I saw some questions on another internet forum that seemed to express the questions of many people who want to believe that there is some sort of secret knowledge denied to foreigners that could give us instant ability as opposed to spending years and years working towards it in hard training. I would like to answer these here and also hear the comments of others.

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There has always been the persistent rumour that there is a secret body of knowledge which is only being taught to an inner circle of Japanese instructors. I think this comes down to people wanting to believe that there is something secret that will give them an advantage over the rest of us. Well in the years I spent over there I saw nothing of the sort, we are getting exactly the same instruction as the Japanese instructors - the advantage being the same for them as the foreign students living in Japan in that they receive regular instruction from soke and the senior shihan.

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Hatsumi-sensei has never said this. Again people search for "hidden secrets" in the idea that other students of Takamatsu-sensei received some sort of secret knowledge that Hatsumi-sensei didn't. We are studying Bujinkan Dojo Budo Taijutsu which is the essence of nine schools of budo passed onto Hatsumi-sensei by Takamatsu-sensei - it's as simple as that - I think people should be more concerned with mastering what they are doing.

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As far as I'm aware no-one has seriously researched this yet. If someone does some serious research and finds a problem then I will listen but at the moment any case for or against seems to be based purely on speculation. The Koryu.com people published nothing more than a few anecdotes from each other, when confronted with the idea that some actual research be undertaken before publishing their findings they had to admit that not a single one of them was qualified to do so. Now in the same way, academically speaking, I can't "prove" that our lineage is accurate - the research simply hasn't been done by anyone. The material is all there, if anyone wants to fund a research project to prove or disprove then please do.

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Why do some people want to replace a simple and straightforward system of Kyu / Dan ranks with a complex and convoluted one of old style Menkyo? The same material still has to be covered so I just can't see the point in this. Again I think it is people thinking there is some secret knowledge involved in getting Menkyo Kaiden in a particular Ryuha.

It's hard to imagine anyone who's actually trained much in Japan asking these kinds of questions.

But since they DO come up -- I think you've addressed them very well.

Acknowledgement: Thanks Zenigata - other e-forums could benefit from your post.

As an outsider to most of higher level stuff, I still can't help getting the feeling that maybe the only thing you can ultimately rely upon is your intuition. Alot of things (martial artists, politics, girls...) scare me, but some just make me feel sick in the stomach.

PS I currently train the Bujinkan system (although to some this may be considered stretching the truth a bit...)

Zenigata:
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What I think this stems from is that in the recently re-released book "Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster", Hatsumi says that when he changed the name from Bujinkan Ninjutsu to Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu he also changed the techniques. He also stated that most everybody except for a few high-level instructors forgot the old system.

Edit/Update: Excerpt from the book:
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As for actual "Ninja Secrets", Hatsumi stated in the book that he would reveal them as needed through the natural progression of training.

Reading all this makes me a bit sad... When Soke leaves this world, how many people will be left to pass on the original ninjutsu teachings of Soke?

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How many? Enough.

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Nothing to be sad about, really, as he's giving us everything he feels it is important for us to have as a survival art for the present AND the future. Some of those original ninja teachings justaren't particularly relevant. And I think some people ARE "getting it", not all of them Japanese.

This is an interesting topic, that I have put alot of thought into over the last several weeks. I believe these "secret teachings" that are being talked about are the hensojutsu, intonjutsu, kayakujutsu, sui ren, shinobi iri, etc. Correct?

If this is the case, I doubt that many if any of the techniques taught could apply to the present as the face and techniques of warfare have evolved dramatically since then. Although the "water spider", an ancient raft like device for crossing water was highly ingenious for the time, I think that SCUBA or LAR V (rebreather), or even surface swimming would be a much more sound tactical approach for crossing water.

To clarify, I have six years experience with the US Marine Coprs' Force Reconnaissance Company. And much of the tactics and techniques are of a similar nature to what is described as a ninja's mission. Tactical insertion, patrolling to the objective, gathering intelligence, patrolling to the extraction site, and extracting. We also trained in survival techniques, first aid, hand to hand, and weapons proficiency. Other mission capabilities include Target Interdiction (sniping), Hostage Rescue, Raids, Ambushes, etc. You get the point.

In my notebook, I have it divided into the 18 areas or skills of the ancient ninja. And through personal experience or research or both, I write instructions.
Perhaps when I perfect my taijutsu and traditional weapons and complete this book, it will be my version of the 21st century densho.

Anyway, alot of these things can be learned in the military or as a friend of mine said, "from a good Scout Troop." IMO taijutsu is just one aspect of a system created to survive in a time and place under constant warfare. To expect more than that from a dojo is asking a bit much.

I would like to hear what others have to say. And I hope this answered some questions for some.

This is an interesting topic, that I have put alot of thought into over the last several weeks. I believe these "secret teachings" that are being talked about are the hensojutsu, intonjutsu, kayakujutsu, sui ren, shinobi iri, etc. Correct?

If this is the case, I doubt that many if any of the techniques taught could apply to the present as the face and techniques of warfare have evolved dramatically since then. Although the "water spider", an ancient raft like device for crossing water was highly ingenious for the time, I think that SCUBA or LAR V (rebreather), or even surface swimming would be a much more sound tactical approach for crossing water.

To clarify, I have six years experience with the US Marine Coprs' Force Reconnaissance Company. And much of the tactics and techniques are of a similar nature to what is described as a ninja's mission. Tactical insertion, patrolling to the objective, gathering intelligence, patrolling to the extraction site, and extracting. We also trained in survival techniques, first aid, hand to hand, and weapons proficiency. Other mission capabilities include Target Interdiction (sniping), Hostage Rescue, Raids, Ambushes, etc. You get the point.

In my notebook, I have it divided into the 18 areas or skills of the ancient ninja. And through personal experience or research or both, I write instructions.
Perhaps when I perfect my taijutsu and traditional weapons and complete this book, it will be my version of the 21st century densho.

Anyway, alot of these things can be learned in the military or as a friend of mine said, "from a good Scout Troop." IMO taijutsu is just one aspect of a system created to survive in a time and place under constant warfare. To expect more than that from a dojo is asking a bit much.

I would like to hear what others have to say. And I hope this answered some questions for some.

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Ummmmmm probably not actually.