Black Belt Home Study Course

I don't know about the rest of you, but this dojo training is for the birds! Check out this website http://www.ninjutsu.com/store.shtml and click on the Black Belt Home Study Course. Why be in harmony when you can be a real ninja master??

i'm sorry, but i can't take that seriously in the least! rofl! those guys certainly have a sense of humor. i wonder how many people sent in money and expected to be ranked? lol!

John Matsushima wrote: I don't know about the rest of you, but this dojo training is for the birds! Check out this website http://www.ninjutsu.com/store.shtml and click on the Black Belt Home Study Course. Why be in harmony when you can be a real ninja master??

Ah, yes! Master the art of invisibility!

Contemplate the secret teachings!

Master the hidden knowledge!

All imparted to you in ten DVD's of a flat black screen . . .



{It is a secret, after all, and a hidden one at that.]


Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck!

"Don't get roped into those long, complex training systems that promise Black Belt (BB) ranking after watching a whole 10 hours of video and costs $379.

Order one of these http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp...egory_rn=13929
for $13 and go kick some ass."

Heck, you can go to nidan in Aikido by mail order. They did have it up to 5th dan until I bitched at them about what a crock that was. The owner of the site said it was not an authorized program. They'll probably cool their jets a while and then reintroduce it. You can still go to nidan though. Just mail in your tests on video.

Here's the website where they had both the course to nidan and the course the godan. Apparently, they have pulled both off although I have not checked on e-bay to see if it is still there:

http://www.blackbeltinyou.com/

Here's a couple for the nidan program: the last one I think was on e-bay. The main site does not have them linked anymore. I should have kept the master course one.

http://www.blackbeltinyou.com/id17.html

http://www.sflivingwage.org/Aikido-B...c79780,ur.html

Pretty pathetic. I could not even find anything about the guy who developed them. I don't know if he even holds aikido rank of any kind.

Hi, just a couple of notes

The guy at the ninja website is apparently a current student of Masaaki Hatsumi. I don`t know if Hatsumi Sensei is aware that his student is offering distance learning or not, but many people consider him to a very special budo teacher.

The testing at the aikido website is through nikyu. After that it says that testing must be done in person. There seems to be two issues here. One is the authority of the tester. This comes down to who has the "right" to call what they do "Aikido." It is my understanding that there many dojo in the US that are independant and are presumably giving rank. Some of them participate regularly on this website.

The second issue is the validity of learning and testing through video. I haven`t personally made up my mind about learning via video. As far as testing by video, I have this comment. There are many dojo in the US that have recently (the past ten years?) that have joined one of the major org.s that are headed by Japanese shihan. The shihan tests people at seminars, people whom he has never physically touched. In all likelihood, the shihan has never touched these people`s teacher, either. The shihan sits on the side of the mat, watches tests, and then makes a decision. This could all be done with video, could it not? And this way everyone wouldn`t have to sit seiza the whole time. The shihan could grade tests in the comfort of his own home, legs up, and quaffing his favorite beverage.

Charles

Charles: yes, I noted the testing (interesting the 1st kyu is missing). The say you have to test in front of the instructors (none of whom have provided any rank anywhere in aikido). I had a e-mail conversation with "Master Williams" on the 5th dan one which he pulled from the site. He claims no rank in Aikido yet you mayhave to test in front of him. He only claims aiki-jitsu rank. Also, if you note the following: "special situations or circumstaces will be considered if you are unable to test in person at the Shodan or Nidan level. Prior approval required from Sensei Reser or Williams. " I wonder how easy it is to get the exception.

I guess that means you might want to video tape something.

I feel you can learn a lot from video or tapes if and only if you have a basic foundation. But to go from no experience and expect to learn from a video it is highly improbable someone can learn something they cannot feel or practice with guidance. They might be able to mimic the physical movements if they are a gifted athlete.

Apparently, Reser put the 5th dan one on the ebay without permission from Williams and Williams pulled it. I cannot find anything about Reser's rank. He must be at least 7th dan if he is trying to issue a 5th dan.

The whole set up in my opinion was seriously questionable.