#4,5,6
Today's topic of focus is ninjutsu. All three are modern ninjutsu practitioners. Two of the three are the heads of their styles. Their arts are relativity similar, but they focus on different aspects. The third is another bizarre character trying to pass of his "unique" ideas as part of mystical ninjutsu.
Ninjas have been a interesting and wildly exaggerated group of people in there own time and in ours. Much of what a ninja does is based on deception which plays into all the crazy stories and feats they have been said to perform. Rather than focus on myths and possibilities I am just going to touch a little on these men's lives and how they got to where they are.
#4
Master Masaaki Hatsumi
He was born in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan on December 2, 1931. He was first introduced to the martial arts by his father at age 9 learning kendo. Later on he studied judo, aikido, karate and many other styles of martial arts. From 1957 to 1972 he trained under Takamatsu Toshitsugu head of the Iga ninja style. He would have to travel 15 hours one direction to train with his instructor, because of where each of them lived. When Takamatsu died in 1972, Hatsumi then inherited the autority and position of "Soke" or headmaster of their nine disciplines of ninjutsu. In the late 1970's he founded the bujinkan dojo in honor of his teacher Takamatsu and still oversees instruction there today.
#5
Master Ronald Duncan
Duncan was born in Panama and began his study of martial arts with boxing at the age of seven. He grew up near where the military trained for jungle warfare. He later served in the U.S. Marine Corps and earned his first black-belt as a part of their judo team. After his time in the military he earned black belts in many different arts including shinobino-jutsu(better known as ninjutsu). He has taught Navy SEALs, special forces and law inforcement agencies for many different countries. He is the head of the Koga Ryu Ninjutus Society and teaches from the writtings of the last head of the Koga ninja clan Seiko Fujita who died without leaving a successor. He claims no direct lineage to the koga ninja clan but is trying to keep the art alive by passing on the information we do have about the style. Ronald is known as the father of american ninjutsu.
The Koga and Iga schools come from different clans, but their teachings are quite similar. It is interesting to note the differences of philosophies of the head masters. Duncan is incredibly proficient at the physical aspects of ninjitsu and doesn't give much focus to the "spiritual" or mystical side of the art. Hatsumi on the other hand has an amazing grasp of the physical concepts, but also incorporates a lot of the spiritual side of the art. For example, using hand signs at the beginning and the end of classes to bless and protect, also to receive the 5th dan black belt level you must be able to avoid a sword cut from behind while not using any of the 5 senses. For any Naruto fans, I would compare Master Hatsumi to the 3rd Hokage and Master Duncan I would compare to Guy Sensei(not as flamboyant) mixed with Ten-ten.
#6
Supreme Grandmaster Ashida Kim
Here is another one of our Martial art phonies. Most of my family and friends have heard me rant about this guy at one time or another. This fella's given name was Radford W. Davis born sometime in 1948. At some point in his life he changes his name to Ashida Kim. I'm not sure if it his legal name now or if it's just a psuedoname. Master kim gives no lineage or instructor, only "shendai" and I have no idea what that means. He founded the "Black Dragon Fighting Society" at some point(it's amazing how little info/dates there is on this guy) and began Writing books in the 70's and 80's. He was able to capitalize on the "ninja" craze of the time publishing around a dozen books(more like pamphlets accounting for size and useful information) on ninja techniques under the name Ashida Kim and Chris Hunter. He has made quite a few videos as well containing "ninja secrets". Both the books and tapes are very expensive, but are full of goofy techniques and weird segments of his philosophy. He has been exposed as a fraud time and time again, but for some reason still has a following.
While watching these clips remember that this man is serious and is not joking around. These are just a glimpse of the awesomeness to be found in his own published videos.
I love this one. He claims to actually be able levitate and performs it for us!!
Ninjas have been a interesting and wildly exaggerated group of people in there own time and in ours. Much of what a ninja does is based on deception which plays into all the crazy stories and feats they have been said to perform. Rather than focus on myths and possibilities I am just going to touch a little on these men's lives and how they got to where they are.
#4
Master Masaaki Hatsumi
He was born in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan on December 2, 1931. He was first introduced to the martial arts by his father at age 9 learning kendo. Later on he studied judo, aikido, karate and many other styles of martial arts. From 1957 to 1972 he trained under Takamatsu Toshitsugu head of the Iga ninja style. He would have to travel 15 hours one direction to train with his instructor, because of where each of them lived. When Takamatsu died in 1972, Hatsumi then inherited the autority and position of "Soke" or headmaster of their nine disciplines of ninjutsu. In the late 1970's he founded the bujinkan dojo in honor of his teacher Takamatsu and still oversees instruction there today.
Click to view#5
Master Ronald Duncan
Duncan was born in Panama and began his study of martial arts with boxing at the age of seven. He grew up near where the military trained for jungle warfare. He later served in the U.S. Marine Corps and earned his first black-belt as a part of their judo team. After his time in the military he earned black belts in many different arts including shinobino-jutsu(better known as ninjutsu). He has taught Navy SEALs, special forces and law inforcement agencies for many different countries. He is the head of the Koga Ryu Ninjutus Society and teaches from the writtings of the last head of the Koga ninja clan Seiko Fujita who died without leaving a successor. He claims no direct lineage to the koga ninja clan but is trying to keep the art alive by passing on the information we do have about the style. Ronald is known as the father of american ninjutsu.
The Koga and Iga schools come from different clans, but their teachings are quite similar. It is interesting to note the differences of philosophies of the head masters. Duncan is incredibly proficient at the physical aspects of ninjitsu and doesn't give much focus to the "spiritual" or mystical side of the art. Hatsumi on the other hand has an amazing grasp of the physical concepts, but also incorporates a lot of the spiritual side of the art. For example, using hand signs at the beginning and the end of classes to bless and protect, also to receive the 5th dan black belt level you must be able to avoid a sword cut from behind while not using any of the 5 senses. For any Naruto fans, I would compare Master Hatsumi to the 3rd Hokage and Master Duncan I would compare to Guy Sensei(not as flamboyant) mixed with Ten-ten.
#6
Supreme Grandmaster Ashida Kim
Here is another one of our Martial art phonies. Most of my family and friends have heard me rant about this guy at one time or another. This fella's given name was Radford W. Davis born sometime in 1948. At some point in his life he changes his name to Ashida Kim. I'm not sure if it his legal name now or if it's just a psuedoname. Master kim gives no lineage or instructor, only "shendai" and I have no idea what that means. He founded the "Black Dragon Fighting Society" at some point(it's amazing how little info/dates there is on this guy) and began Writing books in the 70's and 80's. He was able to capitalize on the "ninja" craze of the time publishing around a dozen books(more like pamphlets accounting for size and useful information) on ninja techniques under the name Ashida Kim and Chris Hunter. He has made quite a few videos as well containing "ninja secrets". Both the books and tapes are very expensive, but are full of goofy techniques and weird segments of his philosophy. He has been exposed as a fraud time and time again, but for some reason still has a following.
While watching these clips remember that this man is serious and is not joking around. These are just a glimpse of the awesomeness to be found in his own published videos.
I love this one. He claims to actually be able levitate and performs it for us!!