a ninja that can actually fight?!

**colonelpong2** · Posted On: 10/09/2007 12:53am

Actually, there are Ninjers who can fight pretty well.

There is a ninjitsu/ninjutsu whatever its called these days school in a city jsut outside of my city.

Some of their guys have done quite well in national kick boxing events and at least one competes in MMA.
I can confirm that a number of these guys are pretty damn good.
Admittedly, they cross train in grappling and MT at the same establishment. But the ninjaing, MT and grappling are all taught by the same guy.
I havent met any of his students that just Ninje, but certainly the members of his club I have met and , on occasion, sparred with have run the normal range. Some very very good, some average, some kinda crap (but those beiung among the noobs). Just like any other club.
I suspect that this school is an aberation, not the norm of commercial ninjerism in the world these days, but I am satisfied that here we have found ninjers who can fight.

Scary thing is these are the same guys who brought us this (and many other images that have appeared in our pics of disaster threads) .....

**colonelpong2** · Posted On: 10/09/2007 12:53am

hang on, pictures not coming up.. but.. here:

http://www.kokuryunz.co.nz/photo_pag...empai_jpg.html

**ronaldk** · Posted On: 10/09/2007 8:03pm

wow... thread resurrected.

hadn't noticed.

since we're on the subject, since my last post in this thread, i have visited this dojo myself. i watched a class, as well as a grading (which i originally thought were done with all the MAs taught, i found out you can choose what MA to grade on a particular day).

first things:

- they have to address the instructors with sensei, with it starting every sentence or question.

- no matter what the instructor says, they must all answer "ai, sensei".

- when leaving the mat to get something from a bag, get a weapon from a rack, or just go pee, they must bow towards the center of the mat.

- during the grading, when asked for a technique, the student had to reply to the sensei by asking permission to present said technique the sensei just asked for.

other general stuff:

- the two guys grading their judo, purple belts at the time of grading (dunno if they get a stripe or another belt or something, but i do have another friend who used to be at this dojo, took him 9 years to get his brown belt) didn't look too solid. they demo'd some throws on eachother, compliantly, some atemi, and other things. no sparring/randori. there was also an oral exam, where i was surpised to see i knew more about judo/Jigoro Kano than these guys.

- one of them mixed up the term, saying ju = the way, and do = soft. asked about Jigoro Kano and the creation of judo, and they both drew blanks. asked if whether Kano wanted judo to become a sport, and one of them said yes. when asked if judo had striking, they replied negatively, after just having demo'd atemi. it was... disappointing IMO, when i don't train in a "culturally aware" environment, and these guys do.

- when asked why "ju", as in why soft, they replied with how JJJ at the time was a lot rougher, and judo was soft in comparison. the sensei seemed to accept this. i personally thought "soft" in this case referred to the "no-resistance" philosophy and the whole hard/soft art thing.

- also, and a question here. they went over some subs as well. a choke at one point. sensei asked what types of chokes there were, which was replied with blood/air after some hinting. she asked which was more dangerous, and the student replied blood, which she agreed with. i was under the impression air chokes are more dangerous, due to more risk of permanent damage due to lack of air, and physical damage from how the techniques are executed. anyone shed some light on this?

training:

- the instructor slammed the crap out of the students repeatedly, demoing the techniques of the day. then he had them slam eachother. it's been many, many years since the last time i attended a judo class when i was a kid (never trained it formally, but i loved next to a dojo, so i used to go every now and then), so i don't know, but is one student supposed to stay "passive" during the drill? i mean, it wasn't compliant, but "tori" (i think is the term) would only passively defend, without countering, or any REAL resistance (like sprawling out or trying to gain a dominant position). i understand they were learning new techniques, so perhaps that has to do with it.

- they did some aikido, with some moves that looked pretty fucking awesome, i will admit. however, the one i most liked was a counter to someone attacking you with a DOWNWARD KNIFEHAND TO THE HEAD. think of trying to hit someone with a sledgehammer on the head. now, do that with a knifehand. the technique started with a knifehand block, and stepped in for a beautiful sweep/throw. upon some repetition, i looked at it, and it could worked, with some tweaking, as a counter to a punch. why they don't train it this way is beyond me, as the strike was indeed being thrown at full speed with intent. knifehanding the top of someone's head wouldn't be that deadly, IMO.

- i asked if they normally did judo randori. very rarely, replied one of their green belts. how they've gotten a reputation to get solid judo players is now a mystery to me.

- at the end of the class, one of the instructors addressed the students concering fear; fear of other people, opponents and whatnot, and how their training gave them a superiority, and should give them confidence, and to wield this confidence with wisdom, but to indeed abandon their fear. this, from the woman who half an hour earlier was said, regarding atemi, that striking in judo is rarely done with contact as "they are searching for a higher plain of spirituality, leaving wordly things like physical violence behind". i don't understand how a place that teachers students how to beat the **** out of eachother with shinai, which technically translates to slicing people with katana, and slams the crap out of eachother, can then claim to not be about violence or fighting. there seems to be some sort of stigmata surrounding STRIKING with them, and it being dirty, and violent. but slamming someone on their head is perfectly fine, because it is "ju".

that sums up what i have in memory so far.

**ronaldk** · Posted On: 10/09/2007 8:04pm

i have no more info on the mysterious instructor in black. my friend did mention he was looking to open up a school. on the flipside, he also mentioned how his sensei went off a couple of weeks to go, talking about silly ninjerism and myths proliferated by movies.

edit: just ot be clear, the sensei was talking despectively of ninjers, and whatnot.