Hi m8 my name is lee. i train in the Ryuko Dojo in england which is a branch of the Bujinkan organisation run by soke hatsumi (if u havnt heard of it). i just thought i would reply to your message about seeking out training in ninjutsu as it took me a while to find a school teaching anywhere near me. In my experience you are only going to become better at any art if you enjoy doing it, so your parents telling you to practice an art you dont want to is nearly pointless, also budo is a little similar to religion in that there is no point in practicing it if you do not believe that the principles being taught to you can truely help you in a real life. If all you are being taught is the forms but you are not being taught the principles behind the forms (which is the whole point of them!!) you are not learning anything that can be applied to a real situation. If you are looking to start training and you are really serious distance wouldnt be a problem, soke hatsumi used to travel for half a day every weekend for 15 years to train under Takamatsu sensei after all. But generally these days there are plenty of ninjutsu dojos around only the art is generaly refered to as Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu now as the name Ninjutsu wasnt really a suitable name concidering the art is made up of both samurai and ninja traditions. i would recomend you find a dojo headed by a shidoshi (5th Dan and above) and my only other advice would be to ask the teacher plenty of questions about the art, ask about any situation you like, anything at all and if your happy with the answers theres nothing left to do but to start training. hope to hear back what you decide to do m8. Happy training to you and happy new year!!!
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