If You're Looking for "Cool" or "Pretty" Ninjutsu Martial Arts Training...It Isn't Here!

I don't know about you and your goals. Well, not unless you're one of my personal students with whom I've been working closely with for a while now.

But, when I came to the Ninja's martial arts, I was a police officer. That means that I wasn't looking for fluff, "official" kata, or "soft-training."

I was looking for close combat training and hand-to-hand self-defense techniques that worked. I was also looking for self defense tactics and training that the other martial arts and self defense programs that I had been through just didn't teach.

That being said, I wanted to give you a little more background as to why, how, and some of the reasoning behind my own focus and training. Of course, if you're not looking for real self-defense training, or you're looking for the movie or storybook Ninja - if you want to dress up like a 16th century shadow and take on the mafia single-handedly...

Then, for better or worse...

I can't help you!

You see, unlike many people in the martial arts world, I didn't come to Ninjutsu or Budo-Taijutsu from a sense of love for the martial arts. I didn't set out to become a martial arts teacher or even have one of the "beyond mastery" ranks after 10th degree. Hell, when I first started in this art, I couldn't see beyond Nidan - 2nd degree Black Belt. But, then again...

Ranks meant something very different when I began training in 1980.

So, what was it that brought me to this training? Well, in a word: "Reality!"

Understanding what I mean requires that I share a little bit of who I was before training. It also means that I need to step down off of the pedestal that many have placed me on.

You see, I grew up in a very abusive home (mentally, physically, and emotionally). I was the victim of every bully in school. So, I had the chance to see some of the worst that humanity could be capable of, very early in my life.

Like others in the art, Soke Hatsumi included, it was this need to become strong in the face of danger, and to protect myself from real harm that sent me looking for answers. That, and my exposure to an old television series in the 1960's called, "Kung Fu."

You see, I wasn't attracted to the martial arts, including Ninjutsu, from some sense of becoming a Ninja Turtle, Power Ranger, or another lick-ass Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris wanna-be. I came to this training out of a need for self-protection, but without becoming a fighter. Very different things.

So, starting in Junior High School (we didn't call it "middle" school back then), I discovered the martial arts and joined the karate club. That lead to my search through many different martial arts styles, systems, schools, and teachers... but not feeling "at-home" in any one of them because they just didn't match what I experienced in the "real world."

Then, while stationed with the U.S. Army in South Korea in 1980, and while trying to figure out how to make tae kwon do serve me on the streets as a Military Policeman (without getting nailed for brutality charges for kicking perpetrator's heads in!), I discovered Ninjutsu. And, not only was I impressed with the self-defense and combat aspects of the art (they were presented in a way that dealt with real-world, modern attacks back then), I was also drawn to the composite and dynamic nature of the training - things that went far beyond the scope of conventional martial arts.

But, I didn't stop there.

My years as a street cop, and then eventually as an undercover investigator, private detective and body guard allowed me to go beyond the dojo mentality and really get to experience how these techniques, tactics, and strategies work - against modern attackers, on the street, in the 20th and now 21st century. And, there was even a time where I and a few of my friends spent some time...

...trying to prove this art WRONG!

Instead of being blind believers and followers, we put the art to the test by getting together with other practitioners, by going to other martial arts classes, and by trying to beat the techniques ourselves. And, do you know what we came away with?

We came away with a new-found understanding of the reality and true nature of the training. No illusions. No "pipe-dreams." No super-hero delusions.

That's why you won't see me getting upset because somebody wrote to me to tell me how "bad" my taijutsu is - or that I'm not doing this or that kata "right."

Because I'm not doing this to look like everyone else. I am, and always have been, engaged in this system of self-protection and personal mastery from a realistic perspective that's focused on producing real-world results. And, because it has proven itself to me, not through a politically biased association with certain teachers that I know, like, and trust, but because the lessons that I received from those teachers has proven themselves again and again in the only place that matters -- on the street and in real situations that strip the facade off of those who have other agendas.

Again, I don't know about you, but...

I don't want to look "cool" or "pretty" with my training.

I train the way I do so that my training can "serve" me, and produce the results I need when I'll need it to the most!

Does that sound familiar? Are you learning Ninjutsu and getting the kind of real self-defense tactics and hand-to-hand training that teaches you how to defend yourself with the least amount of wear-and-tear on you?

If so, and you're not already receiving my email newsletters containing self defense tips and strategies for real street training, then now's the time. And, if you do, you can also grab two of my most popular free ebooks on how to protect yourself.

This one is from the purely street fighting self-defense perspective. It's called, Fight Smarter - Not Harder!

And this one discusses the advanced abilities and training as you progress through real ninjutsu training. It's titled, Becoming the Master.

After you download your books and get a chance to see what the best self defense and close combat training programs should be teaching you, perhaps you'll feel driven to go ahead and reserve your place at one of my upcoming ninja camps, and take the next step on the Path of Warrior Mastery!

In Mastery!

Shidoshi Miller


Warrior Concepts Int'l, Inc. / Bujinkan Moki no Tora Dojo
362 Market Street, Sunbury, Pennsylvania 17801 USA
(570) 988-2228