Check out members of Shinobi Martial Arts doing demonstrations at SKH Quest Fall Festival 2009.
Archive for ◊ October, 2009 ◊
• Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Let’s be frank, many people consider the martial arts as something just for kids. An after school activity to keep them occupied for an hour and maybe teach them some discipline. What happened? How did something designed to teach concepts of survival against all odds along with personal development skills to improve your life turn into a plastic trophy and colored belts.
As an industry we sold out.
I understand the economics of staying in business, the rent, utilities, insurance and so forth. I run a martial arts business with my partners and expect to be paid for the service we provide. I’m not one of those people who say that martial arts should be passed on for free because of some mythical code. But have some integrity.
We met an eight year old child at an elementary school in our area where we were doing a demonstration. The child had been training at another martial arts school for three years. The child was a black belt. An EIGHT year old child…
What does that child know about self-defense? Nothing. That child has been ripped off and lied to.
A black belt used to, is supposed to and in a few places does mean that you have learned and internalized the basic concepts of your system and are now ready to learn the art as an advanced practitioner. It’s supposed to be a recognition of the time and work you put in to your training not a toy you buy for an eight year old child.
Parents if you’re looking at martial arts schools and they tell you your five year old child will be a black belt in three years if you just sign this contract…GET OUT!
There are still schools that are teaching the martial arts and not just selling belts. Confidence, safety, courage, better health, improved coordination, concentration and focus are some of the benefits awaiting you and your child at a real martial arts school.
Category: Martial Arts, Teaching
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• Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
A couple of years ago while in Japan at a training session, one of the Japanese Shihan demonstrated a technique. It involved a unique alignment to take the attacker’s balance as they punched. My training partner and I were working on what he showed and next to us was one of our friends who was working with someone we didn’t know. As our friend punched in the guy went into some crazy movement from a bad martial arts movie. This continued throughout the training session.
Finally our friend asked him why he wasn’t working on what the instructor was demonstrating. He said that as a martial artist he was trying to capture the feeling of what the instructor was teaching and then do his variation of it. Sounds good but watching his skills it was bull. What people like this call “variation” I call lazy. They don’t want to put in the work to try to figure out the principles behind what is being shown. There’s a lot of people who want to be musical artists but one episode of American Idol will show that most haven’t put in the time or effort to become one.
To become a martial artist I believe you first have to be a martial scientist. To me an artist is someone who understands a subject so well that they can create (not copy) based on the principles of that subject. A scientist is someone who works to understand to discover the cause and effect principles that make up a subject. It is that constant searching for understanding that changes you and helps you become an artist.
If you try to be a musical artist before doing the work the only danger you risk is that Simon won’t be nice to you. If you try to be a martial artist before doing the work you can get killed. So slow down study, experiment and learn like a scientist the principles that make up the martial arts. When you do you put yourself on the path to become a martial artist.
Category: Martial Arts, Ninjutsu
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• Monday, October 19th, 2009
Ninja Night Warriors, Stephen K. Hayes’ very first video is back and on sale. If you’re interested in seeing what training looked like more than twenty years ago pick up this classic video.
Ninja Night Warriors Preview (Requires Adobe Flash)
Category: Announcements, Friends, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu
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• Thursday, October 15th, 2009
How do you become a martial arts master?
Attrition.
You keep training long enough until everyone else you started with quits.
Seriously, the term master, like most other titles in martial arts today, has been so over used that it means almost nothing. It has become customary in the martial arts to refer to anyone who has a fifth degree black belt or higher as a master. The problem with this is there is no standard for belts among the different martial arts. There often isn’t a standard within a single martial art. So the term gets used without regard to actual skill.
Because so many schools are now hybrid systems with no person or organization at the top many instructors promote students up to one level below themselves. I’ve seen deals made where they say I’ll promote you to fifth dan if you host this seminar, or join this organization. One guy promoted himself because he said (in his marketing!) that his students felt he should be a master.
Some of these people want you to call them Master (insert last name here) when speaking to them. I know of a training group that is made up of three or four fifth dans and above. They address each other by Master (insert last name here) all the time, even on the phone. I hold rank above fifth dan…if you call me at the school, ask for Dennis.
So what is a Martial Arts Master? For me it is people that have been training so long and have become so skilled that they become the art. Dr. Hatsumi is the Bujinkan. He is a true martial arts master. Mr. Hayes has reached the level of martial arts master. Outside of ninjutsu I think about people like the late Remy Presas. These are all masters who have not only taken in all there was to be learned from their systems but given back to them and improved them. To me this is how you become a martial arts master.
Category: Friends, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu
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• Thursday, October 08th, 2009
Darryl and Theresa with Me, Mark and Ken
It was 11:30 pm Friday night when the test started. We had been training at this year’s New England Warrior Camp since five that afternoon. The four black belt applicants were lined up with bokken (wooden swords) told to stand in Dai Jodan no Kamae with very bent knees and cut five-hundred times. That was the start.
New England Warrior Camp, for those of you who have never been, is a non-stop training event put on every year (for twelve years now) by Ken Savage. Training starts Friday afternoon goes late into the night then starts up at 7:30 am Saturday and continues through to Sunday evening. It is quite simply some of the best ninjutsu training available and participants usually leave very happy but exhausted.
During the breaks the four black belt applicants tested. Their final session, after night stealth training, ended close to 2 am Sunday morning. The test had taken over twenty-four hours. The four all passed. It was a demonstration of power of will and perseverance. I congratulate all my friends, Brian and Bianca from Boston Martial Arts and my partners at Shinobi Martial Arts, Darryl and Theresa for a well deserved promotion.
What is even more impressive about this group is that they accomplished this in their very busy lives over a long period of time. This took years to accomplish, more than nine in one case, but they never quit, they kept training. They weren’t in it for the belt not after that long. Many people today are in a rush to get a “Black Belt”. To collect another ego boost. These four showed it can be about the training. That perseverance does pay off all in good time. Awesome job all of you.
Category: Events, Friends, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu
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