Aug 15, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

Since I can remember I have always found myself fascinated with martial arts. I am not sure where this fascination came from. Perhaps it may have come from the martial arts movies and cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid growing up or the various books on different martial art styles I had received as presents. Whatever the influence may be, it didn't matter, I was determined to learn some form of martial arts.

A friend of mine first got me introduced to Thai Boxing in my late teens; he was a junior instructor at this dojo he trained at. When I first started there I was excited, I thought it was great. We would start out by skipping for about two minutes and then follow the instructor and mimic the moves he would do, after that it would be bag work, which I found was a good cardio workout. I learnt the basic concepts of the eight limbs; this is where you use your fists, elbows, knees and shins as weapons. We would do this same routine every class. After a few weeks I became bored of class and never returned. I just felt Thai Boxing was not for me, it seemed to be good standing up, but the art did not do anything on the ground, no throws, no locks only various combinations of punching and kicking. To me it seemed it was lacking some elements and I felt it was not complete as an art. But that was the thing, it was a sport, their were rules and their were weight classes, their were certain things that you could not do, such as attach someone on the ground, that's why we never learned any ground work. I came to realize that Thai Boxing was not practical for street situations; it had certain limitations when it came to real life situations and self defense.

I was introduced to Grandmaster Robert Law's style of Ninjutsu (Geijin Ryu) about three and a half years ago only by fluke. I came across a business card at a Toronto martial arts supply store that caught my attention more so than any other cards advertised in the shop. The card read, “No Rules, No Belts, No Nonsense, Ninjutsu, a combat art without all the needless baggage.” Not knowing what to expect and very curious about this art I went to its website. I was amazed from the website what the training consisted of. A few days later, my girlfriend her friend and I made an appointment with Omar Chijani, one of the Grandmasters senior students. The appointment went well, I would say it was more informative than I expected. I was amazed at the Grandmaster's knowledge of his art and other arts and where they originated from. Even the basic techniques he showed us in the interview, I had never seen or would ever think of doing. After the interview I was convinced that this art was for me and soon joined the Geijin Ryu Ninja Academy . Little did I know that after joining the academy, training with Grandmaster Law and his students that this art would open my mind to countless techniques I never though were possible, changing the way I viewed, confronted and analyzed self defense and survival on the whole.

The three key foundational elements of this art that are consistently stressed to us at the academy are our rolls, break falls and most importantly body movement. The whole concept of body movement seemed awkward to me when I first started at the academy. I was used to squaring off with an opponent, as I was taught in Thai boxing and where basically all the other arts do the same. But Grandmaster Law stressed the importance to us on why the Ninja does body movement. Only now do I see the endless possibilities and the “doors” that become revealed when a proper body movement is done. I was also surprised to know that the Ninja does not block. I can still remember Grandmaster Law asking us if any one of us could block a machete or a lead pipe and if anybody thought they could, he would gladly demonstrate on them that this was not possible. The concepts, thought process and techniques of the Ninja are something that no other art I believe has any clue about. Throughout the three and a half years I've trained at the Geijin Ryu Academy I have come to a realization that Grandmaster Law's teachings are far more superior than most can imagine. His knowledge of the human anatomy, survival and animal behaviour still amazes me to this day. There is so much to learn in this art and as the Grandmaster tells me, “I'm still in diapers when it comes to this art.” I am told that Ninjutsu is an art that takes many years to develop, an individual must be dedicated and willing to learn and endure pain. In my opinion the greatest asset that this art has to offer is the options that are available in the techniques taught. The techniques taught to us flow into so many different possibilities and other techniques. Anything from seriously injuring a person to making a total fool out of them is possible.

