MY TEACHER'S BIO

私の先生の略歴

My father's teachings within Ninjutsu during my childhood while growing up.

(My father had been trained over in Japan when he was a child because of his father's

employer sent him there for security purposes after World War II)​

 

See, I was a child and a student under my father who was taught the old ways from one of

the last teachers in Japan of a lost clan......But, before he would teach me, you know what

was the first thing he instructed me to do before he would begin?

He sent me out to the library, find all that I can on the country itself of Japan; learn the

history, learn on the civil wars that erupted within, the on bringing of the Samurai rule, the

cause of the need for the Ninja and the dyeing of a Rear Mystical Breed of a civilization!And

only then, after studying for weeks at end so to remember what I had learned...he would not

begin to teach me until I could answer all of his questions!!!

 

"I could not miss one or he would send me back to study it again until I get it right!"

 

He always taught me that, "Knowledge is only a fraction and Knowing why is the first step!"

 

Anyhow, the point to all this, whenever I mention that my father was taught by the last member of a Ninja clan while he was in Japan and they asked me what was the clan? I said, it was the Li Clan! They laughed at me and ridiculed me by stating that Li is Chinese and there for could not be Japanese Ninja.

 

My study of the origination of the martial arts from the beginning as this was part of my responsibilities with my father. Which it all included the battles, missions and training to better themselves, so they may succeed!

 

 

The reason why I am telling you all this, is to let you know of my dedication to the art of Ninjutsu and its four-fathers. Furthermore, to show you my faithfulness, loyalty and devotion in the teachings if you please give me the opportunity to prove myself. I didn't realize how serious or truthful was my childhood training with my father, which could have been easily repressed. Until now, as I began my training once more but this time within the Bujinkan system.

 

See, my father would teach me that the true art of Martial Science has seriously lost its actual form since it began. And then, when it was brought over to western society, this really destroyed the beauty of its teachings and its authentic art form. I really believe that if one that joins a "Dojo" (training hall), he or she should agree of the true tradition in its teachings!

 

Furthermore, a person should not try to change it for his or her own liking (benefit, easiness). In addition, there should not be allowed any interference from the outside world in any way shape or form. The True Traditional Dojo should always be like as if you were to walk through its doors and on to Japan's soil. ​

 

(I mean, it is that way when you walk on to a country's consulate grounds. When you step onto their property here in Canada or in any other country, it is like if you are stepping onto their country! And you should follow their rules.)​

 

My point for all of this, is that I was very lucky to have had the benefit of experiencing what it would have been like training back then, because of my father's knowledge in his training experiance. Growing up with my father as Sensei in Ninjutsu, he would teach not just the techniques, but also the philosophy and psychology of it all. It wasn't only that there was a lot of history to study, at the same time he would really pound it into me that fighting was seriously wrong, and it would make me a better man just to turn and walk away. (And that is, if you are able to!)

 

However, only if one is backed into a corner, had no where to turn and just then this would give one justification to stand and fight! My father also made sure I was aware that martial science is a way of life, a personal choice and something that shouldn't be flashed around. It should not be shown off, especially within public competition or any other sporting event.

See, he really hated it when later on as I joined Tae Kwon-Do and soon started competing professionally. When I would walk in the room, he couldn't even look at me with respect. I could see the disgust in his eyes. I didn't realize at first, understanding what was happening while I found this kind of funny. Until later, when I began to realize what he had been trying to teach me. When people began finding out what I knew they always called me out, wanting to test my abilities. ​

"However, the law never saw it that way!"

 

*he would make sure I totally understood that Ninjustu was not just the physical fighting aspects of it, but also the Mental/Psychology/Spiritual of it as well!

 

There was one very important aspect of all this training that I can not emphasise enough, (that is not really taught withing the Bujinkan system) that he wanted me to seriously learn. Now I want to share with you and that is... ​

"...to defeat your opponent, is to get into his mind and beat him from the inside-out."

 

(I've seen that for myself with certain situations, were I've encountered during my life which I have experienced.)​

 

 

Sensei Li was the last member of a dying Ninja clan who was actually a descendent of a well known great Chinese emperor...

 

Name History and Origin...for the Li Clan, Chinese: from a character meaning ‘minister’.

 

This was part of the title of Gao Yao, a great-grandson of the legendary emperor Zhuan Xu, who

became famous as a minister under the model emperors Yao and Shun in the 23rd century bc;

he was the first to introduce laws for the repression of crime.

