At my dojo we practise on hard floors in order to prepare us for real life combat, is this quite common in Bujinkan training? Any thoughts?
A hardwood floor is still more forgiving than a narrow alley littered with broken bottles and pot holes.
But, yes, the training group I was with trained on a hardwood floor or outside.
That's a little pedantic don't you think rutherford...
I personally think it's a great idea. I'm sure I will incur some bumps and bruises, but in the long-run i'm training to learn how best to defend myself should the time come, as my sensei makes a point of telling us 'It's a martial art, not a sport!'
I think training is difficult enough, I prefer mats.
I'm all doing some training on hard surfaces (I have mats one day and hardwood the other), but I find that beginners have a very difficult time learning proper ukemi on hardwood.