Ninjutsu- Dead or Alive?

It's still practiced by the Bujinkan(Hatsumi), Genbukan, and a few other offshoots. Pretty much anything else that isn't an offshoot of Bujinkan with Hatsumi's blessing is bs because the real stuff all comes from Togakure-ryû and Hatsumi is the 34th heir of that lineage. A lot of the schools claiming to be ninjitsu, unfortunately are BS. I had the "pleasure" of meeting Frank Dux a few times and seen the Dux ryu "ninjitsu" in action firsthand...
So yes, Ninjitsu is still very much alive and not dead but you probably won't see too many Ninjitsu fighters in MMA or anything because in all honesty if it's used for what it's intended for it would be to kill.
Another interesting thing about Ninjitsu, the Bujinkan, for instance goes all the way up to 15th dan..so yes, there are quite a few 10th to 12th dan Bujinkan instructors....
I would also not pay to train with anybody that's not at least a Godan/5th dan in Bujinkan.
Off the top of my head a few fake Ninjitsu styles are Konigun and Dux Ryu. Any DRN people out there that want to squabble, go for it, I know of much of your bs first hand.

and leonardo, donatello, michaelangelo and raphael educated me on the healing properties of pizza :wink:

NINJA VANISH!!!

lol
thats some good stuff right there

heh exactly Tank. The thing that has likely pushed the mass popularity of this art form to appearing extinct is that people only remember the wannabes that talk big saying they're experts in it and the real " " ninjas (agent what have you) so to speak obviously wouldn't talk about it.

would u care to share some of those submissions wit us? :D

Here go to this webpage, and it shows a huge list of various grappling techniques

http://www.bda-ninpo.com/html_english/basics_taijutsu.html#jime

Although, at one time or another, Ninjitsu probably did exist but what is taught now is more or left "recreationism". For those who don't know what the hell that means, it's basically a "recreated" art form. Just like you have those trying to recreate dead arts like the ones knights used back in the day, the same applies true for Ninjitsu.

For example, if say Judo, was to die out for whatever reason. Lets say I find some book or information about Judo. I try to recreate it. I may have varying success depending on how much effort that was put into it. I can even call it Judo. The fact is, it's a recreation of Judo and not Judo as it was created and passed down because I didn't learn it that way, I "recreated" the moves. Mind you, that doesn't make is any less effective, it's just not what it used to be. The same can be said about Ninjitsu.

Now the ideas of Ninjitsu are all around us. What the special forces, spies, etc do is similar to what's been documented that Ninjas did in their time. The methods are different.

As for the Bujinkan, well, red this:

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35175&page=1&pp=15

I was going to say somethign along the same lines...but you seem to have beaten me to it powerofone. :wink:

Now I'm a Bujinkan student myself, and only know a little of Genbukan so I won't go into the "only the hardcore take this" feces. As it is an offshoot I really can't see it being that different, but honestly that would depend a lot on the sensei. Either way with the ammount of bruises I've left classes with there is no way I would call Bujinkan ninjutsu "flowery" :roll:. [/rant]

Either way. Richjitsu, yes there are people who practice ninjutsu. But as other people on here have already stated, there are also a ton of bul**** artists, so beware if you are looking for a school. There are a few good books if you're looking for information. I'd suggest anything by Soke Massaki Hatsumi (current grandmaster of the Bujinkan) or Stephen Hayes (easier to get most likley) or Shoto Tanemura (not too sure as I have never read anything...not even sure if he has written anything...but at least he's legit) but steer clear of anything by Ashida Kim (who can apparently fly and turn invisible at will) or anything proclaiming the greatness of Frank Dux (there is large debate about his claimed accomplishments of which I will not get into...check e-budo.com if you want more on that).
:wink:

Stephen K. Hayes, a long time Bujinkan ambassador, was, in effect, kicked out of the Bujinkan for making the art more modern (e.g. To Shin Do).

I used to train in Robert Bussey's style, and am an instructor in the offshoot of his style.

I think that traditional Ninjustsu, while highly effective against an aggressive attacker, would not fare so well in MMA.

Any "art" that frowns on sparring, or where you would hear: "these techniques are too dangerous to spar with" is not to practical in a structured competition.

Now if you were allowed to kick the nuts, throw dirt in the eyes, and do all of the "illegal" stuff, it might be another matter....

I dunno, I personally know around 30+ people that train in anything from Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinnenkan, and Dux Ryu "ninjitsu"(even Frank Dux himself). The two Bujinkan people I have trained with the most were pretty hardcore in Bujinkan, doing seminars under Hatsumi and receiving there Dan rankings from him.
A lot of controversy surrounds even the most traditional Ninjitsu; hell, Tanemura is Hatsumi's cousin and went his own route..I wonder why.