Shin Tengu Ryu?

[kodora81]

Hi all. I thought I'd run something by you guys, because of the wealth of knowledge and the nose for B.S. that I've observed by many posters.

Has anyone here heard of Shin Tengu-Ryu? I ask because someone I used to work with has his own Dojo in Toronto, and I always see him advertise for his school Kage Dojo. This guy (Kevin) was actually our SD instructor for my old security company, and I remember thinking that this guy seemed to full of himself, a real egomaniac.

Now, I'm still a relative newbie in the MA world, but something about this school seems pretty fishy to me. When I googled the style I didn't come up with anything really, other than links associated with his school. Not to mention, he claims to be a 9th degree black belt.

So what do you think? Is there anything legit to any of this? Or pure McDojo?

http://www.kagedojo.ca/

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Based on the terminology, the poses, and the photo of Takamatsu, it appears to be a rip-off of the Bujinkan or one of its offshoots under a made-up name. Since he is vague about his training background, I have no idea whether he had any significant degree of training in the Takamatsuden traditions before becoming a 9th Dan in his own art.

 

[K-man]

I suppose, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The fact that this guy is the highest rank outside of Japan is certainly impressive. The fact that there is no reference to Shin Tegu Ryu within Japan tends to take the shine off that claim. The other thing missing is any reference to his lineage. Taijutsu is a generic term like Kung fu or Wushu. So to claim that as background is very vague.

Obviously to anyone who has witnessed even a few actual street fights, this means that the unarmed combat method will have to provide ways of successfully subduing a boxer, a wrestler, a kicking expert, a martial artist, a body builder, a weapon wielder, or multiple attackers, not to mention dogs or mechanical objects that can do one harm. Broad based fighting skill is the key to surviving attacks on the street or in the field.


Hikakure means secret or hidden skills. Therefore, the Hikakure Taijutsu approach uses the natural complementary relationships of size, mood, intensity, purpose, legality, speed, and weapon lethality in a fight to create the appropriate tactics in each situation. Sometimes we can be outnumbered; sometimes we are armed with greater or lesser weapons; sometimes we face a faster or stronger adversary. Any given confrontation is totally unique. Hikakure Taijutsu is the method of taking those unique aspects, no matter what they are and turning them into strengths that will bring victory.

This worries me a little. I have never seen a system that can guarantee to provide those skills. Most martial arts, at least the open hand form, are for use against untrained opponents. Add weapons and that changes the scenario totally. But these are huge claims.

But his other website is far more impressive.

Kevin has studied various martial arts for the past thirty years. He holds Black Belt rankings in several martial arts, including Shin-Tengu Hikakure-jutsu (9th Dan), Iaijutsu (7th Dan), Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do and Jiu Jitsu (6th Dan), Kobudo (4th Dan), and Jodo (4th Dan), and is a certified instructor trainer in Shaolin Kung Fu and Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. He was awarded the title of Hanshi (Master) in 1993 before leaving Japan, for his contributions and accomplishments in the martial arts by the Nihon Joudai Budo-Kai, in Tokyo, Japan. He has taught martial arts classes to adults and private students in various clubs around the City of Toronto for 11 years. He has competed and judged in numerous tournaments worldwide, most notably winning the Japan Open, Full Contact Challenge in Kashiwa, Japan in 1993. Kevin has participated in over one hundred-fifty seminars featuring top-ranking instructors from Japan, Israel, China, USSR, the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada. He has also performed in demonstrations at the American Embassy in Japan, for various Law Enforcement Agencies, at street festivals, movie premieres, and concert festivals across Canada and the United States

Now he says he has studied various martial arts for the past 30 years. In 1993 he was awarded title of Hanshi. That is about 20 years ago! So after about 10 years training he is 'Hanshi'. Mmm! I don't think that makes a lot of sense, but it could be that he is just a sensational martial artist.

Try looking for 'Nihon Joudai Budo-Kai'. I can't find reference to that at all. There is a ' Nippon Dai Budo Kai' but that is in the UK. So just what is this accrediting body?