About two years ago, I went to a martial arts expo that was held in Toronto . There were many styles represented at this expo and this was an interesting experience as I got to see what other styles were out there. It was a real eye opener for me as I was not really impressed with any of the styles represented at the expo. The expo seemed like it was more for show and to impress spectators rather than being an effective self defense seminar. I remember watching a demonstration put on by a Russian martial art that caught my attention. They had an instructor in the middle of a circle where about five to six people were surrounding him. The instructor would cross his arms and try and push his way out of the circle. This was supposed to be the most efficient way to get out of a confrontation like that. I thought to my self this has to be the stupidest thing I have seen here. What he was doing was so impractical that it was embarrassing to watch, I mean people who did not know any better actually believed that this stuff would work. While at the expo I also observed one of Court Elliott's demonstrations consisting of knife techniques. While watching the demonstration, I noticed that the knife techniques shown to the public were poorly done; there was no proper body movement which caused the individual to be square against the attacker and liable for getting stabbed and cut. Studying under Grandmaster Law, I was interested in what differentiates our style (Geijin Ryu) from others. One difference I notice right away when observing Court Elliot and the Bujinkan, is their stances; they seemed to move very rigid, having one hand in front of the other, where as at the academy, our stances and body movements are very natural. We do not telegraph with are hands what we are going to do. By not being locked into certain stances and patterns we are able adapt to virtually any situation. I guess that was the biggest difference I noticed. From what I saw at the expo, the teachings taught to us at the academy seemed to be better adapted for the times we live in today, being more practical in our techniques. Leaving the expo made me realized that Grandmaster Law's style of ninjutsu is by far, the most practical and effective system I have ever come across.

In the summer of 2005, I attend my first International Ninja Summit in Ohio . I had never been to a summit before, so I was a little unsure of what to expect. Throughout the summit I had the privilege of meeting many students who had the same passion about this art that I did. The training was intense, we trained and practiced techniques for the whole day until sundown. While at the summit I had the pleasure of watching three of Grandmaster Law's senior students, all three of whom I train with at the academy in Toronto successfully pass their tests. Tim and Omar both completed their 2 nd Level, which consisted of completing over 700 techniques. Denise completed her 1 st Level which was 350 techniques and was Grandmaster Law's first female student to accomplish this.

The second International Ninja Summit I attend was in the summer of 2006 and it was held in Toronto . This summit was different from the last one held in Ohio . We were at a camp and training was held outdoors. I was exposed to many new things that were not covered in the last camp. We were exposed to night training that I really enjoyed as you had to rely on your sense of feel to do the techniques more so than sight. Grandmaster Law showed us techniques in Hojojutsu that were very useful in real life situations. I remember him showing us how to climb up a pole with just using two pieces of rope, I would have never believed it until I saw him do it. The most amazing thing I saw Grandmaster Law do at this summit was make a camouflage suit out of all natural elements in the woods. Upon completion of this suit he was able to literally “disappear” in the woods, I still remember the feeling that I felt when he did this. I had never seen something like this and it just amazed me. At this summit, I had the honor of passing my 3 rd Session, which I had to perform 75 different techniques. Techniques against multiple opponents, using a knife, gun, staff, machete, hand to hand were all covered in my testing. This was my first time being tested and having asthma, it one of the most strenuous things I had ever done. I knew that when I was doing my test I was nervous and used a lot of strength. At the academy we are taught not to use strength, as our techniques require little to no strength at all.

This year, the 3 rd summit I attended was held in a small place 2 hours outside of Toronto . This year's summit was again different from the previous years, as it had more survival based elements incorporated into it. The senior student had to make fish nets from a roll of string and make a human trap. Aside from the techniques, we learned and watched Grandmaster Law set multiple traps, we also used Hojojutsu techniques as harnesses to climb up a rope that was suspended about 20-25 feet in a tree. While at the summit Grandmaster Law showed all of us how to make a functional cooking grill out of logs and stones, which we used to cook our dinners and breakfasts. This summit was special to me, as I had the chance to successfully pass my 1 st Level, having to perform 350 techniques. I was a lot calmer this time around and felt more confident in what I was doing. Training on the second day I noticed Grandmaster Law working on Rick's back. I later found out that Rick was supposed to have surgery on his back to fix two of his bones in the lower back. I soon found out that Master fixed his back and put the bones back in to place. I found this amazing as the doctors Rick went to requested to operate on him.

I am not sure how I came across a martial art that I feel so passionate about and that has changed my life for the better. I can't even begin to explain how much I value and appreciate the teachings of Grandmaster Law and the Geijin Ryu family. Grandmaster Law's techniques exert very little effort and can result in the most damage to the body. Our principles of leverage and body movement result in a fast and direct way to manipulate the body. Whether being in the form of throws, joint locks, joint manipulation, arm, neck, shoulder, leg or wrist breaks. At the academy we also learn nerve strikes which are very effective and can be used to paralyze the body. I do not know anywhere else where I would learn so many things about self defense, weapons training, survival and combat. There is so much knowledge that I have acquired from you Master, and so much I still have to learn. Thank you for all you have given me, you are truly a unique individual and one of a kind. I am honored to be one of your students and I look forward to many more years of training with you at the academy.

Sincerely, your student,

Nathan Singh