His descendants adopted this part of his title as their surname. The use of this name continued for

over a millennium to the twelfth century bc, down to the rule of the last king of the Shang dynasty,

the despotic Zhou Xin.

 

Li Zhi, the head of the Li clan and (descendants of the Emperor Gaozong of Tang

(Chinese: 唐高宗; pinyin: Táng Gāozōng) (21 July 628[3] – 27 December 683[4]),

personal name Li Zhi (李治), was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China,

ruling from 649 to 683) at that time, displeased Zhou Xin and was executed, leaving the rest of the clan facing imminent disaster.

 

They fled, and nearly starved to death, surviving only by eating a fruit called mu zi and traveled to Japan.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Gaozong_of_Tang

 

 

 

Li clan in Japan during the Edo period,

 

Hikone Castle, the seat of the Ii clan during the Edo periodIn this Japanese name, the family name is "li".

 

li clan (井伊氏 Ii-shi?) is a Japanese clan which originates in Tōtōmi Province.

It was a retainer clan of the Imagawa family, and then switched sides to the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province. A famed 16th-century clan member, li Naomasa, served as one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's generals, and received the fief of Hikone in Ōmi Province as a reward for his conduct in battle at Sekigahara. The li and a few sub-branches remained daimyo for the duration of the Edo period.

 

li Naosuke, the famed politician of the late Edo period, was another member of this clan.

The clan claims descent from Fujiwara no Yoshikado,[1] who had been one of the Daijō daijin during the ninth century.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/li_Naomasali Naomasa

 

In this Japanese name, the family name is "li".

 

li Naomasa

Lord of Takasaki

In office1590–1600

Preceded by none

Succeeded by Sakai Ietsugu

Lord of Hikone

In office1600–1602

Preceded by none

Succeeded by li Naokatsu

Personal details

Born March 4, 1561

Tōtōmi Province, Japan

Died March 24, 1602 (aged 41)

Edo, Japan

Nationality Japanese

 

li Naomasa (井伊 直政?, March 4, 1561 – March 24, 1602) was a general under the Sengoku period Daimyo, and later Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.[1] He is regarded as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa along with Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa and Sakai Tadatsugu.

 

li Naomasa was born in Hōda Village of Tōtōmi Province. His family, like Tokugawa's, had originally been retainers of the Imagawa clan, but following the death of the clan's leader, Imagawa Yoshimoto, in the Battle of Okehazama (1560), confusion and general chaos ensued. Naomasa's father, Naochika, was falsely convicted of treason by Yoshimoto's paranoid successor, Imagawa Ujizane, and was subsequently killed. Naomasa, then a very small child, was personally lucky to escape his father's fate and was later taken in by the Tokugawa.[1]

 

Naomasa the General

 

li Naomasa joined the ranks of the Tokugawa clan in the mid-1570s, rising swiftly through the ranks to eventually become the master of a sizable holding in Ōmi Province, following the Battle of Sekigahara (1600).[1] His court title was Hyōbu-dayū.

Naomasa initially garnered mass attention at the Battle of Nagakute (1584), commanding around three thousand musketeers with distinction. His finest hour was to come at the Battle of Sekigahara, where his unit outpaced those of other generals such as Fukushima Masanori, drawing the "first blood" of that battle. However, as the fighting was dying down, Naomasa was shot and wounded by a stray bullet during his attempt to prevent Shimazu Yoshihiro's getaway, a wound from which he would never fully recover. The wound also prevented his personal involvement in quelling the last vestiges of the anti-Tokugawa faction in the coming months.[1]

 

The units Naomasa commanded on the battlefield were notable for being outfitted almost completely in blood-red armour for psychological impact, a tactic he adopted from Yamagata Masakage, one of Takeda Shingen's generals.[1] As such, his unit became known as the "Red Devils", a nickname he shared. It is also rumored, although never confirmed, that Naomasa would sometimes wear a monkey mask into battle, including at Sekigahara.

 

Death and legacy

 

A statue of li Naomasa in Hikone.

 

li Naomasa's premature death in 1602 has been widely blamed on the wound he received at Sekigahara. Naomasa was highly regarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so it is no surprise that his sons Naotsugu and Naotaka succeeded him in his service and title. However, Naotsugu managed to anger Tokugawa by refusing to take part in his campaign to reduce the Toyotomi clan stronghold at Osaka. Nonetheless, the li remained influential in Japanese politics throughout the Edo period.

