SoA

Hey people, new here.
Now I've been practicing Ninjustu for some time now (not the old stuff of course - but I cant spell it's current form - budokaijitsu or something:-)

We do abit of weapons training but I've been wondering, when u see a movie
and our hero is showing of his skillz with a sword/staff doing all of these moves before going into combat - thats not something exactly they teach ya in the dojo. And havent been able to ask my teacher about it.

Like the clip in, idonno batman (lol) were bruce is waving his sword like that, or when you twirl your staff around and around yourself. I know it aint practical at all, but it be cool to know... :-)

Any clips/tutorials/kind-forum-users-who-wanna-explian out there?
What is even the correct term? Salutes?

SoA

Really - no one knows how to spin ur sword so it looks good? How about that twirl you make with your Bo? Never got to that.

Buttfly

That stuff in the movies is for show it has no real defence or attack but it dose look cool i guss it could be used for intemadation i say get good with your sword and your staff and then you will do some cool looking real usefull moves

SoA

hmm, well it is not just in movies - alot of times to shows and such they do this salute thing at each other right before they enter what ever stance theyll be using.

Is that a part of martial art? I mean i know it isent about looking cool - but about being usefull and practical (believe me - ninjutsu is not very elegant)
But where did they learn then?

Buttfly

I like showing off my high speed moves

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SoA

which isssss....?

stauburn

First of all if it is in the movies you can safely assume it is usually performed to look impressive ( like Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan etc...) and any martial arts instruction shouldn't be teaching you " look good " moves if you are trying to learn a combat minded art such as Ninjutsu.

I am curious what you meant by you are not learning the "old stuff" of ninjutsu?

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Rob

SoA

Well, I know "looking good" is rarely a part of any Martial Art (exept maybe Capoeira) so what I'm asking here is where do they "learn" these moves? Dance instructors? Or is it completly CGI? (looking at how the sword moves around the hand in slowmotion)

(about the "old stuff" - well, Ninjutsu isent taught any longer, since it has mostly evolved into new and more usefull combat rather then learning how to climb trees using steel claws and so on)

stauburn

I admit I have never used my shako( steel hand claws) to climb trees but we do still use them them in training ( soft rubber ones of course). I admit I did try once many years ago but it wasn't very successful.....

Within the Bujinkan system there are 9 schools , 3 of them are ninjutsu schools which deals with more of the "old stuff". Those 3 schools aren't widely taught for some reason ( that is the decision of Hatsumi sensei) I have seen some pieces of them over the years during my trips to Japan.

Since we are all here to learn form one another , I was just curiuos if you are studying in the Bujinkan, Genbukan or Jinenkan?

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Rob

SoA

That would be Bujinkan - but it has an odd name, Bodukaijitsu or something. Basicly, it's the "street" version of Ninjitsu(/jutsu if u want)
I don't know about the other versions really thought they almost extinct. We mostly learn how to strike without getting noticed. As in almost disemboweling a dude while making it look like he was attacking you all the time.

Anyho, actually, I saw a program once with a Ninjitsu "boarding" school in Japan, which looked way more advanced then what I'm training. Ever since that I've always wanted to take just a year or something and really try learning it (I know it takes a lifetime to master)

Say - u wouldn happen to have any experince in this matter - with your trips to Japan?

Hikage

Just a quick response to flipping the stick/sword around. To be honest, most instructors will not teach this sort of thing for at least 2 reasons.

1. As previously said, it isn't practical. Why would you want to waste time and possible loose your weapon? Fights can be hard enough to win without making things harder on yourself.

2. Most of the flipping that you will learn (excepting those who train for international weapons exhibitions) comes from playing with the weapon. I can show someone how to use a stick/sword, but until that person just plays with the weapon and "makes it their own" they will never become very adept at it. Futhermore, it is during this "play time" that the practitioner will actually teach themselves the flips and twirls that come with becoming comfortable with a weapon and how his or her body interacts with that weapon.

What you are seeing when movie stars and expert matial artists are flipping that thing all around is the result of years of training with a variety of weapons. Therefore, the practitioner is able to pick up most anything and twirl it around like a majorette.

In short, this isn't something you can teach, nor should you seek it out. It will happen when your body is ready for it. Stick to your basics and get comfortable moving within your system of study. When you are good, you'll look it.

-Hikage

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SoA

wow, okey that's pretty deep. Hmm, well thx for the insight.
So whenever you see some one twirls his sword around looking like his been praticing just that for his entire life, it was just random fooling around in the garage... and I who thought that there was some sort of system behind it... wadda ya know:-)

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stauburn

I am assuming that you mean Budo taijutsu. If you want to find out more info there are several credible resources on line. Genbukan and Jinenkan are newer orginizations that were founded by former high ranking Bujinkan members.

I would be wary of any boarding schools teaching anything unless you had very solid references. To my knowledge there aren't any Bujinkan related boarding schools. Most people who are interested in spending an extended amount of time in Japan to study in the Bujinkan simply purchase a plane ticket and make you way to the Honbu to start training. Simply go to http://www.kutaki.org/ , it is a great site to contact people to find out info about training in japan. If your teacher is making yearly trips to Japan to see Hatsumi he should be able to provide you with a contact.

Where are you training presently?

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Rob