Mukashi no jutsu - Doug DeRenzo

[It is Fake]

It needs to be noted Mr. Popkins was very cordial and had his class interrupted twice.

I just called him myself to confirm, through a moderator, that these are his posts.

*edit*

This thread is to silly minus a few posts.

Noob bringing up street vs sport vs real???
Another noob accepting challenges instead of answering questions?

No, this current thread is YMAS material.

[socratic]

Judging from the name, I would suspect that Mukashi no Jutsu is not terribly mukashi.
Maybe someone with better Japanese can correct me, but I'm pretty sure "mukashi" is never used as a modifier; I've only ever heard it as a part of storytelling language, as "mukashi mukashi ni"... (the equivalent of "Once upon a time....")
Regardless of what he's teaching, I'm calling shenanigans on the name.

I always thought Mukashi was a time-noun meaning 'old days' 'ancient times' etc, like 'suiyoubi' would be. Ie suiyoubi ni or mukashi ni would be valid phrases. I think mukashi no bunka would be valid but I'm not sure. Mukashi no jutsu just screams bullshit however because the assertion would be you're selling gendai techniques, and probably pre-Tokugawa ones if you were t3h r34l mukashi. It smells fishy to me.

[Howard Popkin]

Hello,

Facts:

1) Mr. Derenzo visited my dojo once.
2) His system is nothing like either of the ones taught at my dojo.
3) I am not judging him or his system, I just don't know why on earth he would compare the two. Kyokushin kai doesn't look like BJJ, but both are excellent systems when taught by legitimate instructors.

I hope this ends this discussion.

Howard Popkin

[Uncle Skippy]

The original source of information for this write-up is contained in the thread

mukashi no jutsu - No BS Martial Arts

User 'sten' wrote in to ask about Doug DeRenzo's art Mukashi no jutsu (www.mukashi.org)

anyone been to mukashi no jutsu on long island?

He then sent Mr DeRenzo an email asking about the art. In a follow-up, sten posted the following:

Melch, I emailed and asked who he trained Sanda with. John Yuan, a 5 time World Wushu Gold medal winner in Brooklyn.Sensei Darel Chase,Sensei John Craig , Sensei Howard Popkin for Jiujitsu and Master P. Lan for Ninjitsu. Sensei R. Bryhan, Weapons. Any of these look familiar?

At this point, it should be noted that 'sten' never posted the e-mail reply in its entirety, and has not answered a follow-up question inquiring about the specific context in which the names were mentioned.

After sten's post, user 'Shogun Assassin' replied with:

Well Howard Popkin has a school in West Hempstead NY.
His titles:
Yondan - Jun Dairi Kyoju - Daito ryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai
Yondan - 4th Degree Black Belt - Vobindinh HTM World Martial Arts
Shodan - 1st Degree Black Belt - Goshin Budo Jujitsu

Unless my Google-Fu is weak I cannot find any of the other names listed.

These posts attracted the attention of Howard Popkin, who was already familiar with this forum. His first post is as follows:

Hello,

My name is Howard Popkin and I am the co-owner of the Popkin-Brogna Self Defense Center in Franklin Square.

Bottom line here is Doug Derenzo from Mukashi took ONE class in my dojo Let me say that again, one CLASS.

I have never seen what he does in his dojo, nor do I care. This was made a statement of fact. I don't know who gave out that information, but his experience with me was less then 4 hours on a Sunday a last year.

Howard Popkin

ignatzami asked him about his credentials and training history, to which
Mr Popkin promptly posted:

Howard Popkin - Brief Bio -

12 Years Goshin budo Jujitsu - Under Jeff Lovering Sensei - Bellmore, NY
Shodan
7 Years Daitoryu Aikijujutsu Kodokai - Under Roy Goldberg Sensei
No rank

14 Years Daitoryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai - Under Okamoto Seigo Sensei -
Tokyo Japan ( yes, I lived there for a while and then went back and forth)
Yondan
6 years World wind combined Ninjitsu-jujitsu under Kerry Lampkin Sensei(via the Moses Powell/Robert Sugar Crosson Line)
No Rank

Dabble in Karate - James K Roberts Jr - Washington D.C./MD about 5 years
Various judo/juitsu seminars - Wally Jay, Yoneska, Cahil, Depasquale Sr. And Jr., Even rolled a bit with Royce and Rorion at their first visit to the east coast in 92.

Hope that helps !

Howard

(Personal note: I wish all people who come on here would be so forthcoming!)

At this point, it was important to confirm that user 'Howard Popkin' was actually the real Howard Popkin. He provided his contact information which was more than enough for both me and It Is Fake to confirm his identity over the phone.

I just got off the phone with Howard Popkin and confirmed his identity under the account named "Howard Popkin"

He and I had a nice talk and briefly went over what has been mentioned so far.

Mr Popkin mentioned that Doug DeRenzo had come into a class and trained a single time. Doug mentioned that he had trained under another person and was trying to determine the lineage of that system. After the class, Doug said to Mr Popkin that their arts were very similar.

