Greetings everyone. First time posting in this area. I wanted to ask a few questions for the ninjutsu crowd. I realize this might be better for another forum but as I am new I have yet to gain access. In the Ninjutsu resource forum for finding a dojo, on the first page, SHHHH had a listing of all the Florida Dojos for the art. The link is dead being that it was from 2004. This seems to be a trend as I have started researching locations for training in South Florida. The Ninjutsu schools in my area, South Floida, as far as I can tell are all Bujinkan and seem to be made up of several small individual schools. Teachers in the area are Juan Hernandez, Luis Acosta(student of Juan Hernandez), Palm Beach Bujinkan Dojo with Shidoshi Paul Fisher, his student at Palm Beach Bujinkan Dojo Pembroke Pines- Instructor Alex Valhuerdi, Shinobi Bujinkan Dojo -Shihan Robert Hamilton, 15th Dan, Leopoldo Rodriguez Shidoshi at Bujinkan Satoru Dojo Miami, and Bujinkan Miami Dojo Instructor:Felix Diaz, 14th Dan. I have had a wide range of success of actually contacting and finding websites for some of about half of these teachers. Would anyone be able to shed any light on some of these teachers and share some experiences? Are there any other teachers and or places that someone could suggest? I am willing to travel if it means finding the "right" teacher, whatever that might mean. Thanks again!
Hi Selonimes, Are you willing to travel to Orlando for good training? There are other students from Miami area who travel up to Orlando.
Personally I don't have any direct experiences with any of those teachers; however my advice is to go and take several classes with different schools/teachers. Also I'm assuming you are new to the Bujinkan (the organization) and to training in the art (budo taijutsu)? If you are brand new, my advice is to do your homework which it appears you are attempting to do and to take everything people say including myself with a grain of salt. Lastly, as far as what the "right" teacher may ultimately mean, please don't take this the wrong way; however IMO if you are new to martial arts you may have a difficult time identifying it in the beginning and most likely your expectations will change over time. Find a teacher and group of students you like and have fun Good luck P.S. Oh and if you are interested in "ninjutsu" or better yet traditional japanese martial arts please don't rule out Jinenkan or Genbukan schools too.
Myself...And for those who end up becoming serious enough about the training, one of my teachers, the US Head Instructor Chad Tabimina. http://tabiminabalintawak.com/
I dont know what Takamatsuden is. The OP said hes willing to travel to find the right teacher. If he wants good training in Orlando, its available...
See the pattern? The OP is after something rather specific and while I'd imagine you run a good school etc I think your initial post had the potential to be confusing as it turns out it wasn't related to the subject matter. "Good training" is relative in some ways so it probably pays to be clear.
Obviously. But the OP seems to be having some trouble contacting people and said he was willing to travel. Im just offering the guy some alternatives, no need to have an attitude... I thought I was pretty clear when I posted the website. Perhaps you should have checked that out before posting. Im really not interested in arguing about it though, sorry for trying to help out.
No attitude at all. I'm simply pointing something out that's all, your first post wasn't clear and there was no link in it to check out.
I am not locked into one school such as only Bujinkan, it is just that the ones listed are all I have been able to locate in this area. Granted after reading a smaller section regarding the different schools, I probably would have no idea what the main differences are, and will leave that to other people to debate. Unfortunately traveling to Orlando I think is not an option on a weekly basis. Although there could be fantastic training there how many times a week would I realistically be able to train? More than likely just on the weekends. I would not rule it our however I would think that consistency may yield more in the long run. (This is my own experience speaking in my own profession.) If I travel once a week and train for four hours, is that going to yield more than if I train four hours a week over four days? I am also not familiar with Tabimina Style, which I assume is something different than Ninjutsu? The only realistic travel option would be Naples FL, if at all. Once again though it would have to be a unique situation in order to warrant such traveling.
selonimes, Correct, Tabimina style is not related to Ninjitsu at all. Im only in Orlando 3 times a year and train intensively for a full week while Im there (eventually you may have access to the US Head Instructor if you end up training in the system for a while). You really have to experience the training to understand how the progression is--training is all 1-1, no classes. If you decide youd like to come up to Orlando, let me know and I can see about doing a free intro session for you; it would be worth your while to check it out...
He's one of the most senior instructors for the Genbukan in the US. From reputation, a serious amount of quality is found there....
I am going to contact him and talk with him. My main thing is finding a teacher that can communicate the information to me in such a way that I understand it and can truly learn. I don't know enough about the art to truly wonder what the differences are between schools.
Well, the problem is that you don't know what the information is, and if it is correct or not. But you probably never will anyway, you will just gravitate towards what fits your needs. So the best thing you can do is visit every person mentioned on this thread and consider what you took from each class, and if it adds value to you. Everyone is different, so what you consider value will also change, but for me I get value from attending something that highlights areas of my thought or movement that I haven't given proper consideration to in the past, that therefore requires attention and refinement to learn. If that 'feeling' was present in a class it would be a winner for me. As you mature you may find that class B which you thought wasn't right for you at the time, is where you want to be now as it is something that can offer more than you thought you wanted. You should continue to explore this throughout your training, whilst being aware of the connection between yourself and your teacher so as to show appreciation for the time and effort they invested in you.
Maybe what I should be asking is what I should look for. From what I have read the Genbukan has a much more systematic approach to how material is presented, and Bujinkan is more organic. Gary Giamboi mentioned as such that in Genbukan if you went to another club and said I have worked on ABC then the instructor would know where you are in training. I am not sure how that applies to the learning process but I seem to get more structure oriented. The division within Gebukan, Ninpo then Jujitsu is a little hard to understand as they both have their own rankings and style, yet would it be safe to say that you could consider it a different form that makes up a whole? Anyway the class was well thought out and presented in a way that as a newb I could understand. I will be working with Paul Fisher and Juan Hernandez Thursday and Friday to see how they teach.
Does anyone have any information regarding these teachers? Shinobi Bujinkan Dojo -Shihan Robert Hamilton, 15th Dan, Leopoldo Rodriguez Shidoshi at Bujinkan Satoru Dojo Miami Bujinkan Miami Dojo Instructor:Felix Diaz, 14th Dan. These are the only instructors I have not been able to reach.
