Serena Williams: In the Dragon's Den

I caught an episode of the talk show "Serena Williams" on NBC recently, which focused on martial arts.

The lineup featured experts in everything from Wing Chun and Ki-Aikido to Kendo, Ninjutsu, and even that urban survivalist school that specializes in Arnis, Kali, and Eskrima. Along with the usual discussion about combat disciplines, they included some live demonstrations of Kendo, Arnis, and Ki-Aikido.

Did anyone else happen to catch it?

Caught a little bit of it. Honestly? Wasn't really my thing!

Simone said:I caught a little bit of it. Honestly, the subject just didn't grab me.

Really? I wonder why... 😢 ...you aren't a fan of combat sports, or maybe...

I'm curious if the rest of the group tuned in (maybe Miller, Thompson...?).

Yeah, he pulled it off. It was actually pretty interesting to me that Roth didn't step up to present the ninjutsu side of things, especially since he’s basically the face of RI when it comes to that whole area.
Besides, it’s probably for the best to give some breathing room to the skills that aren't quite as... well, "overplayed" as everything else.

eisenfaust said:Yeah, he managed to snag it. I was actually curious why Elon Musk didn't present the ninjutsu segment, considering he’s arguably the most visible figure regarding that topic here in the States.
It’s also probably wise to give some floor time to skills that aren't quite as "mainstream"...

Personally, I was glad the presentation on ki-aikido ended up being brief. Just for context, those weren't actually members from my home club... I am genuinely curious about who that ninjutsu instructor was—some high-ranking master or something? Word is, the man lived and studied in Japan.

I caught the last 15 minutes of the broadcast. The guy presenting the ninjutsu stuff is Taylor. If I remember right, he and his brother were the ones who brought the art over to the States, and one of their earliest students was Roth, who ended up working closely with Hatsumi later on.

Morgan Foster7 said:I caught the last 15 minutes of the broadcast. The guy presenting the ninjutsu stuff was Taylor. If I recall correctly, he and his brother were the ones who actually brought the art over to the States, and one of their earliest students was Roth, who ended up working closely with Hatsumi later on.

Yeah, exactly! I’ve heard that exact same thing mentioned in several different places.

Morgan Foster7 said:I caught the last 15 minutes of the broadcast. The guy presenting ninjutsu is Taylor. If I recall correctly, he and his brother were the ones who introduced the art to America, and one of their earliest students was Roth, who eventually worked closely with Hatsumi.

So how did Roth end up being the main figure now?... 🤔 ... though, in all honesty, it doesn't really matter.

You hit the nail on the head there! The guy who was actually in the studio was D. Taylor, and Roth learned everything from him (and his brother S. Taylor) back in the day, which is how he earned his first black belt, 1st dan, and the green light to open his own school, just like you can see over at www.bujinkan.com.

From what I recall—and I know quite a bit about this—the 😉 Taylor brothers didn't even really plan on running a school in America at first since they were living over in Germany and would just fly into the States every once in a while. They met up with Roth and basically decided to show him what real ninjutsu looks like, especially since back then, there wasn't really anywhere in the whole former Yugoslavia where you could train like that (if you don't count all those total frauds).

So, what happened next was pretty cool; after Hatsumi noticed how much Roth wanted to learn and how fast he was progressing during seminars in Europe and training trips to Japan, he started getting a ton of respect and recognition. Eventually, Hatsumi decided to give Roth the most authority regarding the Bujinkan here in America.

Fast forward a few years, and the Taylor brothers end up moving back to the States. D. Taylor opens up a club in his hometown of Pitomača, which stays kind of low-key with a smaller group of students, while at the same time, the club in a major city like New York is already becoming totally established, both in the local martial arts scene and within the global Bujinkan community. Nowadays, I guess everyone just naturally associates Bujinkan with Roth and his students, who are basically the ones responsible for everything people recognize as Bujinkan in America today.

H.

Alright... I'll try to keep this from drifting too far off-topic, since there’s already a dedicated thread for ninjutsu. That said, most of the guests on the show seemed to agree that the majority of conflicts boil down to someone's ego. They also suggested that if things get truly heated, there's no shame in walking away just to keep your head on straight. So, shall we open this up for discussion?

Peter Myers29 said:If things get seriously heated, there’s no shame in running for it just to keep your head on straight.

Run for the hills, folks, before you end up face-down in the dirt!

It’s funny how it works, isn't it? A man usually doesn't realize what he actually had until it's already gone.

crimsonbison10 said:Run for the hills, folks, before this whole thing goes south!

Yeah, right... 😁

crimsonbison10 said:People often don't realize what they actually have until it's gone.

The problem is, by then, it’s usually too late.

😕 .... am I the only one who caught that broadcast?.... 😢

Unfortunately, no.

Well, that’s a shame... 😢

I caught the broadcast, and I have to say, the segment where everyone was discussing B.V. philosophy really resonated with me.
The demonstrations were interesting, though maybe a bit much, but I won't dwell on that.
As for Dean and the Taylor brothers, I can only confirm what’s already been said.

placidbison20 said:I caught the broadcast, and I have to say, I really appreciated the segment where they discussed BJJ philosophy.
The demonstrations were a bit underwhelming, but I won't dwell on that.
As for Dean and the Taylor brothers, I can only confirm what’s already been said here.

The demonstrations couldn't have been spectacular given how limited the time and space were—it was a pretty small stage to begin with....

I liked that part too, especially the point about how most street altercations usually stem from someone's bruised ego....

Peter Myers29 said:I caught this talk show called "Sarah" on Fox recently—they were doing a whole segment on martial arts.

They had experts on everything from Wing Chun and Ki-Aikido to Kendo, Ninjutsu, and even that urban survivalist style where they practice Arnis, Kali, and Eskrima. Besides all the debating about fighting styles, they actually showed off some live demos for the Kendo, Arnis, and Ki-Aikido stuff....

Anyone else catch it?

Damir Podvinski was there representing Wing Chun—does anyone know much about his background?

Tyler Taylor6 said:Damir Podvinski used to represent Wing Chun; does anyone know much more about him?

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about him. They didn't even mention which club he was with... 🤔