Yeah, I agree it’s the same ol story, especially when it’s mostly from people who trained in the Bujinkan in the early years, right? I’m sure everyone has heard the stories from many people saying how training back then was “much tougher” or the techniques done in a more realistic manner or the teaching method being very different from what it is now. Well it’s pretty much that same story and that is what I meant by “watered down” (it might not be the best term to use though). I am, of course, speaking in general.
If he “thought he knew enough’’ because he did his own thing, well then I guess you could make that case for pretty much everyone who has started a different approach (or formed his own school or organization) than Hatsumi.
Personally, I find it kind of futile arguing too much about this ‘watered down’ because at the heart of it, it’s just a matter of different opinions and perceptions.
I thought I was clear enough stressing that our teacher doesn’t charge us for classes or the actual teaching; in more than 25 years he’s barely made a penny out of this. Plus I never said he is the Soke of a “fictional ryu-ha”, he is the founder of his own system, and hence the title of Anshu. Again: the system is based on the training he had with Hayes and Bussey’s warrior international and other martial arts, more noticeably Kempo. We are not claiming any ancient lineage or anything of that sort; and from what I’ve been reading for last few years, that weight has been on Hatsumi himself, I believe. But we don't have to go into that now.
Now, as for the Menkyo Kaiden claim I’ll admit I was talking a bit out of my a*s there while rewriting the story, as I can’t really recall my teacher stating that, but I’m pretty sure I must’ve read somewhere and had understood that you receive Menkyo Kaiden once you achieve the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] dan rank. Even so, you guys probably know better about ranking and stuff than I do, so my bad and I stand corrected. However I’ll look for the chance to ask him personally about the meaning of menkyo kaiden. He does has expressed that at some point he felt he wasn’t really learning anything valuable (to him) anymore and that it all turned to business. A very expensive one at that.
Why are we any different from the other schools around claiming to teach ninjutsu? Like I said, how can you claim to teach an art in which you are not willing to present your peers any evidence on the training, or if you do, it’s on arts that claim lineage that don’t exist or are considered fake? Yes, there are Kempo elements in the art being taught, but this does not mean it is a school that teaches various styles simultaneously. The whole purpose of Anshu was to create a whole, integrated system comprehending much of his martial arts experience that would be a better fit to handling real-life situations (i.e. street assaults in the actual puertorican context).
In our style you can experience a lot of the techniques applied in a different manner, for instance, the concept of distance is worked very differently than that of the usual Bujinkan schools. First you learn practicality and how to defend yourself, and then you may learn the more traditional stuff and the abstract concepts, further weaponry training, etc. In our view that is what what makes a martial art live and organic, one that is useful to you in any situation, but especially in times of conflict.
Swimming certificates? lol I’ll take that as an insult to human intelligence. I did a google search to better illustrate what I’m saying, and all I can say they looked a lot like the ones in these pics:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdtp06Ov5e1r3vsv9o1_500.jpg
http://www.kagedojoninjutsu.com/USERIMAGES/Shidoshi Certificate(2).jpg
Let me tell you a bit about how I feel about Bujinkan and Hatsumi (I think I’m more or less speaking for our school’s take on the matter as well) and ask you guys a couple questions. I want your opinions and not what somebody said or what is understood by most people, for this for the sake of discussion and to better allow me to put my own thoughts in perspective.
We respect Hatsumi, but we do not worship him. Most people in the Bujinkan nowadays has made it all look like a sect, where everything he says is taken as a literal final word and every decision is agreed upon unanimously. Most even do their best to try copy his movement, and it looks real unnatural in most people. I´m sure most here would agree that techniques should be lively things that adapt to each user in a different way. I’m sure everybody here is aware that Hatsumi himself was trained in various other martial arts before he underwent training with Takamatsu. Do you think he didn’t had any preconceived notions on the martial arts which were inherently embedded to the stuff Takamatsu taught him? Would you honestly say he was able to completely “empty his cup” at almost 30 years old and absorb everything as Takamatsu meant to?
I think probably not, because “emptying your cup” is practically not possible and is intended more as a zen ‘riddle’. Anytime you find yourself thinking you’re training in martial arts, or in traditional Japanese martial arts or in whatever new ryu you are learning, you are doing so with some preconceived notions of what the martial arts already mean to you. So the way you move, the way you flow, the ideas and approaches you put in each situation will be affected by this. It is very similar to the art of translating books from two very different languages; the translator may do a conscious effort to be as objective as possible but at the unconscious level, the moment he tries to write down his understanding, it already has his influence on it and will be inherently transmitted into the new translation.
Where I am going with this? Well, that everybody approaches a style or a technique in the best way they can, according to their own understanding of the martial arts first and foremost. That does not necessarily mean it’s an invalid, invented style; it might just be the integration or internalization of various martial arts with one’s own martial arts knowledge.
I summary: Our school is not the best place to learn Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, and that is because what you are learning is Kamatsu, the martial art ´invented´ by our teacher which obviously has a lot of bujinkan stuff in it. To say there is no one in the island who has trained and achieved higher rankings in the x-kans is false.
I apologize for the walls of text, but I seem to enjoy writing somewhat.
