Customer Reviews

Nindo Ryu Gendai Ninjutsu - Introduction to the Modern Art of Perseverance

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

HUH? Get me killed? How? Simple. If you are the kinda person who might try a technique you see in a book you could end up getting shot. The disarms in this book are shabby at best. The art itself has a strong backing in karate, aikido, jujustsu and other arts. But no backing whatsoever in Ninjutsu. Is this book a good martial arts book? Possibly...is it Ninjutsu? Absolutely not.

The Nindo ryu tries to present itself as a modern art of self defense, but the cover of their book has the author cutting down someone from behind with a sword, neither very modern nor within most people's definition of self defense. Incredibly, the book goes downhill from there. Most people buying this book will do so because it has the words "ninjutsu" as part of the title. But once you get inside and start reading the author's background you soon find that there is no mention of training in ninjutsu, nor of any associations with the teacher's of ninjutsu in Japan or their American representatives. You eventually find (after you buy the book) that 'gendai' means 'modern' and the Nindo-ryu teaches an 'interpretation' of what they think the ninja did. But with no background in the art, how are they to know? It is fairly obvious that they use of the term ninjutsu is a ploy to get people to buy this book and there is no other relation. I have seen ninjutsu in Japan, and this is not it. The best word for this is bad kenpo karate in black suits. There is no description of stealth training, and when the author's pick up traditional Japanese weaponry they do not even know how to hold them in some cases. If you want self defense this book is worse than useless, it is downright dangerous. Criminally stupid. To give but one example, they give two techniques to try to disarm a person with a gun. Unless the person holding the gun is terminally stupid and slow as a glacier the techniques will only result in the person getting shot. Worse, nowhere do they make the simple statement that one should not go after a person holding a gun unless they are certain that they have no other option. I am afraid they may actually encourage some youngster (which seems to be the target audience) to try these things when the correct response is to give the mugger the wallet he demands. Whole volumes have been written about disarming someone in the gravest extreme, but all this book gives is two very bad examples. This is fairly common of everything they present as their art in this book. It is designed not for it's effectiveness, but rather in it's 'coolness' with a mind towards attracting people who know nothing of the martial arts and think that what they see in movies and such is realistic. People who do not know anything about real fighting may think this is effective stuff and that is what scares me. Some people may come away from this book thinking they know something and trying something that will not work against an attacker that has half a brain. There is some reference to things like the five element theory, an obvious rip off of Steven Hayes' interpretation of Togakure ryu. But unlike Hayes, Febres does not have the experience or background to to it effectively. His "earth" response to a knife attack, where you essentially stand your ground, sounds good to people who watch too many movies. But anyone who has faced a real knife can tell you that you better move out of the way of it instead of trying to be an unmovable mountain like they preach. The history they try to present is laughable and obviously designed to make what they do sound more like what they do in Japan rather than an objective and realistic look at the subject by a pair of people who have no knowledge of Japanese language or history. The technical side of the book is also the pits, with the outside shots looking like they were taken from 100 feet away and the inside shots all being in dim lighting and against a dark background by people wearing black uniforms. They also could have cropped the photos down and blown up the action so that people could see details more easily. Or they could have put less than eight of such pictures per tiny page. It is hard to tell what they are doing, which considering the lack of competence they show is probably a good thing.

Well, well, well, looky looky here -- looky what we got here. Yet another "Ninja" book by self-styled ninja who love dressing up in black and doing it there way. Great. First of all, the cover "art" (?) is one of the most highly ridiculous bits of "Movie assassination" techniques available. If the authors knew even the slightest bit about *actual* silent killing of enemy combatants -- or they'd taken the time to watch any of the horrific, gruesome images of kidnapped hostages having their throats cut in Iraq and Saudi -- they would immediately realize how utterly nonsensical the "throat slitting" image is. I leave it to them to figure out why, exactly, anyone interested in stealth -- that is, in not being caught, and in actually *completing* an infiltration/operation -- would NEVER actually "slit someone's throat" that way. If the idea is to show a technique guaranteed to alert opposing forces to your presence, then the cover art is juuuuust fine. While the paper stock and pictures leave something to be desired, the whole reasoning behind their claim to represent or be "ninjutsu" is questionable in the least, dubious at best. While the various posts defending their reasoning -- that "the timeless ideals of stealth, of inner strength, and of effective combat" (or whatever) -- are, uh, "timeless", this argument is a Logical Fallacy.

That is, this is NOT NINJUTSU. NO AMERICAN ART, DEVELOPED BY AMERICANS, IS.

Would it be proper to say, perhaps, "Well, although I was not BORN a Jew, I'm not DESCENDED from anyone Jewish, and I've never MARRIED a Jew -- and in fact, I can honestly say I've never even MET a Jew -- I AM going to start 'my own version' of Judaism, and attract other worshippers to my 'New Jewish Synagogue'. After all -- the timeless ideals of honoring ones parents, not coveting thy neighbor's wife or cattle, and not stealing are universal. And we all get to wear those cool beanies on our heads and grow beards!!!"

Would you call this "Judaism"? If I decide to cross out the "Pontiac" moniker on my car, slap on a coffee can muffler, and write "HONDA" over the Pontiac emblem with a magic marker, thus "interpreting" what I considered the "ideals" of "What makes a Honda", would my car suddenly become a Honda? What do you think a pack of ricers would say when I rolled up in my "Modern Honda"?

