I notice quite a lot of anti bujinkan hate in this forum and opinions from people here who from what i guage, aren't familiar with the kind of culture that is typical to bujinkan dojos. What are you training in?
Regardless of what people think, I actually like ninjutsu. Don't train anymore. Now it's all kickboxing, BJJ, CSW, and judo and Kali occasionally.
Some of the negativity is due to the behaviour of Bujinkan members. Some of the negativity is due to all the naff videos that are out on the internet and the issues with quality control within the organisation and undoubtedly some of it will be because people are being jerks but that will be in the minority.
And what specific Bujinkan culture is it that would create these opinions? And how do you know that the people here arn't familiar with it?
You don't really need to have personally experienced a culture to be able to question it, I've never been incarcerated, but i could probably fairly accurately point out flaws in the values, attitudes, beliefs, philosophies and practices of prison culture with a small degree of reading. Also, I've boxed and practiced Sambo.
The disrespect for the Bujinkan in my opinion is driven by a number of factors. 1). The apparent dishonesty of the ranking system. Most martial artists understand that ranks vary between arts and between schools. In Taekwondo a blackbelt means you have mastered the basics and are ready to begin serious learning, but in BJJ a blackbelt implies a higher level of mastery. However, in the Bujinkan grades are handed out like candy and mean nothing. This gives the Bujinkan the appearance of an elaborate scam, designed to take money from the unwary while providing nothing in return. The godan test in particular is a source of conflict. The grading often describes as the most important involves zero testing of martial ability, and instead tests psychic powers. 2). The inability to show any martial abilities publicly. No one wants inner-secrets of the art, just a hint of proof that the Bujinkan can teach effective skills. 3). The open disrespect to the vast majority of practitioners by a small elitist group. Particularly the attitude "are you training in Japan in a specific ryu under one of the original students of Hatsumi (not Hatsumi himself because he is just mucking around and playing games now), and do you have a close personal relationship with them? If you don't then you are being taught rubbish.
I just want to address this one. I brought this point up briefly with my shidoshi before and the point he made is that taijutsu at least, is a much different creature to other martial arts in that it was well suited for its purpose which was combat in feudal Japan. For example a lot of techiques which are about utilising balance, force etc would have been best used for their intended context, ie fighting against armoured samurai. There is also the problem that the techniques taken to their finality can cause severe injury or death so making the bujinkan a tournament art would do no justice to either the style or the participants. I personally have not experienced this, but then I am only a kyu grade. RE: the godan grading. My understanding of the godan test its as much as about testing the sense of hearing and touch as much as intuition.
Not everything you do is super deadly and BBT isn't that different to many arts. For the really risky stuff you can stick to kata-geiko but even then you can build in progressive resistance. That said your point doesn't really address what Kave has said. Unfortunately good solid kata is not exactly seen in the various BBT clips or demos nor is any real form of free play where one side is actively attempting to foil what the other is doing.
The system is inconsistent, substantially unrelated to martial ability, and generally inflated compared to other arts, but it is not dishonest. It has changed extremely little in the past 35 years.
Your saying other arts don't take balance, use force, worked historically, and can cause injury or death? Interesting.
Doesn't mma revolve around submitting a paper with a logical explanation of why you should win instead of the other? I thought that is why they called it sumbission wrestling. I do think it's a nice touch that in case of a draw, the bout is settled with a hotdog eating contest.
1) Which other martial arts? Be specific. Are we talking boxing, capoeira, Yoseikan Budo, Kyokushin? 2) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kuzushi 3) Why does randori have to mean being in a tournament? You're creating a straw man. Read this. By the way, Hatsumi sensei, Ishizuka sensei, Kan sensei, Oguri sensei, Seno sensei, etc all trained with heavy randori.
This might apply if all dojo and practitioners were practicing death/injury causing techniques during their classes. I don't see that usually. Is that what you practice in your dojo every day?
Not every class, but on a regular basis yes, often our techniques taken to their conclusion would result in death or injury. 2 classes ago we were taught how to 'hang' someone with a hanbo.
But you haven't actually practiced doing this against a resistant opponent? See, this "too deadly to spar" stuff is not making you represent your style well. Anyone who spouts this "too deadly" to actually practice with some resistance is not representing their art well. And I put it that way because the other alternative is to say the art itself has an issue- and I am reluctant to say that about another style. I am suggesting this may be part of the problem with perception of your style in others eyes.
And a rear naked choke taken to its conclusion would also kill someone , yet thousands of people manage to train it under pressure and against resistance on a regular basis.
