Bujinkan-what exactly is it?

elfordo · White Belt

Hey fellas, i have had a fasination with ninjitsu since i was a kid and watched those great ninja movies like shinobi ninja.
A new dojo has opened down the road from me its Bujinkan.
I heard this is like 9 styles of ninjitsu put into one, and also that its 9 styles of jui jitsu put into one.
I would love to study ninjitsu, but if it's just jui jitsu then whats the point, i want to learn swords and all that other stuff like fighting blind floded.
Has anyone studied it, is it a form of ninjitsu, or just a grappling art.
Thankyou

JusticeZero · Black Belt

Essentially, "Ninjutsu" is a form of Jujutsu which was adapted by the people now known as "ninja". It branched out and evolved, then withered, and presently there is only one person claiming grand-master status, and anyone else, before dying or whatever, pretty much handed the titles over, as i've heard.

Jujutsu, I might add, is a very general term, like "kung fu", in that there's a few gazillion variants, which range from different to unrecognizably radically different, all tied together by some common historical root elements.

Bujinkan taijutsu seems to be mainly stand-up fighting, with an emphasis on hyper-committed step through strikes (stomping kicks and punches) and joint manipulation. When I tried it, they were teaching weapons at certain levels, though more as a 'principle' thing, since their philosophy tends to consider the idea of owning such weapons (which they only refer to as 'tools' and think of in a similar fashion as a carpenter considers a claw hammer and power saw) to be a bit absurd.

They don't spar and their training method and technique choice makes them problematic to spar with. Furthermore, they seem to have more than their fair share of 'loonies' who may not have even actually TRAINED in the art, then proceed to do incompetent and stupid things in front of people who proceed to tell me stories about 'this goofy ninja guy who came to our sparring class once..'.
As a result, they have received more than a little bit of criticism for having "unrealistic training methods". I cannot speak to the validity of that concern in either direction.
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"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." - Baleia

Anbu Alex · Green Belt

JusticeZero · Black Belt

What I mean by "hyper-committed" is NOT that you "leave your arm out" but rather that if they kick, they generally finish the kick standing where the target point was, rather than where they started from; the attacks go forward, and the body rejoins where the attack ends rather than the attack being retracted to the start point.
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"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." - Baleia

Anbu Alex · Green Belt

JusticeZero · Black Belt

Yes, but it seemed as though quite a bit more of the techniques were of that mindset than other arts would use.
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"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." - Baleia

Anbu Alex · Green Belt

well it also depends on the dojo cause some dojo's i hate to say arent really combat oriented thankfully mines is some teach is a more hitorical point other teach in a more budo stand point, how can i tell u may asked cause ive use budo taijutsu in a street combat situation and against trained figthers also i kinda see it as each person fits into their own art me its Bujinkan, other Karate, some Kung fu, some bjj; and in the bujinkan they tend to hide things with in the techniques themselves when new ppl are there they tend not to show alot
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White belt for life
"Destroy the enemies power but leave his life"

Treebranch · Black Belt

All I have to say is if you have the patience to learn it, you will not be sorry. It takes a really long time to be able to really understand what is going on. Once you understand, it's like a light bulb goes off in your head and you say to yourself, "Wow, how come nobody does this anymore." The reason is, "it's not a game." You can "really" hurt someone without really meaning it. We don't fight fair in this art at all. It's not about fighting really, it's about survival. If you get the mindset that the person attacking you means to kill you, you either avoid it, escape, or injure them really bad. If you are really skilled you can only hurt them enough.

The best way to see that it works is to have it done to you. It sucks being thrown when you don't know how to fall. Most people don't know how to take a fall.

It's not made for the ring.
_________________
"It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who
are willing to endure pain with patience."

"Lock em out or Knock em out"

tenacioustiger · White Belt

Does anyone here have the contact information for the Bujinkan Glendale, California dojo? If so, please e-mail me @ tenacioustiger@msn.com

Thanks.

Alex K.

NightOwl · Black Belt

I've had a chance to check out one of these gyms. The guy teaching there had a yearly trip to japan for instruction from the only grandmaster in the art, and seemed fairly legit; although I will confess, I am a bit skeptical about if Budo Taijitsu as its own art carried on for generations or if it is more or less a modern creation, but the advanced practicioners seemed to mean business. I had a chance to spar around with one recently and they used alot of palm stikes to the face and throat as well as some light trapping which reminded me a little of Wing Chun (as well as a couple of simple throws). Then again this person had not practiced since 2 years ago, so I certainly wouldn't say that they had shown me everything there is to know

all in all, it depends on who you are with and how they teach it. There's some weapons training and alot of drilling, but not TOO much in the way of sparring (although I have heard that eventually you get into 'free-form drills'). Check it out, make sure that no one's wearing black ninja outfits, and see if you like it from there.
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Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.

~Theodore Roosevelt

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