I thought I'd make a new post about this... This is the greatest article on Koga Ryu, all the way back from its creation, its relationship to Iga, to the death of Fujita I have seen. Enjoy. http://www.bujinkanwakodojo.com/bwd_kogaryu_history.html
Here is an appeal by the writer of that article for other ninjutsu styles on the internet to step forward and prove what they say. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23648
Ok I'm not a mod but what they heck!! Why don't we just get back on track because this is just going to go round and round in circles. So comments on Mr Royley's article.........what did you all think??
Well if you are, I think he should be invited to the "party" then??? “inegrity” don’t you know?? …..it’s what happens when you post on MAP whilst setting up users for the company ERP and fending off phone calls!!...oh and also thinking about lunch!!!!
Hello all. I studied Ninjutsu for about a year in Tacoma, Washington and that was about 20 years ago. I live elsewhere now and study HapKiDo and TaeKwonDo but my question is this. Is Koga Ryu Ninjutsu being falsely claimed by this instructor? Honestly, I had always had some questions even when I was young due to his claiming like 7th or 8th dan in ninjutsu, aikido, and shotokan karate. Not to mention several times while I was training there students from a nearby school whose instructer had actually competed against Chuck Norris in kickboxing several times would want to spar our guys and our instructer would always decline. Not that this is wrong but what is wrong with sparring if to only learn. Anyhow, I am looking for any honest opinions about this instructer because he is still around and I would also like to know of any legitimate schools in Washington State. Thanks, keep training.
Several things come to mind: Several people I know, are in Japan and talk to Mr. Roley and say he lives there (else why bother setting up house?), his IP shows him to be posting from Japan (seems an awful long distance to travel, just to post, so that you can fool people into thinking you live there). Even if he didn't live in Japan, his articles here and elsewhere seem thoroughly researched. Frankly, I don't care. To many inconsitencies in Koga Ryu stories for me to take them seriously.
Brad, is it possible to move the quoted post to the check-in thread? It doesn't add to the discussion.
Well, I have to say that Roley is one of the most masterful con men I know -- he totally pulled the wool over my eyes on the "living in Japan" thing, going to incredibly elaborate lengths to make the illusion successful. I've known him since '91. For my trip to Japan for the '99 Daikomyosai, he met me at the Narita airport. He was wearing appropriately manly attire: a kilt in, as I recall, Stewart Hunting tartan. He'd evidently rented a car for the occasion, as he drove me from the airport straight to class at Nagase sensei's dojo. Some of you know that he claims Nagase as his teacher, and apparently he got the man to go along with the joke. He acted as Nagase's interpreter throughout the class, and got the other students there to pretend that they knew him. After class he drove me to a house he claimed to live in, where he introduced me to a lovely Japanese woman to whom he claimed to be married. Must have rented both the house and the girl by the week (which in Japan had to be a huge expense), as he put me up there for the next several days. Roley is also known to claim that he teaches English in the Japanese school system, and the day after I arrived he took me to an English poetry reading/luncheon event sponsored by a teachers' group there where I participated by giving a little speech regarding my impressions of some of the poetry which was read. Again, both the Japanese and foreign English teachers present seemed to know Roley -- how he got them all to go along with that I'll never figure out. I can't warn you all too strongly about Don Roley. This man will go to any lengths and do whatever it takes, including perpetration of the most massive fraud, to trick people into thinking he actually lives in Japan.
And yet the sad thing is, somebody is going to read this, miss the sarcasm completely, and take it to mean that he doesn't really live there!!! Oh, and by the way Dale, there is only one thing I can think of after reading your post:
Check out post #23 on this page. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24469&page=2&pp=15 Never underestimate the power of human stupidity!
yeah your not wrong don is a bit harsh with people, (myself included at the back end of last year) but he knows his stuff...as a martial historian he is a wealth of information...he's also quite helpfull if you can convince him your not a time-waster, when i asked him to back up his arguments and provide some published literature which verified his position he posted the title of a book on Japanese history and said we could continue our discussion when i had read it...to date i haven't, so the discussion is hanging, my bad for leading a busy life. back on topic...i read his koga article a few months back...it seems to be a pretty well researched exposition on the subject and i have yet to read anything about koga that is better informed.
You know, the article on Koga ryu states that none of the arts claiming to be ninjutsu seem to be able to trace themselves back to Japan. Maybe it would be nice if some of the folks here that claim to have studied the Koga ryu could help the author find some sort of proof. It would go a long way to ending a lot of internet battles.
