The blackbelt designation is given way too much meaning and respect than it deserves. It’s been said a couple times here already, a blackbelt is a person who is ready to really learn the art. Basically, he doesn’t need to be taught the basics anymore.
An educational analogy… A blackbelt is a martial arts college graduate. Sure he knows a bunch of stuff, but nobody is going to call the average college grad an expert in anything. Heck, there are 2 levels of schooling above them that are filled with experts, and a whole workforce of people with heavy real-world experience they don’t have.
Pretty much what rimshotgdansk said on the username issue. Because it sounds cool. As I said before, the ‘karate’ thing is just a personal quibble of mine that I’m irrationally bitchy about.
DtC according to Biff only Monk #3 knows how to do the heart thing… no oneseems to be willing to volunteer to participate in the demonstration with him… so it may forever remain a mystery.
Depends on how you talk to. Best story I’ve heard is that they came from rural families not part of the samurai set or the samurai set’s serfs. They developed a fighting style all their own, along with an ethic all their own—e.g. a sword was a tool to be made inexpensively, not a high-priced status symbol. Since they couldn’t stand against the samurai on a battle field—numbers & funds, not lack of ability—they specialized in guerilla warfare. This skill set eventually made them effective spies & such.
I saw that on a Discovery Channel documentary, so it’s probably all bullshit.
"Hey, uh, Darth … we’re still a few minutes away from having a clear shot at the Rebel base. What say we warm up the ol’ planet-destroying ray? Darth? Don’t you think … GAAAAAK … please, don’t strangle me from several feet away … GAAAAAK … URK … "
Sure did.
Let me level down a notch or two for 'ya.
Guess all those brain cells you’ve not destroyed drinking beer are kinda lonely in there.
The word Ninja conjures up all kinds of connotations and sensationalistic imagry that has no basis in fact. I was surprised that someone who has attained a senior level in a martial art would associate themselves with that knowing the misconceptions people have.
That was my point.
I’ve kinda changed my outlook a little. NinjaChick can call herself whatever she pleases and indeed has managed to get 3 pages of mileage out of it , so it cant be all bad. You go , you crazy stealthy night stalking assassin for hire !
Indeed , I never suggested it , I was attempting an analogy based on what was close to hand.
Speaking of assuming too much from usernames , what about APOC makes you confident about declaring me a he ?
Is there even such a thing as a “ninja” anymore, outside of movies? Studying tae kwan do doesn’t make you a ninja, does it? It’s like asserting someone who studies kendo is a Jedi Knight.
js_africanus and GMRyujin, thank you; both posts were extremely informative, particularly GMRyujin’s link.
My Master punishes me severely if I laugh or otherwise show a lack of discipline when he has instructed me to remain in position. Anyway, what was all this about the martial arts again?
RickJay: there actually are still practitioners of ninjutsu around, with ninja-to, shuriken and the whole deal, although compared to karateka, practitioners of Tae Kwon Do, or what have you, they’re as rare as hen’s teeth. In many ways the study of the art is useful mostly for historical value, like Dave Lowry’s study of the shinkage-ryu swordsmanship used by feudal samurai lords. However, on that point a ninjutsu practitioner might disagree with me, and accordingly flip out and kill me as they are prone to do.
OK, I’ll slip stealthily from the shadows into this thread.
There were martial arts that were associated with the Japanese Ninja or Shinobi of the 13th-17th Century. Some of these martial arts were passed down through the centuries to the modern world. They are now (and arguably always have been) variants of jujitsu. Some of the ideas of what Ninjas were are simply popular characterizations from early Japanese theater. Others are based on the mountain warriors of the Iga and Koga regions of Japan.
The Bujinkan group of martial arts contains some schools (or ryu(sp?)) with quite reasonable ninja heritage. That said no one (not even the Grand Master to my knowledge) who studies the Bujinkan martial arts would consider themselves a Ninja. Offshoots of the Bujinkan exist with similar feelings that their practitioners are not Ninjas (no matter how skillful they are). Independent to this are a few very small Japanese groups with different ninja heritage that may have some authenticity, and would similarly distance themselves from calling their practitioners ninja. Completely bogus groups can be found like those connected to Ashida Kim (which are easily identified as such) which may call themselves Ninja (or Pokemon for all I or anyone else should care).
[nitpick]
Actually, it’s your weapon
[/nitpick]
[hijack]
So, do you do epee, foil or sabre? I did foil when I was at my old school but they don’t have a team here. I’ve had to answer the same kind of questions.
