We know that Hatsumi is getting no younger and that he is refusing to declare a successor must place a doubt on the bujinkan's future. What do you feel will become of the bujinkan when he becomes unable to lead?
A split into lots of different organizations and a dilution of a rank system that is already homeopathic
My inheritency is neither here nor there. I am genuinely curious about what will become of the bujinkan as an organisation. Not sure what i said to provoke such caustic replies.
You may well be genuinely curious but you should probably temper that curiosity with a little chat with your teacher about certain things.
There'll be some splintering. It might do the organisation some good. The different factions will be competing against each other for students and will need to raise their game. Maybe one of those factions will start teaching 'the r34l 5tuff'.
I'm surprised he hasn't given you a gentle nudge about what would and wouldn't be well received in public discussions, I'm not just on about the internet of course.
He hasn't declared a successor openly. You know there's a heavy emphasis on deception in the Bujinkan. Plenty of people have been allowed to teach things that are not so true. Maybe there will be a dispute over who has the right to carry the school on. I'm not sure it'll change much. Basically what I'm saying is that there has always been a problem with seeing who is the "really has it" apart from a core group in Japan, and that hasn't been an accident. I don't think his passing will change that.
You say disaster, i say part of the learning process. Nobody was killed or injured and i have not that bad a piece to my collection. Yes, i understand now your points that its a bit rude to speculate about soke, but when one invests time, energy and money into learning its rather difficult to not ponder if we'll still be able to train down the road when nobody is around to offer accreditation.
There will be someone to offer accreditation , it just depends on which faction your teacher chooses to follow.
I pay 52 dollars a year on top of my mat fees and I get a certificate from Hatsumi whenever I get graded by my shidoshi. At least that is how I understand how it works.
Bujinkan membership is under $30 to the best of my knowledge. Your grade is coming from your instructor, who gets the certificate for it from Hombu. It's not a particular evaluation or accreditation from Japan, of which there are very few.
In our dojo we have to pay insurance fees on top of the Japan membership. It might differ in your country, I don't know. I may be going mad but last I checked online no grade whether its kyu or dan grade is authentic unless its backed up one of hatsumi's certificates. Also only Hatsumi himself can award grades over Roku Dan.
Again, that's a certificate from Hombu. If you were not in the organisation (for whatever reason, whether it's because your dojo isn't or because the organisation does not exist, whatever) the certificate wouldn't be from the organisation. Your grade is not from Hatsumi-sensei.
