This is EXACTLY why you must not teach yourself sword arts

Other than the song bit, thats what I am basing my moderation of this thread on.

Sword arts are dangerous, and you dont want a muppet who knows sod all about what he's doing teaching you in return for your hard-earned cash.

 

I absolutely hate martial arts frauds. Not only do they steal money and potentially put students in danger's way, but they also steal people's time.

So many people I know have fallen victim to fakes who steal the best years of their lives and teach them made-up martial arts. They devote so much time and energy to it and it's all wasted. The biggest tragedy is that they could have spent all those earlier years (when they had better health, more free time, recovered from injuries faster, no family obligations etc.) doing something genuine.

IMO, this stealing of people's time is even worse than selling a fake antique. At least you can get your money back; but once you've wasted your years on a fraud teacher, that's it. You'll never get them back again. And not to mention all the bad habits that you pick up along the way.

That's why I think martial arts frauds deserve no mercy.

And speaking of songs, here is my first hit from 2005:
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showpost.php?p=400846&postcount=1

 

This kind of fraud happens in WMA as well, I'm sad to say, usually as thinly disguised LARP groups and boffer fighters (nothing wrong with either activity in their own right). I think weapons styles are more vulnerable to fraud than unarmed MA styles because swordwork isn't really intuitive... you have to learn to use a machine with one moving part, whereas we've all lived with our fists and feet all our lives, and have an idea of how they move. Some people have a basic gist of it through watching boxing and MMA as well, but there's no place to see legitimate combat-oriented weapons work on TV. Movies sure aren't a good place to see swords in action! So I think the best we can do is comment on those frauds often so they show up in search engines, and spread the word when appropriate. Expose them through your own good works. If they'll come spar you, then show no mercy and show them WHY made-up techniques won't work. I'll cross blades with anyone, anywhere, because if what I'm doing doesn't work, I want to know. And if you talk smack, be sure to back it up... what doesn't look impressive to you might just kick your butt. I can post some links if people want examples.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

On a different note:

1. For those who don't know an eastern sword art and would like something to compare to the videos posted on this thread, here is a website with some short video clips of what I consider to be very good iaido. Note especially clips #1, 2, 4, and 7. Here are some key points to watch for in good iaido:
a). In every cutting motion, the edge of the blade always leads.
b). Both arms fully and naturally extend in the cutting motion, as opposed to cutting with mainly wrist or upper arm movements.
c). The index finger is never extended along the live blade as the blade is resheathed. Extending the index finger to guide the re-sheathing motion is an error I've seen commonly, even among experienced iaidoka, and it is very dangerous.
d). The resheathing motion maintains a speed and fluidity through the coordinated motions of both arms, allowing the practitioner to maintain eye contact with and awareness of potential adversaries.
e). The upper body is erect, and the body's posture keeps a good balance, so the iaidoka never looks like he's leaning into a cut.

2. In evaluating various sword arts, it is always important to distinguish between differences due to poor technique and differences due to style. As someone who appeared in a 70-second candid video clip that made it onto the 'Net and resulted in 8 pages of abuse and personal insults, I am very sensitive to such a distinction (i.e., 'different' doesn't necessarily mean 'bad'). To the credit of the gentleman in the video, there are several aspects of his iaido that I feel fall into the category of 'different, but not necessarily bad'.
a). His shiburi (shaking of the blood from the sword) is done with the wrist turned in and downward. I have never seen this done in any other sword style. However, IMO, shiburi is an ornamental aspect of the art, and isn't really effective for cleaning the sword in any case. My point, though, is that even though I don't personally like this style of shiburi, I really can't call it 'bad technique'.
b). The sheathing method uses mainly motions of one arm, as opposed to a coordinated motion of both arms. This impedes the speed and fluidity of the motion, but again, is the result of a stylistic difference, and not necessarily poor technique.
c). The kata/forms appear choppy, with many stops and gaps. My personal taste in forms practice is to have a continual fluid motion, showing power and grace. Clearly, this is a style difference.
d). Kata/forms will be different in any sword art in any style. Specific cuts and motions are difficult to address, as to whether they are 'effective' in the context of the form.

Maybe I'm being overly 'gracious', but my overall impression is somewhat different than most on this thread. Except for the bad habit he's developed with his index finger in re-sheathing, a few 'hooking' cuts, and the upper cut in video clip #6, I would have to classify his technique as 'different', not great, but not necessarily 'bad'. Perhaps we can see a few clips of him doing actual cutting.


(Of course, given a choice, I'd rather learn from the guy in the video links I posted . )

 

regarding b)

in one of the clips he rises with a blocking motion from his right hand before drawing.

their is no engagement of any part of his body beyond the limb. It is just a movement of the arm all his movements seem to have this 'disconnection', what does impress me is that he still has his limbs.

