I just found out about this group. It meets close to where i am. I sent an email asking to meet with them. But i'd like to hear from anyone that knows about them. Apparently the instructor is Angie Smith but they word it in an odd way so i'm not sure how they train exactly. any information you folks could give me would be appreciated
http://www.ichinendojo.com/mentors.html - Angie Smith The above reads as if she's in IL, but I guess she's in St. Louis. http://sites.google.com/site/southwestmissourishibu/ Seems pretty standard for a shibu. FYI Ken Harding is in MO. He's no longer affiliated with the BJK(left citing personal reasons), but I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about him or what he does.
I think she is one of Ed Martin's 'students'. So how much actual teachings from the ryuha that make up the Bujinkan you would learn us anyone's guess. I think they were also selling their kids training manual on eBay with stating Naguchi(sic) sensei contributed somehow.
yes I've read all that. But thank you still. and yeah i think i looked into Ken Harding before. And as much as i would love to train under him it's too far of a drive for me to afford at the moment. Not saying that'll be perminent though. No i'm simply confused about how they're training under her. Because the class is held in sprinfield missouri but she's in stlouis or illinois. Does she come for every class or just send instructions and come down to test? And i'm asking if anyone here has MET the woman. And their oppinion of her is. I would really like to hear from someone that trains at that shibu. *edit* heyseed, i just realized that you posted the information that i should have posted to start with. I really appreciate that. I'm having one of my insomnia attacks. Sleep deprivation makes you foget details lol.
I talked to a guy in Columbia on a myspace group. Seemed a nice enough guy, but pretty young. Never ended up meeting with him. I got the impression from their site that they go see her once a month and she occasionally visit's them, and they just work on what they learn when she's around. I think this might be the guy you want to contact. They have an excellent space though I'll tell you that. http://www.youtube.com/user/EpochZer0#p/u No worries!
yeah that was the impression that i got as well. And i can live with that IF they have at least a couple of students there that have been training for more than a few months, preferably more than a year. I checked that out. And their location looks great but I noticed he hasn't sighned in in 9 months. I'll still try to contact him if i can. *edit* tried to send a message but the only message i'd be able to send through that would be a private one. I doubt he would get it any time soon. But I did notice that the video was posted a year ago. At least there's a good chance that some of them have some training under them.
Mrs Smith is a judan. Shes associated with Ed Martin, that is certain. check this facebook page run by her for more info http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=81729409220 They seem to think highly of Jock Brocas as well.
AHH facebook that i have! Thank you very much. I've already sent a mesage asking about the shibu. I will find out about this place one way or another. This is the first one i've found close enough and i'm a little excited.. I really don't want to pass up the opertunity.
You know just because it's local doesn't mean it is the best choice. Do your research and keep an open mind but also a critical one, I recall a while back you found a dojo that some of us on here had a couple of concerns about, based on their website, but you didn't seem bothered because it was close. There is such a thing as bad training you know!
Yeah i do see where you're coming from. I don't expect to just go there and train. I have full intentions of finding out what i can. That's a big reason that i brought it up here. wich reminds me what is everyones oppinion on Ed Martin and Jock Brokas? And i'm still wantin opinions on Angie Smith. I'm sure her credentials are good and all. I've actually been hearing about a man teaching people ninjutsu very close to here. But i havn't bothered even looking him up because it's been made clear that he doesn't offer ranking of any kind and we all know what that screams. But if i get really bored i might borrow a camcorder and go out there for your ammusement lol. No This shibu i want to find out about. And that dojo just had teenage sons of the owner that liked showing off on cam. they are interested in training properly. But i was looking at Mr Hardings site. He's apparently available for seminars. So i'm also looking into what that would require, space, amount of people ect. I know i can gather a few people but not many. And that reminds me of an email i need to send lol thank you Dean.
One thing that stood out for me was the mention of Mrs Smith teaching self defence. I'd ask what background she has that gives her the relevant experience to do this because a 10th dan in Bujinkan does not equal self defence credentials.
Ed is Jock's instructor. There are a lot of opinions of both expressed in this thread: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93728
ok i'm still really bad with terms an ranks. I'm guessing the dans go down as you climb 5th dan being higher than 9th. And i'm guessing that a 10th dan is barely qualified to teach. am i right or wrong? If that's true then i agree with you. And no belt in MODERN/american tkd qualifies a person either. But she could have lived in hard areas that required her to put her training to good use. there's no way of knowing untill i meet her. If i meet her :/
No. The ranks actually go "up"; i.e.: 10 is higher than 5. What makes one "qualified" to teach is relative, even subjective. But it terms of rank, 5th dan and above may obtain a license to teach. Used to be that Bujinkan members followed unspoken guidelines about these things. After a practitioner had been graded to shodan( 1st degree black belt ), they would have the option of obtaining a shidoshi-ho license, meaning that they would in effect be an "apprentice teacher". This usually indicated that the practitioner was under the guidance of their teacher whom they continued to train with on a regular basis. The shidoshi-ho license meant that they could assist in teaching within their teacher's dojo, or run their own shibu. These days all that has been discarded. Many of the shidoshi-ho you will encounter have zero experience under a real teacher; they obtained their licensing from someone whom they befriended either in Japan or on the internet. This is one of the contributing factors to the decay in quality of training in general and the Bujinkan name itself. Proceed with caution. - Mark Spada
ShadowCat, No offence intended but I think you'd benefit a lot from reading the FAQs on this forum as well as the MT ninpo forum before looking into training. For one thing you'll see that if it's ninjutsu you're looking for, there's very little of it compared to the rest of the curriculum. You might also want to read up a little bit about JMA in general, such as the kyu-dan ranking system (which comes from judo) et cetera. We've all been where you are now, so I hope I can be of assistance. The point about nearest dojo is a crucially important one - the nearest dojo to me is Jock Brocas' dojo! But thanks to seniors on this forum, I was able to locate a good one that is not much further. There are a lot of people here who can offer help, so don't be shy.
I'm not offended. I have read the faq But it's hard for me to retain what i read unless i put it to use. Repitition helps too. Once i start training i intend to read it often. There's a section on terms that's helpfull. Names for rolls and such.