He might be legit .... or he might not! :hmm:

 

[Aiki Lee]

He seems pretty clearly to have left one of the X-kans, most likely the Bujinkan Like Tony suggests. The pictures are not very impressive for the level of skill his rank would seem to indicate, but photos can be taken out of context all the time.
Maybe he's a good instructor or maybe he doesn't have the proper credentials.
It seems flaky to me though. he obviously created his organization cuz there is no Shin Tengu Ryu, I've ever heard of. Plus he doesn't seem to know that you can't just open your own dojo and claim it's a new ryuha because he doesn't want to answer to any other form of authority. Taking poorly done budo taijutsu and calling it something new seems to be what he's done. He may have added other stuff, but he likely hasn't made the necessary principle changes to consider his form a new ryuha. I doubt he understands what the word even really implies.

Plus I don't see how you can have dan ranking in generic iaido or jodo. That's literally like saying I have a black belt in swords and sticks. He gives no style he claims to have studied those things in, which makes me think he reach out to some BS sokeship council.
Again, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

As far as I can tell "Shin Tengu Ry" would translate to "New Goblin School". That's kind of weird to me.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Yeah, it's possible that he's a skilled martial artist, but the fact that he felt the need to award himself a high rank in his own made-up art without acknowledging anyone that he actually trained under doesn't indicate that the odds are very good.

 

[kodora81]

To give him a slight benefit of the doubt, he was a decent instructor in terms of what he was teaching us as security guards, i.e. PPCT, PR-24 Monadnock, etc. At the time this was the largest private security company in the city, and no doubt that he was fully certified to instruct in these systems. But he did always imply that what he was teaching was all kids stuff, and that he had super/deadly knowledge under his fingertips. I wish I remember some of his more outlandish claims now...but it's been many years. I'm sure it impressed some of the younger, more impressionable guys, but to me it always sounded like ego-gratification and attempts at hero-worship. And no offence to anyone who works in the security field (I still do), but he would have been a Hanshi long by then - what was he doing teaching $10/hr security guards if he was that spectacular/qualified of a martial artist?

Sorry if I'm coming off like I have some personal vendetta against this guy. Again, like has been said, there's always the chance that I'm wrong about him.

 

[Chris Parker]

Ex-Bujinkan, invented history, major mistakes in Japanese terminology, bizarre claims and comments.... don't think I can bring myself to recommend them...

 

[Tez3]

Reading the post where it says he can teach how to fight dogs I feel a new thread coming on! We've had some incidents here with dogs attacking so ideas on fighting them off would be useful. I'll pop it in the General MA section I think.

 

[oftheherd1]

Kevin has studied various martial arts for the past thirty years. He holds Black Belt rankings in several martial arts, including Shin-Tengu Hikakure-jutsu (9th Dan), Iaijutsu (7th Dan), Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do and Jiu Jitsu (6th Dan), Kobudo (4th Dan), and Jodo (4th Dan), and is a certified instructor trainer in Shaolin Kung Fu and Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. He was awarded the title of Hanshi (Master) in 1993 before leaving Japan, for his contributions and accomplishments in the martial arts by the Nihon Joudai Budo-Kai, in Tokyo, Japan. He has taught martial arts classes to adults and private students in various clubs around the City of Toronto for 11 years. He has competed and judged in numerous tournaments worldwide, most notably winning the Japan Open, Full Contact Challenge in Kashiwa, Japan in 1993. Kevin has participated in over one hundred-fifty seminars featuring top-ranking instructors from Japan, Israel, China, USSR, the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada. He has also performed in demonstrations at the American Embassy in Japan, for various Law Enforcement Agencies, at street festivals, movie premieres, and concert festivals across Canada and the United States

I guess may be reading this wrong, but which of the styles he holds black belt in in Kung Fu or Tai Chi Chuan? Yet he claims to hold certification as an instructor/trainer? That doesn't work for me.

 

[GrandmasterP]

Pure ignorance here... Are there black belts in Tai Chi Chuan?
Anybody know where and how?

 

[oaktree]

Chen xiaowang holds 9th duan which is like a Black belt i guess. I would not look to much into
Taiji Black belts i look into if they are part of the line they claim.

 

[clfsean]

Pure ignorance here... Are there black belts in Tai Chi Chuan?
Anybody know where and how?

Sure... I'll hook you up for $49.99 ... you pay shipping & handling...