The Ninjas Toe | Wednesday, November 23, 2005 |
Gillian and I went to check out a martial arts class tonight.
The guy who runs the class normally is in the the UK this week giving seminars so we rocked up to a very small class of people to watch for a while. Apart from a brief chat with one of the seniors while they were still stretching, that was pretty much it until the intermission (an hour later) which gave Gillian the fidgets and so she wandered off prior to this, so missed the useful chat that I had with everyone (as I said, it was a small class). Also, there were no females, so it's less appealing to her from that perspective too.
Bujinkan is a strange beast - it's not that popular, is very unstructured, leaving lots of room for personal interpretation, has almost no concept of grading (white, green, black - and green is given at arbitrary times rather than following a specific test as in other arts), doesn't compete, and is the only martial art that I've seen that teaches weapons use from day 1.
Given that it forms a central part of what is called Ninjutsu (yes, those guys with the black masks and the invisibility powers - though you've got to go for at least a month before they'll teach you that), that's understandable, and over the nearly 1000 years that people have been doing it, weapons, both using, and the fear of, were a way of life for a great many practioners. Nevertheless, it's interesting to watch someone teach a technique that isn't so much about disarming someone with a knife, as gutting them with your own. Some of this has little or no practical use these days (as mostly I leave my short swords at home if I'm just heading to the office), but I've seen several ways to deflect a kick, and permanently hobble the guy through cutting his achilies tonight.
Having said that, many of the knife things I saw tonight used the handle or the ridge of the blade to apply pressure or act as a lever rather than the business ends, so they could be applied to a small umberella, a torch or other such object I suppose. Historically, I believe that trained females used fans with iron not wooden supporting segments.
Will I go? I think so. I've had a bit of an interest in the subject since I picked up a book for about 20p on a bookstall in Instow whilst on holiday with the family (so not just as a result of those dreadful films I watched as a teenager), but there are a few instructors in town so I may have a look at the others. This class also runs in Chatswood which is real close to work, but I gather that it may be closing becuase of low attendance and that the 'big' class (in the region of 20-30 students) is in Parramatta, which is probably too far to travel without a car, and not exactly round the block with. Also, if we move north in a couple of months, then this may not be the best choice location-wise.
The guy who runs the class normally is in the the UK this week giving seminars so we rocked up to a very small class of people to watch for a while. Apart from a brief chat with one of the seniors while they were still stretching, that was pretty much it until the intermission (an hour later) which gave Gillian the fidgets and so she wandered off prior to this, so missed the useful chat that I had with everyone (as I said, it was a small class). Also, there were no females, so it's less appealing to her from that perspective too.
Bujinkan is a strange beast - it's not that popular, is very unstructured, leaving lots of room for personal interpretation, has almost no concept of grading (white, green, black - and green is given at arbitrary times rather than following a specific test as in other arts), doesn't compete, and is the only martial art that I've seen that teaches weapons use from day 1.
Given that it forms a central part of what is called Ninjutsu (yes, those guys with the black masks and the invisibility powers - though you've got to go for at least a month before they'll teach you that), that's understandable, and over the nearly 1000 years that people have been doing it, weapons, both using, and the fear of, were a way of life for a great many practioners. Nevertheless, it's interesting to watch someone teach a technique that isn't so much about disarming someone with a knife, as gutting them with your own. Some of this has little or no practical use these days (as mostly I leave my short swords at home if I'm just heading to the office), but I've seen several ways to deflect a kick, and permanently hobble the guy through cutting his achilies tonight.
Having said that, many of the knife things I saw tonight used the handle or the ridge of the blade to apply pressure or act as a lever rather than the business ends, so they could be applied to a small umberella, a torch or other such object I suppose. Historically, I believe that trained females used fans with iron not wooden supporting segments.
Will I go? I think so. I've had a bit of an interest in the subject since I picked up a book for about 20p on a bookstall in Instow whilst on holiday with the family (so not just as a result of those dreadful films I watched as a teenager), but there are a few instructors in town so I may have a look at the others. This class also runs in Chatswood which is real close to work, but I gather that it may be closing becuase of low attendance and that the 'big' class (in the region of 20-30 students) is in Parramatta, which is probably too far to travel without a car, and not exactly round the block with. Also, if we move north in a couple of months, then this may not be the best choice location-wise.