 

Naomasa is often characterized as the opposite of Ieyasu's other great general, Honda Tadakatsu. While both were fierce warriors of the Tokugawa, Tadakatsu survived countless battles without ever suffering an injury, while Naomasa is often depicted as enduring many battle wounds, but fighting through them. Naomasa's sets of armor are all preserved within Hikone Castle and are accessible for viewing.

 

li Naomasa in Popular Culture

li family information (in Japanese)

Painting and brief bio of Naomasa (in Japanese)

Media related to li clan at Wikimedia Commons

Notes[edit]

Jump up ^ Papinot, Edmund. (2003).

Nobiliare du japon -- "li clan," pp. 13 (PDF 17 of 80).

References

Papinot, Edmund.

(1906) Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon.

Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.

 

External links

(Japanese) li clan on "Buke-kaden"

This Japanese clan article is a stub.

You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Categories: li clan

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Japanese clan stubs

 

 

 

 

 

My Fathers Teachings over in Japan: That is in the direct lineage of a true ninja clan, Li Clan.

 

After the Second World War, when my grandfather returned from the war he was soon recruited to head security over at McDonnell Douglas airlines back in the early 60s, as they began to build over in Japan. Douglas airlines was one of the major companies that were there to help with its redevelopment, which headed the Japan Air System 日本エアシステム Founded April 15, 1964 (as Japan Domestic Airlines). While they lived in Japan for sometime, he brought my father with him when he was a young child to keep him company. They both stayed with a friend (Sensei Li of the Li clan) and his wife, my grandfather befriend Sensei Li during the war.

 

So, during this time, these people who had a store in the city, my father would help out during the day by working there doing cleaning and stocking. Because this man never had a child, he respected my father for everything he was doing for them, soon taking him under his wing as his own and quickly began teaching my father the true art of Ninjustu along with the seriousness of the Discipline.

Supposedly, this mans ancestors ran deep from within the old traditional ways!

 

I never understood how funny most people are today and how they would either quickly doubt me and/or question the truth of the matter. However, it was not until later when I have done my research was where I found the truth.See, my fathers Sensei in Japan was named Li and that a couple of the styles of my father's teachings (which was explained to me in depth).

 

 

This Ninjutsu style was taught (attitude of Tiger & Snake)...techniques of a circular motion with an surprising explosion attack on the opponent.

My fathers favorite technique that he mastered - Hichojutsu: Jumping art (which is not in the list of the Iga Ryu)

 

 

 

...that is thought that the Koto Ryu came from China via Korea, brought by Chan Busho, a Chinese warrior. You will notice that the first listed Soke's of Koto Ryu is also the Sokes of Gyokkyo Ryu. There are many similarities between the two schools. Throughout the last years in the Bujinkan, it was here I could really reflect on my father's teachings.

I used them where it would surprisingly shock my Shihan. And now, I came to realize that I really don't care what people believe, I know what I know!Well, I know my fathers teachings really work. I will tell you, that throughout my father's career in the Toronto Police Force and after as an Inspector of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) he had to use his abilities in many, many occasions (example; preventing an assassination attempt on a Nigerian Diplomat, help preventing local riots in spite of police officers running scared.

The funny thing is, he wasn't even a cop at the time!)Furthermore, there were many more situations and they all could be confirmed with the local law enforcement agencies here in Ontario Canada. Before I go, one last question, my years of training within the Bujinkan system all I saw was the physical aspects, where is the "psychology" of the training? Please no disrespect!!

 

*So I guess there is room for the rebirth of a dead Ryu!​

 

 

 

When I would explain of my father's (teacher) sensei was from the Li clan, right away they would jump on me and say straight out, "oh, he's not Japanese, that's not Ninjutsu!" Do you know how many ignorant people out in the world that call themselves true followers of Ninjutsu? Nevertheless, how can they be if they are closed minded and never studied the origination of Ninjutsu? And if they did, they would know that the original founding-father of the first Ryu is Chinese! He was of the Yamabushi monks who came from China. Don't people think that over the centuries, there could have been a lot of mixing with immigrants from the chinese society that came to Japan (and vise/versa)?

(Holy, People should really wake up, open their eyes and smell the coffee!) What do you think Canada is and every other country out there?

If people are going to be this ignorant, they shouldn't be aloud to be accepted into this art and at the same time, shouldn't be acknowledged!"I am truly sorry for that, I'm just so passionate and loyal when it comes to my teachings that I genuinely believe in. Please forgive me!"Anyhow, throughout my years, I didn't understand either, but not until I joined the Bujinkan System when the truth all came to shine. It was the true teachings of the Ninja!!!​