Furthermore, the story by the student of the author is patently ridiculous -- spurious at best. The story of a Bujinkan instructor travelling "hundreds of miles" for the challenge is typical of any number of "Martials Arts Tall Tales" and then "almost peeing his pants" -- a real classic. I've heard this same story dozens of times by other martial artists. Usually, what happens is a group of students from a "rival dojo/dojang/training hall/seminary/D&D Gaming Group" come a-lookin' for a rumble. They all file in and take a seat. When they arrive, the students of the "Home Dojo" train in such a bloody, violent fashion the "Visitors" decide to slink away, tails between their (Presumeably shamed) legs. A real classic in Martial Arts Folklore, this tale never takes into account the fact that the Bujinkan instructor may have, instead of being scared, seen the level of the students and thought, "Holy crap! I might actually HURT these poor kids!" One might also be made aware that, if the "training" in this dojo is really so "tough", the Sensei (who seems to find pleasure in broadcasting his / their intent to engage in violent conflict) in this dojo should be referred to the proper authorities.

Furthermore, the techniques within, while purporting to be an introduction, beg the question, "Introduction to What?" The handgun techniques, from a Federal Law Enforcement perspective (I wonder if they'd visited the Academy in Maryland any time in the recent past?), would 100% guarantee the student shown in the photos - not the aggressor -- would be shot dead, or at least pistol-whipped into submission. The authors seem to have completely overlooked the use of handguns as bludgeons, choking (shime-waza) tools, and pressure-point manipulators -- all used without discharging a round, and using the top strap, bottom strap, etc. of the firearm for effective action against an opponent. Furthermore, the techniques (?) shown have "holes" in them that completely overlook the effectiveness of simply discharging a round *near* an opponent. I'd hazard very few of the students of the dojo possess much range time, let alone a few days hard training in Combative Shotgun or Combative Pistol at Thunder Ranch (look this up if you're not familiar).

That being said, this is a great book if one is looking for a solid foundation in a vaguely generalized blend of Karate-do, Aikijutsu, Hapkido, and even some pseudo-ninjutsu type techniques. The lack of esoteric techniques is nothing new; plenty of modern martial arts don't incorporate these techniques (who's going to pay money to sit and breathe while moving energy around the microcosmic orbit, anyway?). Furthermore, the discerning reader might ask, if the book contains little (?) reference to the Internal Arts (reference the previous reviewer's mention of Bagua zhang), maybe it doesn't mean the authors wanted to "concentrate on the physical", but instead that they simply, well, don't know any Internal techniques. Heck, even people in the very *technical* (e.g. Directorate of Operations) aspects of our Intelligence Community receive rudimentary training in "sixth sense development" (that is, the Development and Cultivation of Intuitive Knowledge as Modifiers to Solutions Generation). If our HUMINT does even in this high-tech world, why wouldn't these martial artists? Perhaps it's too much trouble. Then again, perhaps their getting grounded in the Earth represents their attempt at incorporating some kind of esoteric aspects.

However, if you do attempt to use these techniques, just pray to whatever god you worship you don't actually encounter a trained professional willing to introduce you to that god.

Haynes and Febres have done a wonderful job of explain universal martial concepts and their application in ninjutsu. I thought the pictures could have been better. I look forward to the sequel.

We'll I think the maximum benefit of any book in this genre is to bring new revalations to practitioners of it's own art, the written material in this book is fantastic for practioners of any art. Practitioners of different styles may argue effectiveness of given techniques, but the material on distance, timing, and mind set are wonderful for practioners of any level of ability or Martial Art.

This is not your average "ninja dancing in the shadows" book. Nindo Ryu take a more "samurai" perspective on the "hows" and "whys" of ninjutsu, and its applications today. The techniques are solid and direct, and avoids the "peace and harmony" claptrap of other martial arts books. The text section, although brief, goes directly to the heart of the issues they emphasize in their art. Very clear and concise - mercifully devoid of the hand-weaving and incense burning quasi-religious stuff you're typically overrun with in other ninjutsu books. Overall, it's a good read with real (and sometimes nasty) techniques, and offers real martial arts info that any aspiring martial artist can use.

A very nicely done no-nonsense book, with good explanations and good examples. Although some of the thoery in their martial art is seems to be a copy of the old Togakure theory of the elements (and is really a modified form of Bagua), it's seems to be more a functional description of their art - rather than some form of new-age "feeling". It's obvious that Febres has a good level of mastery and a good art. Some of the pictures are too small, but the flow of the technique does not suffer because of it. The weapons technique could be more clear, but the idea definitely gets across. I'm looking forward to the next book from the newest "ninjas" on the block.

I have seen the book, but I only saw taijutsu or jujutsu in it. Just martial combat. I did not see ninjutsu per se. Ninjutsu is a composite art and it involves much more than just physical combat. The principles here are good though, but the art refered to in this book is incomplete for not saying it is not shown. So it is an introduction to a regular combat art, like jujutsu, hapkido, etc... It may have some good techniques, but it only covers the aspect of physical combat of ninjutsu, in the author's own understanding.

I have never heard of Nindo. The proper name is Ninpo. Mr. Ferbres has an excellent resume but as far as I know authentic Ninjutsu is only taught in the Bujinkan. Koga Ninjutsu is dead. Buyer Beware! When you visit a Doctor you can visibily see his credentials. I will suggest you approach martial arts in the same way. Authentic Ninpo Info on the web.

I am very disappointed with this book. All I found when I read it was page afetr page of poorly photographed and poorly executed techniques that are simply borrowed from other sport-oriented martial arts. There is nothing in it even remotely resembling ninjutsu or the unarmed combat methods commonly referred to as taijutsu. This book ranks up there with the very worst the ninja-wannabe crowd has to offer-- stay away!