I'm not being harsh here, but what movements he does execute have been practiced, but there are some glaring things which jump out. Dave's earlier point about cutting the top of his head off highlights that his movements haven't been observed by more experienced eyes...

that sort of form would be picked up on at the bokken stage

he seems to push the katana into the saya, given that he is not making any significant movement of the left hip the risk of driving the katana into the body is present,

a slight angling of the hip and bringing the saya forward to meet the tsuba removes this risk

re c)

no flow whatsoever. Its fine to introduce pauses into kata, but that has no rhythmn that held it together. The movements were disjointed and sterile.

re the clips above...

they were suberb

 

Ann, I say this with all due respect to your good self; I respect your opinion and see the diplomacy of your post but, the quality of everything this guy does amounts to nothing, there isn't a single bit of this chaps movement, posture or application with the sword its self which could be considered as credible; Especially when we compare the clips he presents with what he is actually claims to be graded in, the two don't remotely match.

Whilst hard to accurately judge, I would say the lack of sayabiki indicates to me that he's using a blade which is too short for him - thus making nukitsuki and noto demonstrably easy, as with any art, kihon forms the basis of a life-times worth of study, as you pointed out he's extending his left index finger during noto and this is another clear indicator that no one of any credibility has ever pulled him up on this point (remember he claims to be a 5th dan!) another indicator that he's prolly never used a shinken otherwise that digit would be missing.

Te no uchi.. Just don't get me started on how he actually holds the tsuka,

His pathetic attempt at chiburi is entirely wrong not to mention flat and lifeless.

And through the five clips on his website, I didn’t see one instance where the focus of the cut would have been through the monouchi.

Plain and simple, what you're looking at is crap being taught by some one who is... crap at it. Double wammy really.

 

Good post Dave.

 

[Elvis Presley voice on]
Thank you very much... I'm here all week !
[/Elvis Presley voice off]

 

[Elvis Presley Voice Mode] TCB Baby![/Elvis Presley Voice Mode]

*Munches on toasted peanut butter & banana sandwich*

 

Two excellent points. I agree that the level of what was displayed is nothing near what I would consider to be representative of a 5th dan.

 

what was represented was nowhere near what i would consider iaido.

 

Of course I do agree with you on this point however, setting aside the possibility that sometimes what we watch (regardless of our own experience) will be entirely different to what we're used to, indeed make very little sense to us without direct involvement, one cannot escape fundamental levels of incompetence IE; a lack of even the very basic 'basics' involved in the use of the Japanese sword.

If I were viewing those clips without prior knowledge of Mr. Crowthers' alleged renshi or his 5th dan I'd be looking at him as a kyu grade with a number of 'issues' pertaining to his waza.

For me, Mr. Crowther looks as if he's purely technique orientated rather than understanding the context of what he's attempting to perform and, lacks the meaning behind the actual waza its self. Although we see Mr. Crowther on aiminghigh.org presenting his 'form' with another person (and this clip is of course only a sample) we still don't see any principles involved. I'd attribute his wooden robotic and sometimes quite lifeless performances to the above observations.

..wooden robotic and sometimes quite lifeless performances are of course something anyone involved in iaido will suffer from when they begin their study and that is perfectly normal, what is abnormal however; is for an alleged 5th dan to be displaying those attributes - of course we know why this is the case with Mr. Crowther. The very person who Mr. Crowther claims to have received his 5th dan from has confirmed this is a fabrication.

With the abcense of any other information from Mr. Crowther, based upon what I've seen myself [Crowther's performances] and comparing that with my own meagre experiences/knowledge I'm able to form a reasonably accurate opinion not only the quality/authenticity of his waza but more importantly, the man himself, and it isn't complimentary.

 

So much more could be said about this, especially as my sensei is of the grade (held from IMAF (Japan)) this chap is supposedly claiming.

However, I don't know that we can achieve anything further (other than humour) from lambasting the charlaton ... sorry ... practioner ... except to keep this thread visible amongst tho' who might otherwise be hoodwinked.

Given the high profile of MAP, does anyone think that it might be a good idea to have a 'blacklist' of such suspect and fraudulent teachers? As the forums are a meeting point of various organisations that could prove quite effective. Or is there already such a thing and I just haven't looked carefully enough ?

 

how do you manage such a list. in some arts like fma, the politiking is incredible. and if i had an enemy with a legit school, i'd still try to put him on that blacklist as a fake.

 

Yes, I agree, such a "blacklist" could be misused.

 

http://www.underground-training.com/sp/t2.php
not sure if this is real or not but hell seems like a scam...! ^^

 

Golly, [T][K][D], it sounds pretty good to me

BEWARE any website that uses 'deadly', 'lethal', and money in the same paragraph, especially one that uses them in the same sentence...multiple times.

 

Well I for one have emailed Mr. Crowther and advised him of the existance of this thread and the one over at e-budo.com, I've invited him to contribute in order for him to present his point in this discussion; after all there's always two sides to everything. (although I doubt he'll do so).

Thus far I haven't had an acknowledgement from my email. - I won't be holding my breath.

Would a topic Mod [Hints at Anth] consider merging/adding this thread with my sticky on Japanese sword meeting flesh because I think its on topic and important for people to see what poor quality looks like. Ta in advance

 

No I would not. While they are both about the dangers, I think the sword meeting flesh article is better on its own, making more of an impact.