I am the first to say that I am not the most qualified person to make a judgment on the comparison of the two arts but Mr DeRenzo's videos do not appear to be similar at all to what Mr Popkin teaches.

I'll let Mr Popkin go over details so that I don't put word into his mouth.

Summary: "Howard Popkin" is Howard Popkin.

It needs to be noted Mr. Popkins was very cordial and had his class interrupted twice.

I just called him myself to confirm, through a moderator, that these are his posts.

After my initial confirmation of Mr Popkin's identity, he posted the following:

I met Mr. DeRenzo once. Seemed like a nice guy. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HIS QUALIFICATIONS ARE.

The class he took was in a VERY soft system. His movements do not appear to be related to anything that we do.

If anyone is interested in seeing/feeling what we do, please feel free to e-mail or call.

Or. feel free to google me, there are many reviews from my seminars online.
I hope this is over. I really didn't need to be dragged in to this.

I will note here that when I was on the phone with him, Mr Popkin made note of a conversation he had with Doug DeRenzo. In that conversation, Mr DeRenzo stated he had trained in a system for years under another gentleman and was unsure of the roots of that system. Then, Mr DeRenzo told Mr Popkin that their 2 systems were similar based on the content a single class.

Here is another post by Mr Popkin:

Hello,

Facts:

1) Mr. Derenzo visited my dojo once.
2) His system is nothing like either of the ones taught at my dojo.
3) I am not judging him or his system, I just don't know why on earth he would compare the two. Kyokushin kai doesn't look like BJJ, but both are excellent systems when taught by legitimate instructors.

I hope this ends this discussion.

A post by user 'sten' mentioned that Mr Popkin was mentioned because the 2 systems were similar:

Just to clarify. Sensei Doug didn't say his JiuJitsu teacher was Howard Popkin, he mentioned him as a point of reference to his style, to the similarities to Aiki Jiu Jitsu.

At this point, we have the following information:

- Mukashi no jutsu web site:

www.mukashi.org

- Mukashi no jutsu YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mizu8000

- User 'zen_mind' posted in the Newbietown thread and has stated he had trained with Doug DeRenzo for years. His posts did not provide any clarifications on lineage or the association with Mr Popkin.

- Doug DeRenzo sent an email about his school and system mentioning the following people:

John Yuan (his Sanda instructor)
Darel Chase
John Craig
Howard Popkin (Jiujitsu)
P. Lan (Ninjutsu)
R. Bryhan (weapons)

- Howard Popkin stated that Doug DeRenzo trained with him in a single class for 4 hours.

- At that class, Doug DeRenzo told Howard Popkin that their 2 systems were similar.

- Howard Popkin has stated that, based on video evidence on YouTube, the systems are not similar in the least, especially considering that the class that Doug attended was a Soft System class. The videos do not show any such Soft techniques.

- Howard Popkin is in no way associated with Doug DeRenzo's system nor is Doug DeRenzo a student under him.

We are unclear as to why Doug DeRenzo mentioned Howard Popkin in the e-mail since the systems are not similar.

No other people mentioned in the e-mail have been contacted at this point to confirm lineage or to determine why they might be listed in there in the first place.

[hungryjoe]

http://www.mukashi.org%29/

Link appears to be a no go now.

You done went and scared him off.

Bully

edit:

http://mukashi.org/default.aspx


This one works (no idea why the first didn't)

[hungryjoe]

utter crap

YouTube - MUKASHI

Loved the cartwheel at 2:00

Edit - Had to add:

Class Schedule & Fees:
Monday or Thursday Evenings:
7pm. - 9:30pm.
$20.00 per Class
Private/group lessons available.
Pricing upon request

[Lu Tze]

Oh man, where do I sign up?

[Uncle Skippy]

http://www.mukashi.org%29/

Link appears to be a no go now.

You done went and scared him off.

Bully

edit:

http://mukashi.org/default.aspx


This one works (no idea why the first didn't)

Yeah. The trailing parenthesis somehow got included in the link. I'll see if a mod can edit it to repair the link.

I'd really like Mr DeRenzo to come on here to present his side of the story and see why he included Howard Popkin's name in his e-mail. I'll see about inviting him to the thread.

I'd also really like sten to post the email in its entirety so that we can at least see context.

[hungryjoe]

Yeah. The trailing parenthesis somehow got included in the link. I'll see if a mod can edit it to repair the link.

I'd really like Mr DeRenzo to come on here to present his side of the story and see why he include Howard Popkin's name in his e-mail. I'll see about inviting him to the thread.

I'd also really like sten to post the email in its entirety so that we can at least see context.

Good find Uncle Skippy.

Given Howard Popkin's forthright answers and wish to be left alone, it would be good for following posters to respect his wishes.

[Howard Popkin]

Hey,

Did anyone get ahold of this guy yet ?

Just curious.

Happy training.

Howard