Taitokukan aiki ninjutsu

[Aiki Lee]

Due various circumstances, the Jizaikan organization is being renamed as the Taitokukan.

Changes include the organization being headed by Michael Eichenberg as opposed to Tom Maienza. There isn't really much of a change other than that.

So, why am I bringing this up? Well, basically just so people don't go "I thought you were Jizaikan" when I mention I'm in the taitokukan. I'm sure it will happen anyway though. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I hope that the change is a healthy one for the school! I wish you the best. Out of curiosity, what does Taitokukan mean?

Daniel

 

[Aiki Lee]

Well tai means body or reality, and toku is able to aquire, advantage or benefit. To my understanding when the terms are combined, taitoku means mastery, realization, experience and comprehension. So I think taitokukan is defined as "hall of realization" as in self-realization of a person's full potential.

 

[oaktree]

Hi Kenshin,

体得館 I think thats the Kanji you are using.
It's a good name better than Kumori ryu :uhyeah:

 

[Aiki Lee]

lol. yes that would be it, but now we are contemplating Banzenkan, which I believe is hall of perfection. As in, the persuit of perfection.

 

[Aiki Lee]

It's official, we are the Banzenkan now.
http://thewarriorsedge.com/Aiki_Ninjutsu.html

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

The site looks good! Only thing you might want to consider is consolidating some of those buttons (two full rows plus two orphans on a third), though that is a very minor niggle; the site is easy to navigate and would answer my questions as a prospective student.

Daniel

 

[Aiki Lee]

Yeah. My teacher is using Go Daddy as a site builder (or whatever the technical term is). We do have a lot of buttons and pages and it does seem a little cumbersome but it is so far much easier to navigate our site than it was before when we were using Champion's way as a go between.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I used Webs.com. Site builders have a number of templates, so depending on which one you pick, the buttons are aligned differently. I went with a template that has the buttons in a column rather than in rows in order to avoid orphans.

Just to clarify, I don't think the site is cumbersome at all. Orphaned buttons are an asthetic issue, not a functional. The potential problem with a large quanitity of buttons is that visitors will feel overwhelmed with too much information. On the other hand, too few buttons, and they don't feel that there is enough, or they have to scroll more on fewer pages. Quantity wise, I think your site has about the right amount.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

So I've gotta ask; does Banzenkan have a shooting range? And are you training in modern firearms or the sort of firearms that would have been available to preindustrial Japanese soldiers (black powder weapons)?

Daniel

 

[Aiki Lee]

We don't have our own firing range, but we have gone to a local one as a group before, though not as often as I would like to (probably do to the cost and time restraints of many students) We practice with modern firearms. I don't know much about guns so I can't give too many details on what we use but some of the stuff we use are semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, semi auto /automatic rifles, and shotgun.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Aiki ninjutsu was created by combining seemingly opposing principles from ninjutsu and aikijujutsu.

My teachers found ways to make the principles work together. If we just taught ninjutsu alongside aikido we would not have a new art. We would have a school that teaches two seperate things. The philosphy of a school develops its strategy, the strategy develops the tactics, the tactics develope the principles, and the principles are expressed through techniques.

I quoted this from the 'Belief' thread, but did not want to derail it by asking there.

What is it about aiki and ninjutsu that are opposing and how were your sensei able to blend the two in a synergystic manner?

Just to clarify, as I just came off of the other thread, I am asking as an outsider to your art and out of curiosity, not to pick it apart or debate it.

Daniel

 

[Aiki Lee]

I believe I have had the experience and pleasure of knowing you long enough to know that when you ask a question it is not to cause problems.

To oversimplify, the ninjutsu teachings seem to be about how a practitioner can make themselves powerful and effective. Basically it is "what can I do to him (the opponent)?"

Aiki principles go to the other end and look at what is going on outside of the self. I.E. "What is he doing that will thwart himself?"
It was my teachers' opinions that aikijujutsu training and ninpo taijutsu training were both effective but at different things. aiki techniques show how to use an opponents energy against him, while the ninjutsu side (and the samurai arts taught along with it) teaches you how to make your own attacks more effective.

Here's two similar inner wrist twists from an aikidoka and a practitioner of BBT. Keep in mind that I have respect for the practitioners of all arts and I chose these clips for the sole purpose of them being short and the best I could find to compare why we view each organization to be lacking in what we were striving for.

Bujinkan

Notice how once he seized the wrist his partner stopped attacking him? Throwing one punch and stopping does not seem realistic to practitioners of aikininjutsu. Even from a teaching standpoint the technique should flow as if it were a real fight, which this technique does not.

aiki

This energy displays more closely the type of attack we are looking for where the uke continues to move towards you after he strikes. What is not seen here that is in aikininjutsu is that we will strike at targets while performing this technique using methods found in the takamatsuden arts.

We will be releasing vidoes shortly so hopefully I can show you a 3 way comparison between how those two do a wrist lock and how we choose to combine their methods to the greatest degree we can comprehend.

 

[Benevolentbob]

I wish you guys had a school in northern California, it seems really interesting and I'd like to check it out.

 

[Aiki Lee]

Someday we might. It's a dream to spread around the country but not at the risk of having low quality teachers. So we gotta build from the ground up.

 

[Benevolentbob]

Someday we might. It's a dream to spread around the country but not at the risk of having low quality teachers. So we gotta build from the ground up.

Definitely a smart idea. A lot of the taijutsu that I've seen is frankly discouraging because it looks sloppy and ineffective which makes me second guess my interest. I have a feeling this is a result of too many people being called instructor or sensei when they really shouldn't be. In the end it just means that I have to wait patiently until I find a really good school with a sensei I have confidence in.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Someday we might. It's a dream to spread around the country but not at the risk of having low quality teachers. So we gotta build from the ground up.

I'd come check it out as well, though I'm east coast.

Daniel

 

[Aiki Lee]

Definitely a smart idea. A lot of the taijutsu that I've seen is frankly discouraging because it looks sloppy and ineffective which makes me second guess my interest. I have a feeling this is a result of too many people being called instructor or sensei when they really shouldn't be. In the end it just means that I have to wait patiently until I find a really good school with a sensei I have confidence in.

Yes, the first step to becoming a great martial artist is finding a qualified teacher willing to pass on his knowledge. I every art has problems with people leaving and becoming teachers before they are ready.

I always viewed 3rd dan or whatever an arts equivalent is to be the teaching degree. 1st and 2nd dans can assist and teach individual classes, but 3rd dan is when I feel they could have a school of their own so long as they continue training under a qualified teacher.