The instructor is sixth or seventh dan, one other guy is at least second dan and one lady has a black belt but i don't know her grade and didn't ask. I took a several year hiatus from training so it could be that some of them were promoted since i was away.
That may be a touch harsh. It is possible that their dojo is being run honestly by the instructor and from your posts in other threads I can pick up that you have a dim view of the bujinkan so unsurprising I guess. However saying that, he stated earlier that he pays mat fees separately and is charged $52/year for memebership. As the profile states northern ireland, i take it he is paying around £34 for this assuming that the instructor is not doing some weird money exchange thing. As Norm states above the cost of a yearly membership is 2000yen and has been for some time which at current exchange is about £12, this would be the same for both kyu grades and Dan grades who are not instructors ( instructors pay a bit more for their membership ). As for the rest then it would depend on what else this covers. if this fee covers insurance and any certificates then the fee seems to makes sense.......if not............... ( also this assumes the student will grade at least every year........... ) If the kyu grades and dans pay the same amount and no cost for certificates then something strange is going on because they cost different amounts ( see Kouryuu's post above ). Judging by the youtube video on the dojo's facebook page the instructor ( if that is the gentleman who appears in the vid) appears to be Godan ( or may be higher, vid is dated in mid 2014) based on the patch he is sporting in the demo. As to the OP, no one knows for sure what will happen and as others have stated asking about who succeeds Hatsumi is likely to upset people. Similar to other previous posts, no one knows for sure and won't until it happens, but I can see a situation where the organisation splinters which you can only deal with if and when it happens. For the time being I would simply concentrate on your training as that should be the more important priority.
for the record shodan and above and kyu grades are paying the same AFAIK, it could be there is another price but this hasn't been stated in front of junior grades.
What's wrong with online courses? Those people learning that way have the same certificates you do, I imagine.
It's 2000 yen for kyu grades and up to 4th dan, 5th dan and over pay for their shidoshi license each year which is 15000 yen, that covers their membership
You didn't know any better. No fault of your own. Your sensei otoh should have either a) known better, or b) known that he was unqualified to give advice about sword practice involving steel weapons. As a person in a place of authority, you should be responsible enough to only give out advice that he knows to be correct. He should have told you that a dull sword is as dangerous as a sharp one, and he should have told you that partner training with that sword is irresponsibly dangerous. Instead, he didn't warn you against using that sword in training, he didn't mention that the sword would still be dangerous when dull, and he gave you advice about dulling it that is simply incorrect and bad. Sword training is not something to dabble in, and I don't fault him for not knowing about it. But then he should have just said so because this could have ended badly.
throwing this out there, considering some of the big names like Nagato sensei are still around, I forsee most of the splintering not starting until hatsumi and Nagato, Seno and Noguchi are gone, assuming Hatsumi hasn't picked a new inheritor of the Bujinkan, or the others elect a new head if Hatsumi hasn't. If it does splinter though, I forsee heavy crosstraining in multiple ninja arts that are 'completely different'
Hatsumi sensei has dedicated his life to the lineage of the nine ryū and to honor his predecessors. For him to not chose a successor and to end the lineage would indeed be an upset, to say the least. I wouldn't fret though – I am positive of that there is a chosen one, but it might be the case that the organisation Bujinkan will be separated from the actual ryū. Only time will tell... The bar has obviously been set quite high, and the chosen individual will probably be an exceptional one to be able to carry on the legacy.
For ninjutsu there is no organization. There are Ryu. There are people that know them, and there are their students. What happens to Bujinkan has no effect on the relationships and methods of transmision. People will fallow the one they were already fallowing. Whether that is martial effectiveness or grades and PR, nothing will change.
All Im seeing is Mr. Cummins and Hatsumi reenacting this scene... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_YozYt8l-g"]You were my brother Anakin! I loved you... - YouTube[/ame]
At the moment the head of the Bujinkan, and the head of the Bujinkan Ryu-ha are the same. That wont always be the case, and indeed there are lines of the ryu-ha found in the Bujinkan, that are completely separate now. Just as there are 15th Dan practitioners of the Bujinkan, who dont have a clue about the ryu-ha. Really what will change is that people wont be able to kid themselves about exactly what it is their training in.
I remember these same conversations happening in the early 80s. It is a matter of only theoretical interest, since by far the biggest source of improvement come from ourselves and our own immediate teacher. It's a bit unseemly to talk about someone (whom many of us love and appreciate) retiring or worse.
I disagree of it being 'unseemly' since we need to be able to understand what may happen in the future.
My hope is that when Hatsumi Sensei passes the Japanese Shihan will be free to go out in the world and put right all the garbage that is out there.
It is absolutely unseemly to to talk about this. If people spent more time actually practicing well and less time fretting about others and things beyond their control, we would have better practitioners. I would like to know what is going to happen as well (much like tonight's lottery numbers), but worry or speculation does not help us. It will come. Be patient and practice for yourself.
From what others here have posted in the past, it seems they hand out dan grades like candy so I doubt that they're chomping at the bit to kick ass and take names in the department of overinflated grades.
I can honestly say I've never witnessed one of Hatsumi-sensei's original students, nor Someya-sensei give a single grade during my trips.
For me one of the reasons that I stayed away from the Bujnkan for years was the whole grading thing. Very early on in my training I had identified that people were getting grades that were not comparable with the lack of skill of the person holding them even to the point where even my students were asking "How can that person be that grade when that person cannot even roll" and to that I had no answer. In fact it was embarrasing. Even now I feel annoyed, upset, embarrased even that some people have incredibly high grades yet have little skill and have been training less than ten years. I always tell my students if you want a grade get a trip to Japan as there are people you can go to, and then you can delude yourself that you are worth it. Even start your own Ninja Empire as others have done. BUT having said all that there are skilled and knowledgable people in this art, and not all Japanese Shihan will give out grades willy nilly. Strange you dont seem to find many people in those dojos though. I guess its like the old saying "There is fools gold, because there is real gold"
