Mr. Roley
I think that was a very thoughtful post and critique of the Moti Nativ tape. I agree with some of what you said about the quality of the information on the tape, but I make a strong effort in my life to take from everything what is useful, discard that which is not. Was there nothing you found you could learn from the tape?
I think it is very cool that you have the opportunity to learn from so many instructors in Japan that you feel are very good. If I have the chance I will get to Japan, but will most certainly not live there. If you donÂ’t mind, I do have some questions about some of your comments.
“And today the chances of getting into a combat with a two meter long stick are rather rare.”
Well, I actually almost always have either a rokushakubo or jo with me when I walk my dogs at the park or on the street and when I hike in the mountains (I also almost always have a pistol and often a tanto). Would you not agree that if I happen to get in a fight and have my bo with me I will probably use it? (I carry both the rokushakubo and the jo in my car, and practice taking them out quickly so I can do it if I have to . . . I also keep a pistol and a couple of good blades in the car that are all at easy reach while I am driving and I practice getting them out from their storage places while sitting in the driverÂ’s seat). I also think that just having something like a six-foot stick (and two dogs) with me are visible clues to somebody not to mess with me, so I am probably avoiding confrontations by having these. Also, have you considered that things you do with a six-foot stick would apply to other things you may pick-up in the heat of battle . . . a broom, a shovel, things like that (Jackie Chan in his movies shows this sort of thing all the time)?
I don’t think it is likely that I will get into a fight with a sword unless someone breaks into my house, and I run out of ammo in my pistol(s) and shotgun . . . but I suppose there is a possibility I would have to pick up the sword and use it . . . Shuriken training seems very practical since they are easy to carry, and the skills one develops by such training also applies to other throwing things, like rocks, etc. Musashi said “the true value of sword fencing cannot be understood within the confines of sword fencing”. Don’t you agree that the training we are engaged in extends beyond the specific use of a two-meter stick, sword, or shuriken?
“(I have seen people try to claim that they have had life or death struggles with swords, shuriken, etc- but when asked for proof they all refuse and everyone laughs at them.)” . . . “But if you want to learn the art fully, you should seek out a competent instructor while in Japan and ask them to show you what they can.”
Personally, the only times I have had the possibility of being in a streetfight I have managed to walk away from it without actually fighting. Ralph shihan claims to have combat experience . . . and about his sue of rokushakubo Hatsumi sensei stated publicly that Ralph “is a genius and a master technician”, that he does things as if he were in combat. If you have not seen him (even on tape) working with a rokushakubo can you really apply to him and defend a statement like “considering the limited amount of knowledge most Bujinkan teachers have about the traditional katas, I suppose that many people would not realize the problems with this tape”? Can you give us some specifics about who you are talking about as having “limited knowledge”? Or, are you saying that simply because someone is NOT Japanese they cannot KNOW these things? From what I’ve been reading there is an aversion in Japan to focusing on combat applications of these techniques favoring the “art” side more. My question would be “how can one know what is “exactly right” if not putting it to the test of combat? Or near combat, like sparring?” What is it about being Japanese that makes it more possible to know stuff. Don’t the forms themselves act as tools for the student practicing it to learn what’s right? I feel I have learned, or “become enlightened” about some of what is right by hitting things with the stick . . . when you contact an object like a maki wara you feel in your body when its right or wrong. Do you guys hit things with sticks in Japan, and if you do don’t you agree you can feel the difference between right and wrong? Don’t you agree that the main factor as to whether someone learns the right way or not is a function of how hard the individual works on it? Everything that is known HAD to be discovered by someone prior to the enlightened person passing it on to a student as a teacher. Does this not indicate that we can learn in ways other than having a Japanese teacher tell us these things?
“Sparring is not actual combat experience.”
True, because combat is trying to kill the other guy before he kills you, in sparring we try not to kill each other . . . so sparring has some elements of combat, more than merely practicing forms, with much less chance of someone getting dead. IÂ’m thinking that sparring is still very valuable practice for combat, if you are practicing these skills for the possibility that you will have the need to use them to save your life, does it not make sense to to things in practice that come as close to reality as possible?
“I have since thought about the matter and wonder how Moti Navi learned bojutsu. He most definatly did not learn it from a Japanese teacher like I did.”
So, if a person were to learn “it” from a non-japanese teacher, or on their own through diligent practice and research, and learn it “correctly”, would you say that that knowledge is not valid because it was not learned from a Japanese teacher? That is sort of the impression I am getting from what you are saying.
In an earlier post I asked you about who you are, because I simply don’t know, but I read your posts and you seem to talk as if you know a lot. You also imply others do not know something or as much as you because they don’t train in Japan, yet I’m not sure if you have any direct knowledge or familiarity of those you are implying are so lacking. I would like to know more about you so I can decide whether I can believe what you are saying, whether you actually know enough about what you are talking about to be saying these things (such as saying “ . . . instructors having limited knowledge”). I personally try to learn from everything, and everyone, but I feel it is important to know where those I am learning from are coming from, you understand that, don’t you?
You also implied that I donÂ’t make good sticks without any knowledge about my sticks. I am curious what you base such an attitude on (most of the Japanese teaching I am familiar with promote that students should be humble, and not bragging).
Thank you.
