a pulp anyway) and its only about ten regulars in a scout hall. Maybe I'm just spoilt and have gone soft. I must admit the approach to training/instruction (as opposed to any actual techniques) differs greatly. I learnt things in one session of ninjutsu that have never been brought up at all in my 12 months at ninjukai, however at the lower belts of -kai there is no sparring so perhaps it's taught later.............? but how am I to know? Next time I go to -tsu perhaps i'll have a clearer head/ask more questions. edit: One of which is this: I've just done a search in the ninjutsu section of this forum for 'hip throw' and came up bunk. Is it part of taijutsu and just not talked about here much, or is it not there at all?
Hip throw.... Yeah, I'm pretty sure there is a hip throw in ninjutsu. Heck, I think there is a hip throw in every art that consists of throwing but I could be wrong. Hm, anyway you usually learn throwing techniques around 6th kyu, I believe. Well, whether true ninjutsu is not for you or you're still debating. It is nice that you tried it out.
hip throws Kalifallen: "Hip throw.... Yeah, I'm pretty sure there is a hip throw in ninjutsu." Yes, there are at least three varieties of hip throw (koshi-nage) I have seen in NRT (Ninjutsu-Related Taijutsu) I guess I could start a new thread to discuss jutaijutsu nage-waza, or if someone else starts it up before I do, I'll gladly contribute to it. "Heck, I think there is a hip throw in every art that consists of throwing but I could be wrong. Hm, anyway you usually learn throwing techniques around 6th kyu, I believe." I agree with both of these points. It is such a basic manouever, nearly every fighting style in the world has something like it. As for leaning nagewaza around 6th kyu, one could actually learn them sooner, but to really be able to practice them well and safely, it's a good idea to make sure your uke has good ukemi skills, which could take up to a year to develop (which is about how long it takes to get 7th kyu). Sorry for the thread drift. I'll take this discussion to its own thread.
