Just to put a little perspective on it... In the Bujinkan there is no one, bar no one who is senior to anyone - except Soke, the Bujinkan is a horizontal school with one teacher, we are all his students. Yes Soke says he is teaching to "x" level sometimes and yes we can all learn from each other and especially the dai-shihan and shihan, but ultimately if you want to learn his way you have to listen to him, sometime this listening maybe through other people but it is still listening to him, and it means losing your ego. To answer OP questions: 1. Dont worry about grade, a belt is only good for holding your pants up. 2. No you dont need to take any weapons - plenty in the Honbu 3. You dont need visa for Japan if you are staying less than 3 months and not working.
No offense but you do realize how preposterous that sounds right?:dunno: Japanese society is a vertical one. If you watch any group of Japanese people, you will see how they act based on their place in that vertical hierarchy, one where age and seniority plays a big role. If you watch how the shihan interact amongst themselves, how their students interact in their own dojos, and how the Japanese people in the Bujinkan interact, you will notice something a bit different from what you claim. Yes, there are people senior and junior to each other, you can find that in the order they sit, the order their names are displayed, and on and on. The Bujinkan might be a horizontal organization, but if it is, that means that a 15dan means nothing more than the lowest green belt(actually when you see some of the taijutsu of some people, that seems to be the case). We can learn from everyone, often learning what not to do or how not to move and train. Anybody can learn something from Hatsumi sensei, but that does not automatically make everyone his student, definitely not his personal student, and a claim of being a "personal student" of his definitely does not correspond to the person making the claim being a deshi of his. A person with Menkyo Kaiden in the ryu that make up the Takamatsuden are arguably on par with the soke of the art, at least from a transmission perspective as they can start their own branch of the ryu if they so chose, as well as rank others based on the authority that comes with this rank. Anyone with traditional ranks automatically outranks those without them, even if the person with the modern ranks would surpass them(though them being outranked would be a rare case, those that have left being an exception). More than listening to what soke says, because he does often contradict himself, says different things to different people and even the same people depending on who is around, and how he moves is more important than anything he says; learning how he got to the conclusions he makes now in word and motion is more important to one's personal journey. You did a good job answering the OP's questions at the end of your post, but that had already been done on the first page.
I find it odd that someone would think that certain ingrained social conventions are just abandoned when someone steps inside the honbu. Saying that there is no seniority is a little bizarre really. I think the risk of misunderstanding due to filters, as PR puts it, is a real one. Spend any time around a traditional art and you get to see how important context and first hand knowledge is. This is also apparent in, well let's be frank, the ignorance often displayed both via words and movement.
PR: We aren't really disagreeing. The ranks that matter are in the ryu, and the only authorities concerning the actual ryu are those who have ranking in them. As you(anyone without such ranks, not "you" in particular) don't have rank in them, your opinion and rank in an organization only has meaning inside of said organization and only as long as the organization thrives. If you have the menkyo in the different ryu, you can teach irrespective of the Bujinkan. If you don't think rank is important, why all the ruckus and contacting the media when you received your 15dan? Niinpo: I think you may be confusing: The dan (段) ranking system is used by many Japanese organizations to indicate the level of one's ability (expertise) within a certain subject matter. As a ranking system, it was originally used at a go school during the Edo period. It is now also used in modern fine arts and martial arts. and: rank noun 1. a position in the hierarchy of the armed forces. "an army officer of high rank"
From my limited understanding based on reading on this forum and on other koryu websites, the traditional rankings were far older and have more significance. I mean im sure there is a reason Soke gave MK to a select number of individuals, if he didnt see the need or value in them he would not have bestowed on them MK. From my reading in a traditional JMA school what you were taught was dependent on your rank. You were not shown material from higher ranks till you earned the right to be at that rank. Beginning/middle/advanced. Now im not sure what is taught when that advanced student (in the traditional sense not the Dan sense) reaches the stage were he is beginning his training for the various traditional teaching ranks. Im sure that is were alot of the real correction and learning happens.
There is undoubtably a hierarchy of teachers in the Buj. It's clearly visible / communicated & naturally changes over time An uncontroversial example would be the establishment of the Bujinkan Juyushi by soke People seem to interpret the hierarchy in a way that suits their own perspective/choices Equally, it seems to me that soke goes to great pains to prevent fiefdoms and uses gradings, certificates (perhaps even MK), status symbols etc to prevent this happening
Gor blimey mate, you Chiftain's ave an ard time distinguishing between Dan rank and level of authority dont ya! Please see me comment #27 above!
You do realize that MAP is an English only site? If you don't write in English, or give English equivalents for your foreign words, you will be reported. My points are underlined, as before. Seriously though. Oh, so you mean there are no military ranks in the Bujinkan? Wow, that's news... Nobody is confused about the dan ranks in the Bujinkan being meaningless, nor are there any people running around thinking that the Bujinkan has a military structure or hierarchy, because if it did, there would've been a lot more court martials and people facing firing squads.:woo: Those with the real ranks in the ryu can be easily distinguished from the rank and file with their inflated dan grades, inflated egos, and deflated understanding and ability. But I digress.
Now you are confusing American with English, you do realise that Cockney is about as English as you can get! ;-)
Now you know ill be picturing Yangus from Dragon Age 8 Quest of the Cursed King now every time you type?!
Go to Japan, and take as many classes as you can afford. Take notes, but assume they'll make no sense when you return. Don't embarrass your teacher or nation while there. Be nice and train in earnest.
Just go and enjoy yourself mate, ignore the suck ups and sycophants over there, they'll do your head in, one thing though, and this is what I tell my guys if they go for the first time, introduce yourself to whatever shihan you go to train with, it's just respect...
I agree. People make Japan out to be some extraterrestrial place where the rules are incredibly different. They aren't. Just be nice, smile, speak softly, basic stuff. There's like some sort of foreign fetish going on where people dream that etiquette there is stranger than it really is. Now, the TV shows on the other hand.....:thinking:
