RoniSwersky
White Belt
I am especially interested in kicks that were in use before the adoption of Karate in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. It's for an article that I'm working on so if you have sources that would be awesome.
Ninjutsu empty hand techniques: What empty hand techniques exist in Ninjutsu?
- Thread starter RoniSwersky
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punisher73
Senior Master
In my opinion, that would be hard to really do.
Ninjutsu, by its very nature, was kept secretive and much of its "empty hand" curriculum was taken from Japanese Jujitsu techniques.
The some of the main kicks, as taught by the Bujnkan, are heel thrust kicks: Front (also called a stomp kick), Rear and to the Side (different than the "modern" side kick, in this kick the hips stay forward and the knee is pointed to the side so the groin isn't exposed). There are other kicks taught as well, such as a crescent kick, a cross kick (sort of like an instep kick), and a back of the heel kick (picture missing with your front snap kick and then hitting them with the heel on the return motion).
If you look at the "traditional" Okinawan karate kicks, you don't find these kicks there. One opinion is that these kicks were brought into Shotokan via Ninjutsu. Gichin Funakoshi's son trained with someone (name escapes me) and influenced some of the way he did karate. For example, the ichi-monji stance used in Ninjutsu was brought into Shotokan and didn't exist in the Okinawan karate.
Ninjutsu, by its very nature, was kept secretive and much of its "empty hand" curriculum was taken from Japanese Jujitsu techniques.
The some of the main kicks, as taught by the Bujnkan, are heel thrust kicks: Front (also called a stomp kick), Rear and to the Side (different than the "modern" side kick, in this kick the hips stay forward and the knee is pointed to the side so the groin isn't exposed). There are other kicks taught as well, such as a crescent kick, a cross kick (sort of like an instep kick), and a back of the heel kick (picture missing with your front snap kick and then hitting them with the heel on the return motion).
If you look at the "traditional" Okinawan karate kicks, you don't find these kicks there. One opinion is that these kicks were brought into Shotokan via Ninjutsu. Gichin Funakoshi's son trained with someone (name escapes me) and influenced some of the way he did karate. For example, the ichi-monji stance used in Ninjutsu was brought into Shotokan and didn't exist in the Okinawan karate.
RoniSwersky
White Belt
thanks for the response. The student's name was Takeshi Shimoda. All this secrecy regarding martial arts training back in the day really makes it difficult to write a paper with some real substance and not just conjectures. I would love to be able to see how ninjutsu practitioners performed the kicks at the time so I could compare with the shotokan kicks that were allegedly inspired by them. any idea where i could locate illustrations, photos, or even videos?
punisher73
Senior Master
I don't. To my knowledge Takamatsu did not publish any books w/ illustrations. If you go back further to Fujita Seiko, the "last Koga ninja", I think these were the first books on ninjutsu that were printed for the public but, he didn't illustrate specific ways of doing the techniques. Seiko did a book on "atemi" (vital points) and it shows where you would kick with line drawings that show a foot and the pressure point. They are in Japanese, so I don't know if it gives directions on a kicking method.
I don't think you will find the DIRECT evidence that you are seeking. BUT, I think you can still get to your goal with comparative analysis.
1) Old Okinawa karate ONLY had the mae geri in the kata. It was mainly done with the toes of the foot (Uechi-ryu still trains this method).
2) Funakoshi brought his knowledge of Shorin-Ryu (not called that at the time, would have been referred to as Shuri-te) to the Japanese and taught karate to them.
3) Later, Shotokan was developed and had kicks in it not previously taught. Where did these come from? I think you can show that the modern way of performing them in Shotokan and the modern way in Ninjutsu is very close to the same.
As an additional link, look at the 8 basic kicks of Isshin-Ryu karate. Shotokan was NOT one of the main acknowledged styles that Tatsuo Shimabuku learned, BUT it is obvious he took material from it. For example, the upper body basics in Isshin-Ryu are taken from Funakoshi's Ten no Kata (modified and altered at the end). The kicks used in Isshin-Ryu are performed VERY similar to how ninjutsu performs their kicks in regards to the front, side, rear and "hidden" which is the heel stomp in IR. Also, originally, IR had a "toe rip" kick that was used in Ninjutsu called a "walk through" kick, in which you make contact with the kicking foot and use the foot to "step down" in and through your attacker. Also, of note is that IR uses the "muscle block" instead of the usual forearm block used in karate. It is taught that at higher levels you are backfisting the attacking arm. One can see the same idea in the use of Ninjutsu blocks and how they are performed and not using the forearm in the typical manner. To my knowledge, Isshin-Ryu and Ninjutsu are the only styles I have come across that perform their blocks in this manner.
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Okay, a fair bit to cover here...
The biggest problem is that you're already starting from a rather inaccurate and flawed set of beliefs, which is setting you up to ask the wrong questions, and look for answers that aren't really there. So, let's start with the title of the thread itself... "Ninjutsu Empty Hand Techniques: What Empty Hand Techniques Exist in Ninjutsu?"...
Honestly, before we even get to the rest of the thread, there's a lot to clarify and clear up... firstly, what is meant by "Ninjutsu" in this sense? If you are speaking historically (as indicated by your opening post), then, well, none. Ninjutsu is a skill of information gathering, and is a sub-art (or supplementary one) of any number of (especially) Sengoku-era bushi traditions. It has no "martial/combative" methodology, as that's not it's point... and it was taught/trained by people who were professional warriors anyway (samurai) in the main, so there's no need for a secondary set of "special" techniques.
The concept of there being specific "ninja schools", or traditions that are purely ninjutsu, is not one that is overly supported in historical documents and records... there are some records of specific minor schools associated with larger ones taught in certain domains (Kishu Ryu, as an example), but the idea of a school of just ninjutsu is really a modern fantasy. Basically, what this means, is that there isn't any such thing as "empty hand techniques in Ninjutsu".
Of course, if you're talking about the modern organisations for ninjutsu (Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenkan etc), then that's another deep rabbit hole to go down... if we take the claimed histories of the schools as valid/accurate, then there's only one (commonly taught) school of ninjutsu there, being Togakure Ryu (Gyokushin and Kumogakure have not really been shown, and, when they have, it's been rather contradictory, making their validity somewhat redoubtable at the least), which is made up of three primary sections, only one being ninjutsu, the other being a sword syllabus, and the third being a taijutsu form (Ninpo Taijutsu in the modern terminology)... meaning that the unarmed techniques aren't the ninjutsu aspect... of course, this is assuming that the histories given are valid...
Realistically, the "common syllabus" (what is taught openly) is a modern amalgam of six primary schools, five of which are more "bushi" traditions, being Takagi Yoshin Ryu, Kukishin Ryu, Shinden Fudo Ryu, Gyokko Ryu, and Koto Ryu (with the latter two being not supported by outside evidence, and a big question mark over Shinden Fudo as well... not to mention the Toagakure Ryu questions themselves), mixed up and reconstructed to form the Budo Taijutsu approach of Hatsumi's Bujinkan, the Ninpo Taijutsu approach of Tanemura's Genbukan, and the Jissen Kobudo approach of Manaka's Jinenkan... so, again, if we take their histories as accurate, then we're not looking at ninjutsu, but more at more samurai-related jujutsu style arts.
Of course, the next assumption (if we go by the idea that the modern organisations as what is being asked about), then that begs the question of how accurate are they to anything historical in the way you're asking? And, really, the answer might not be as positive as you may think... but let's get to it.
So, with everything said above, if you're looking at historical Japanese approaches to kicks prior to the introduction of karate (that's another set of assumptions to deal with), then you're best off looking at koryu forms of jujutsu as a more accurate representation. Which also brings up the next set of assumptions... that kicking was much of a thing in the first place. Realistically, Japanese arts, especially historically speaking, are really focused on weapons and grappling (meaning stand-up locks, controls, throws etc), so the majority of kicking methods were to downed opponents, or as a disruption to affect a throw. Kicks would typically be direct, short-range, and low, with common impact points being the ball of the foot, or the heel.
True, for a range of reasons, many are mentioned above...
Yeah, this is not so much...
Ninjutsu was, by it's very nature, the art of secrets... not necessarily that secretive. And there weren't "empty hand curriculums" at all... the historical people we would identify as practicing it were, by and large, samurai. Ninjutsu is just another name for scouting, information gathering, and so on, after all...
This is true... but the issue is that those are the kicks found in the Bujinkan... a modern organisation founded in the 1970's... what you'd need to do is identify which ryu-ha within the Bujinkan those kicks come from, then see whether or not the art mentioned has any kind of historical veracity...
Yeah... look, I'm not going to say this is a largely baseless, and highly unlikely set of events, but... well, no. There are any number of issues with this idea, from the fact that there is no such thing as Ichimonji no Kamae in Shotokan, to the fact that the kicks found in the Bujinkan arts aren't in Shotokan either, to the issues with the idea that the student in question learnt such things in the first place...
Takeshi Shimoda was an early student of Gichin Funakoshi, and apparently a highly gifted one. It is said that he trained in a Nen-ryu Kendojo on Okinawa, as well as in "Ninjutsu", however I haven't seen any records of Nen -ryu on Okinawa outside of these reports, Nen-ryu is not Kendo, and, in fact, Nen-ryu itself ceased to exist a few centuries after it's inception in the mid-late 14th Century, today only transmitted as a branch school, the Maniwa-Nen Ryu, itself founded in the late 16th Century... so, either a kendo school using the Nen-ryu name (as Maniwa-Nen Ryu, still to this day, is basically found only in and around the village of Maniwa), which isn't out of the question, or some major confusion as to what he studied.
When we get to the "Ninjutsu" claim, it gets a bit more murky... Shimoda died in 1934 from pneumonia following a demonstration he did with Funakoshi and other seniors. At that time, Takamatsu was in the process of leaving the Kukishin Ryu, as they were establishing the Shobukyoku schools with Iwami Nangaku, who himself would pass on in 1936. It was only a decade and a half after this that Takamatsu started describing what he did as "Ninjutsu", claiming arts such as Togakure Ryu and Gyokko Ryu in his titles (in the 30's, it was purely Takagi and Kukishin, the schools he received from Ishitani, the most verifiable teacher he had)... so, the idea that Shimoda learnt this form of "Ninjutsu" (the form taught by Takamatsu), and therefore introduced it to Shotokan's founder, two decades before they seemingly existed, is more than unlikely. The only other person that could be a contender for Shimoda's "Ninjutsu" is Seiko Fujita, the proclaimed 14th (and last) head of Wada-ha Koga Ryu Ninjutsu, as well as being a practitioner of a range of other arts, including Shito Ryu karate, a form of Kenpo (jujutsu, not sword), and an array of weaponry arts, such as shuriken, jo, sword, staff, and so on.
The timeline works slightly better for this, however most public awareness of Fujita is from the 50's (he was already fairly well known in budo circles in the 40's, and was one of the most prolific authors of various topics, as well as having some of the most impressive private collections of old scrolls and manuscripts around at the time), but he was really better known as a martial scholar at the time... a somewhat eccentric one, to say the least, but still, more known for his research than his teachings. In fact, looking at some of his texts, such as on Shindo Muso Ryu, it's unsure how much exposure he really had to the art, despite claiming to have trained it, as no-one can verify any teacher for him, or any certification to support it... but that's beside the point. More importantly, Fujita is on record as having stated that he's taught many of his arts over his years, but he never taught anyone his Ninjutsu, saying that it's time was over, and he would take it to his grave, which he did.
So, if we take Shimoda as having trained in "Ninjutsu", one has to ask, firstly, from whom? And secondly, what system? These important details are simply nowhere to be found... and it's not like we have any documentation that supports the idea, or there being anything related in the methods of Shotokan to support the idea that anything was imported from "Ninjutsu" to the new karate expression.
So, yeah... gonna say no to this idea.
What secrecy? Document, licences, mokuroku, scrolls, and more, are all there if you look for them... Japan was one of the most documentary of societies... the idea of this "secrecy" is, again, more modern fantasy than anything based in reality or history, I gotta say.
At what time? In the 30's? There weren't anyone claiming to be "ninjutsu practitioners" at the time, at least not publicly... so it'll be difficult finding anything like what you're asking for, as, well, it doesn't actually exist on a number of levels...
As mentioned, you'd need to identify which ryu-ha such methods come from first... so let's break them down.
The Happo Keri concept is basically taken from the Ten Chi Jin Ryaku no Maki, a set of the basic syllabus of the Bujinkan, itself drawn from a range of the ryu (and some uniquely created methods). Just for the record, I don't teach it the way its' done by Yossi here... as I don't feel that's how it's ideally supposed to be done... I teach them from a close-quarters grappling position... oh, and the side and back kicks aren't a part of it... all that said, to take the ones shown in the four clips there one after the other, we can start to look at what we're seeing.
The first is a forward heel stomp (Soku-yaku Keri), as Punisher was describing earlier. It's dominantly found in Koto Ryu (who, interestingly, don't have any kick defences in their kata, although kicks are used in the techniques themselves, primarily as finishing actions), and is commonly done the way shown in the video... I would question that usage in most of the kata, though, for a few reasons, but that's not important, really. What's more important is that this method of kicking doesn't really match old Japanese arts much... it does, however, match some Chinese methods, for the record...
The next two are really just variations of the first in two directions. The side-kick version (Yoko-Soku-yaku Keri) isn't something that turns up in any kata in the entire syllabus, for the record, but it's something that Hatsumi has shown numerous times, so can be probably seen as his expression of this kicking concept in a different application. The Ushiro-keri is a bit more interesting, as, really, it's not a kick in any of the kata... but it is a throw. It's the footwork used in Uchimata Nage, as well as a variation of what can be done for Osoto Gake, or for Hane Goshi Nage... which takes us to the actual usage of kicks in these arts, and their dominant source in the Bujinkan arts.
By far and away, the largest array of kicking methods are found in the Kukishin Ryu Dakentaijutsu methods (Kijin Chosui Ryu Kukishinden Dakentaijutsu), where kicks are used to break balance and apply throws... which is the real purpose of kicks in this system. The last example, listed as Ura Ashi Geri (Inside Foot Kick... I learnt it as Kakushi-keri, or "hidden kick") is directly from the Happo Keri methods in the Ten Chi Jin, and is a disruptor to break balance when moving in to throw.
But does any of this mean that these are kicking methods used by historical "ninja" or ninjutsu practitioners, separate from the modern groups? Well... no, really. The earliest examples we have of these are from the 50's and 60's (remember that the Kukishin Daken found in the Bujinkan is NOT the Kukishin Ryu Taijutsu that Takamatsu was a Shihan of... that's far more like Takagi Ryu Jujutsu). It just means that modern "Ninjutsu" practitioners employ these kicks...
In addition to this, the physical techniques that Fujita wrote about weren't from "Ninjutsu"... they were from his Namba Ippo Ryu Kenpo, his karate, and so forth.
Good plan.
Ah, was with you til the end there... speaking as a former karate-ka (and TKD), as well as a Takamatsuden practitioner for the past 3 decades, I would not describe the methods of performing the kicks to be similar at all, other than the idea of using the foot as a striking implement. In almost all ways, they are quite removed from each other, to the point that when I get karate students training with me, it's often quite difficult for them to learn a completely different way of approaching kicking.
As for where Shotokan got it's more diverse kicking methods from, a number (such as Mawashi-geri) were said to have been brought in by Funakoshi's son, after encountering fighters from other cultures, such as Thai fighters. Combine that with the stories of French sailors introducing Savate in the late 19th Century (Jesse Enkamp feels this is a likely source for the flashier kicks... given the different body structure of Classical Japanese and Okinawan people, and the limited advantage such kicks would have, I don't subscribe as well to it myself), and we start to see how things go. Realistically, early karate (Okinawan) focused on few kicks... dominantly the front kick mentioned, and very short, low side kicks (rarely)... but, in coming to Japan, and especially in developing a sporting side, it was a natural development to incorporate more kicking (especially as a long-range option) into the art... really, though, there's no connection between "Ninjutsu" kicks and those of karate.
Yeah... to be honest, other than some superficial similarities, I don't see anything in the Isshin Ryu methods that resemble us. Our usage of the hips, how they open, how they are used to drive through, is markedly different to the Isshin Ryu. I would caution against using Dunc's Akban link as an indicative view as to how the kicks are meant to be done in the Takamatsuden arts... Akban has a more eclectic approach, which colours how Yossi and the guys do things (not necessarily in a bad way, although, at times... well....).
There are a few other arts that do a similar thing, but, again, the basic idea can be shared, but the mechanics, principles, and so forth are, again, quite removed from what we do. Interesting, but not the same.
The biggest problem is that you're already starting from a rather inaccurate and flawed set of beliefs, which is setting you up to ask the wrong questions, and look for answers that aren't really there. So, let's start with the title of the thread itself... "Ninjutsu Empty Hand Techniques: What Empty Hand Techniques Exist in Ninjutsu?"...
Honestly, before we even get to the rest of the thread, there's a lot to clarify and clear up... firstly, what is meant by "Ninjutsu" in this sense? If you are speaking historically (as indicated by your opening post), then, well, none. Ninjutsu is a skill of information gathering, and is a sub-art (or supplementary one) of any number of (especially) Sengoku-era bushi traditions. It has no "martial/combative" methodology, as that's not it's point... and it was taught/trained by people who were professional warriors anyway (samurai) in the main, so there's no need for a secondary set of "special" techniques.
The concept of there being specific "ninja schools", or traditions that are purely ninjutsu, is not one that is overly supported in historical documents and records... there are some records of specific minor schools associated with larger ones taught in certain domains (Kishu Ryu, as an example), but the idea of a school of just ninjutsu is really a modern fantasy. Basically, what this means, is that there isn't any such thing as "empty hand techniques in Ninjutsu".
Of course, if you're talking about the modern organisations for ninjutsu (Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenkan etc), then that's another deep rabbit hole to go down... if we take the claimed histories of the schools as valid/accurate, then there's only one (commonly taught) school of ninjutsu there, being Togakure Ryu (Gyokushin and Kumogakure have not really been shown, and, when they have, it's been rather contradictory, making their validity somewhat redoubtable at the least), which is made up of three primary sections, only one being ninjutsu, the other being a sword syllabus, and the third being a taijutsu form (Ninpo Taijutsu in the modern terminology)... meaning that the unarmed techniques aren't the ninjutsu aspect... of course, this is assuming that the histories given are valid...
Realistically, the "common syllabus" (what is taught openly) is a modern amalgam of six primary schools, five of which are more "bushi" traditions, being Takagi Yoshin Ryu, Kukishin Ryu, Shinden Fudo Ryu, Gyokko Ryu, and Koto Ryu (with the latter two being not supported by outside evidence, and a big question mark over Shinden Fudo as well... not to mention the Toagakure Ryu questions themselves), mixed up and reconstructed to form the Budo Taijutsu approach of Hatsumi's Bujinkan, the Ninpo Taijutsu approach of Tanemura's Genbukan, and the Jissen Kobudo approach of Manaka's Jinenkan... so, again, if we take their histories as accurate, then we're not looking at ninjutsu, but more at more samurai-related jujutsu style arts.
Of course, the next assumption (if we go by the idea that the modern organisations as what is being asked about), then that begs the question of how accurate are they to anything historical in the way you're asking? And, really, the answer might not be as positive as you may think... but let's get to it.
So, with everything said above, if you're looking at historical Japanese approaches to kicks prior to the introduction of karate (that's another set of assumptions to deal with), then you're best off looking at koryu forms of jujutsu as a more accurate representation. Which also brings up the next set of assumptions... that kicking was much of a thing in the first place. Realistically, Japanese arts, especially historically speaking, are really focused on weapons and grappling (meaning stand-up locks, controls, throws etc), so the majority of kicking methods were to downed opponents, or as a disruption to affect a throw. Kicks would typically be direct, short-range, and low, with common impact points being the ball of the foot, or the heel.
True, for a range of reasons, many are mentioned above...
Yeah, this is not so much...
Ninjutsu was, by it's very nature, the art of secrets... not necessarily that secretive. And there weren't "empty hand curriculums" at all... the historical people we would identify as practicing it were, by and large, samurai. Ninjutsu is just another name for scouting, information gathering, and so on, after all...
This is true... but the issue is that those are the kicks found in the Bujinkan... a modern organisation founded in the 1970's... what you'd need to do is identify which ryu-ha within the Bujinkan those kicks come from, then see whether or not the art mentioned has any kind of historical veracity...
Yeah... look, I'm not going to say this is a largely baseless, and highly unlikely set of events, but... well, no. There are any number of issues with this idea, from the fact that there is no such thing as Ichimonji no Kamae in Shotokan, to the fact that the kicks found in the Bujinkan arts aren't in Shotokan either, to the issues with the idea that the student in question learnt such things in the first place...
Takeshi Shimoda was an early student of Gichin Funakoshi, and apparently a highly gifted one. It is said that he trained in a Nen-ryu Kendojo on Okinawa, as well as in "Ninjutsu", however I haven't seen any records of Nen -ryu on Okinawa outside of these reports, Nen-ryu is not Kendo, and, in fact, Nen-ryu itself ceased to exist a few centuries after it's inception in the mid-late 14th Century, today only transmitted as a branch school, the Maniwa-Nen Ryu, itself founded in the late 16th Century... so, either a kendo school using the Nen-ryu name (as Maniwa-Nen Ryu, still to this day, is basically found only in and around the village of Maniwa), which isn't out of the question, or some major confusion as to what he studied.
When we get to the "Ninjutsu" claim, it gets a bit more murky... Shimoda died in 1934 from pneumonia following a demonstration he did with Funakoshi and other seniors. At that time, Takamatsu was in the process of leaving the Kukishin Ryu, as they were establishing the Shobukyoku schools with Iwami Nangaku, who himself would pass on in 1936. It was only a decade and a half after this that Takamatsu started describing what he did as "Ninjutsu", claiming arts such as Togakure Ryu and Gyokko Ryu in his titles (in the 30's, it was purely Takagi and Kukishin, the schools he received from Ishitani, the most verifiable teacher he had)... so, the idea that Shimoda learnt this form of "Ninjutsu" (the form taught by Takamatsu), and therefore introduced it to Shotokan's founder, two decades before they seemingly existed, is more than unlikely. The only other person that could be a contender for Shimoda's "Ninjutsu" is Seiko Fujita, the proclaimed 14th (and last) head of Wada-ha Koga Ryu Ninjutsu, as well as being a practitioner of a range of other arts, including Shito Ryu karate, a form of Kenpo (jujutsu, not sword), and an array of weaponry arts, such as shuriken, jo, sword, staff, and so on.
The timeline works slightly better for this, however most public awareness of Fujita is from the 50's (he was already fairly well known in budo circles in the 40's, and was one of the most prolific authors of various topics, as well as having some of the most impressive private collections of old scrolls and manuscripts around at the time), but he was really better known as a martial scholar at the time... a somewhat eccentric one, to say the least, but still, more known for his research than his teachings. In fact, looking at some of his texts, such as on Shindo Muso Ryu, it's unsure how much exposure he really had to the art, despite claiming to have trained it, as no-one can verify any teacher for him, or any certification to support it... but that's beside the point. More importantly, Fujita is on record as having stated that he's taught many of his arts over his years, but he never taught anyone his Ninjutsu, saying that it's time was over, and he would take it to his grave, which he did.
So, if we take Shimoda as having trained in "Ninjutsu", one has to ask, firstly, from whom? And secondly, what system? These important details are simply nowhere to be found... and it's not like we have any documentation that supports the idea, or there being anything related in the methods of Shotokan to support the idea that anything was imported from "Ninjutsu" to the new karate expression.
So, yeah... gonna say no to this idea.
What secrecy? Document, licences, mokuroku, scrolls, and more, are all there if you look for them... Japan was one of the most documentary of societies... the idea of this "secrecy" is, again, more modern fantasy than anything based in reality or history, I gotta say.
At what time? In the 30's? There weren't anyone claiming to be "ninjutsu practitioners" at the time, at least not publicly... so it'll be difficult finding anything like what you're asking for, as, well, it doesn't actually exist on a number of levels...
As mentioned, you'd need to identify which ryu-ha such methods come from first... so let's break them down.
The Happo Keri concept is basically taken from the Ten Chi Jin Ryaku no Maki, a set of the basic syllabus of the Bujinkan, itself drawn from a range of the ryu (and some uniquely created methods). Just for the record, I don't teach it the way its' done by Yossi here... as I don't feel that's how it's ideally supposed to be done... I teach them from a close-quarters grappling position... oh, and the side and back kicks aren't a part of it... all that said, to take the ones shown in the four clips there one after the other, we can start to look at what we're seeing.
The first is a forward heel stomp (Soku-yaku Keri), as Punisher was describing earlier. It's dominantly found in Koto Ryu (who, interestingly, don't have any kick defences in their kata, although kicks are used in the techniques themselves, primarily as finishing actions), and is commonly done the way shown in the video... I would question that usage in most of the kata, though, for a few reasons, but that's not important, really. What's more important is that this method of kicking doesn't really match old Japanese arts much... it does, however, match some Chinese methods, for the record...
The next two are really just variations of the first in two directions. The side-kick version (Yoko-Soku-yaku Keri) isn't something that turns up in any kata in the entire syllabus, for the record, but it's something that Hatsumi has shown numerous times, so can be probably seen as his expression of this kicking concept in a different application. The Ushiro-keri is a bit more interesting, as, really, it's not a kick in any of the kata... but it is a throw. It's the footwork used in Uchimata Nage, as well as a variation of what can be done for Osoto Gake, or for Hane Goshi Nage... which takes us to the actual usage of kicks in these arts, and their dominant source in the Bujinkan arts.
By far and away, the largest array of kicking methods are found in the Kukishin Ryu Dakentaijutsu methods (Kijin Chosui Ryu Kukishinden Dakentaijutsu), where kicks are used to break balance and apply throws... which is the real purpose of kicks in this system. The last example, listed as Ura Ashi Geri (Inside Foot Kick... I learnt it as Kakushi-keri, or "hidden kick") is directly from the Happo Keri methods in the Ten Chi Jin, and is a disruptor to break balance when moving in to throw.
But does any of this mean that these are kicking methods used by historical "ninja" or ninjutsu practitioners, separate from the modern groups? Well... no, really. The earliest examples we have of these are from the 50's and 60's (remember that the Kukishin Daken found in the Bujinkan is NOT the Kukishin Ryu Taijutsu that Takamatsu was a Shihan of... that's far more like Takagi Ryu Jujutsu). It just means that modern "Ninjutsu" practitioners employ these kicks...
In addition to this, the physical techniques that Fujita wrote about weren't from "Ninjutsu"... they were from his Namba Ippo Ryu Kenpo, his karate, and so forth.
Good plan.
Ah, was with you til the end there... speaking as a former karate-ka (and TKD), as well as a Takamatsuden practitioner for the past 3 decades, I would not describe the methods of performing the kicks to be similar at all, other than the idea of using the foot as a striking implement. In almost all ways, they are quite removed from each other, to the point that when I get karate students training with me, it's often quite difficult for them to learn a completely different way of approaching kicking.
As for where Shotokan got it's more diverse kicking methods from, a number (such as Mawashi-geri) were said to have been brought in by Funakoshi's son, after encountering fighters from other cultures, such as Thai fighters. Combine that with the stories of French sailors introducing Savate in the late 19th Century (Jesse Enkamp feels this is a likely source for the flashier kicks... given the different body structure of Classical Japanese and Okinawan people, and the limited advantage such kicks would have, I don't subscribe as well to it myself), and we start to see how things go. Realistically, early karate (Okinawan) focused on few kicks... dominantly the front kick mentioned, and very short, low side kicks (rarely)... but, in coming to Japan, and especially in developing a sporting side, it was a natural development to incorporate more kicking (especially as a long-range option) into the art... really, though, there's no connection between "Ninjutsu" kicks and those of karate.
Yeah... to be honest, other than some superficial similarities, I don't see anything in the Isshin Ryu methods that resemble us. Our usage of the hips, how they open, how they are used to drive through, is markedly different to the Isshin Ryu. I would caution against using Dunc's Akban link as an indicative view as to how the kicks are meant to be done in the Takamatsuden arts... Akban has a more eclectic approach, which colours how Yossi and the guys do things (not necessarily in a bad way, although, at times... well....).
There are a few other arts that do a similar thing, but, again, the basic idea can be shared, but the mechanics, principles, and so forth are, again, quite removed from what we do. Interesting, but not the same.
isshinryuronin
Senior Master
I'll second all this regarding kick diversity.
I think this is true of most kicking in original Okinawan style, with the possible exception of "toe kicks" to certain soft pressure points. "Karate" meant "Chinese hand/empty hand" (not to mention native Okinawan fighting was simply known as "te/ti" meaning "hands") leads me to believe kicking was mostly used to facilitate hand-based techniques or takedowns followed by a finishing hand technique.
Yes, there is definitely a similarity, but perhaps these were just widely practiced, common basics at the time. The Ten no Kata wasn't published till 1957. Hard to say if there was a common source or borrowing involved. Also note that Funakoshi was taught by Matsumura, as was Kyan, Shimabuku's teacher. IF I remember correctly, isshinryu's upper and lower body kihon was actually put together by one of Shimabuku's students, so I supposed anything is possible. Most styles have the same basics, but how they are executed and stances are what sets them apart.
While it's cool to think there is some relationship between the two, and I am secretly a ninja (so secret, even I'm not aware of it!) any similarity is coincidental, or ideas independently arrived at based on their combat effectiveness IMO.
Old Happy Tiger
Orange Belt
The majority of practitioners of Ninjitsu, practice empty handed techniques of Taijustsu. That were I would start, first.
Source reference: Bujinkan - Wikipedia
"Taijutsu (body combat art) is the Bujinkan system of unarmed defence using strikes, throws, holds, chokes and joint locks. It encompasses skill such as: koppo jutsu is the "way of attacking and/or using the skeletal structure"; “koshi jutsu” is the way of attacking muscles and weak points on the body; jutai jutsu is the "relaxed body method" teaching throwing, grappling and choking techniques and dakentai jutsu which emphasises strikes, kicks and blocks"
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Unfortunately, it's really not that simple on many different levels, as I briefly went through above... I'd recommend re-reading (or reading in the first place, if you didn't) my post above, as there are numerous issues in looking to the Bujinkan's methods as something necessarily representative of such approaches. Should you want more clarification, I'll be happy to go into more detail, but, for now, I'd resist the idea of counting on Wiki for accurate information, or the Bujinkan itself for that matter...
Old Happy Tiger
Orange Belt
Ok, Thank You for correcting me.... I just trying to help the original poster of the question.. and yes, I did not read what you wrote.
I guess I'll need to dig out my Shuko and start to practice with those again.
Kaori
White Belt
There were other contenders, such as Kuroda-ryu practitioners (a ryuha that apparently died out in 1986), and whatever the Mr. Toshiro of Tokyo mentioned here was teaching in the 1950s/60s. And Kawakami's teacher, if there's any legitimacy to those claims. (But to the point of the post, yeah, likely no real Shimodo ninjutsu connection.)
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