Ninpo Taijutsu

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  Welcome !

  Ninpo Taijutsu Dojo has been teaching Martial Arts in Bristol since 1985

  We teach Martial Arts for self protection and self improvement.

  

  • Ninpo Taijutsu Bristol Home
• Contact

  Private Dojo E-mail or send a letter

  • Contact details
    & map

  A private Martial Arts Dojo

  

  Water Tiger Dojo, built by the Ninpo Taijutsu studentsRead more...

  

  Don't just teach, learn.... Read more...

• History

  History & Ryu Ha

  • How did Ninpo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) evolve part 1
  • How did Ninpo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) evolve part 2
  • Philosophy
  • Ninpo Taijutsu training structure

  • Gyokko Ryu Koshijutsu
  • Koto Ryu Koppojutsu
  • Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu
  • Kukishinden Ryu Happo Hikenjutsu
  • Kumogakure Ryu Ninjutsu

  • Gikan Ryu Koppojutsu
  • Shinden Ryu Dakentaijutsu
  • Gyokkushin Ryu Ninjutsu
  • Yoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu

  Martial Arts for life

  

  The beginning of Bristol Ninpo Taijutsu written by Andrew PearcyRead more...

  

  Ninpo taijutsu has evolved over many years through trial and error.Read more...

• Resources

  Lists in Boxes

  • Etiquette
  • Terminology
  • The Kneeling Posture
  • Where it all began (Search for: Iga Province)
  • The First Ninja "Hattori_Hanzo"
  • Strength training
  • How to overcome a learning platau

  • Ninpo
  • Tai-Jutsu
  • Dave Heald
  • britishbujinkan.co.uk
  • Weapons information
  • Window sticker
  • My Space

  • The begining written by Andrew Pearcy
  • Internal Energy
  • Godai
  • Abdominal Exercises
  • Grading notes
  • Current Black Belts
  • 5th Kyu basic Japanese quiz

  Ninpo Taijutsu (mind & body techniques

  

  When things go wrong return to zero, Kurai Dori "Seizing the Position" KAMAE, fall back on your Kamae.

  Masaaki Hatsumi SenseiWatch video...

• Gallery

  You must feel a technique being done to you before you can understand how to do it to some one else.

  Here are some image examples

  

  Ichimonji and the use of SHIKEN

  

  Dave Heald teaching at Bujinkan Bristol in Clifton college 1992

• Classes

  The Tora Dojo is a Private Dojo

  All classes must be booked with the Instructor

  Please e-mail explaining why you think Ninpo taijutsu is the Martial Art for you.

  

  Our classes are kept small to keep it more personal, with that in mind we don't allow the public to come in off the street and watch, all classes must be booked with the Instructor. A normal class will be one and a half hours and have a maximum of ten students.

  

  Private classes can be either one on one or two on one with the Instructor. These are held on a Sunday only at 10, 11 and 12 they are booked in advance as spaces are very limited, students from any system are welcome, please email John O'Connor.

  Ninpo Taijutsu Bristol      

How did Ninpo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu) evolve (1)

In order to understand how Ninjutsu evolved, you have to understand the Iga region of Japan. Iga as a region belonged to the Ise province. Ise being one of the central focuses in Japan's history due to the Tokaido road where most traders passed by.

Around the year 680 Iga was separated from Ise, and became a relatively isolated region. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, except on the north side close to the Koga region in the south Omi province. In this remote and unvisited area is where the Ninpo culture was developed. Both the Iga and Koga regions were located in a relatively safe place just southeast of Kyoto, the capital town of Japan and just south of the Tokaido road. So these regions played an important part to the rest of Japan and its history.

From there a general named Ikai, a refugee from China with a wide knowledge of military strategy and martial arts, brought to what is know today as the foundation of Ninpo Bugei. His knowledge gave all the opportunity for developing an independent Ryu Ha (martial arts systems). As a parenthesis it can be mentioned that in Sada (in Iga) there are places called Tojin Iwa (The Chinese rock) and Karadobuchi (The door to china's deep water) still reminding of the connection to China.

Close, just southeast of Iga at the Yoshino mountain is where one of the head leaders of the Shugendo sect was located. And in south of Iga where the Kumano Mountain is located, is another holy place to the Shugendo sect. It is very probably that these Yamabushi (wandering Mountain priests) exchanged philosophy and methods with the Iga people.

Within Iga there was a lot of other different Ryu's (traditions) with their own specialties and traditions, but the origin to all Iga Ryu are supposed to have come from Ikai who had fled to a cave at mount Takeo in the IGA region from China.

What he brought from China was in first place his knowledge of Kosshijutsu that he taught to among others Gamon Doshi (Doshi means Moralist). Gamon Doshi's and his student Garyu Doshi can be seen as foundation to most parts of the tradition of martial art that developed in and around IGA. It may also be so that Yo Gyokko brought the Kosshijutsu, and that Ikai brought the knowledge about strategy and Hicho Kakure Gata and it was those systems together that formed the foundation of the martial arts in Iga.

To continue, Garyu initiated Hakun Ryu, a school that was further developed and named by Hakun Doshi. Hachi Ryu Nyudo is another name that ought to be mentioned, because it was probably he who brought GARYU's knowledge further on to Tozawa Hakunsai, the first official grandmaster of Gyokko Ryu. Gyokko Ryu is in most cases recognized as a Kosshijutsu school, but it's also officially known as a school of Ninpo.

Hakun Ryu was transferred to Kagakure Doshi and it was Kagakure who taught the system to Nishina Daisuke. Daisuke founded Togakure Ryu, and Togakure Ryu together with Gyokko Ryu two of the oldest Ninjutsu traditions in Iga, and they have both been a great influence to most of the other schools in IGA.