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Jiaozi
20th January 2008, 15:19
Are Kosta Dervenis of http://www.pammachon.gr and Kosta Danaos, author of Magus of Java, the same person?
Has anyone read the book?

George Kohler
20th January 2008, 22:31
Yes, it is him.

Jiaozi
20th January 2008, 23:05
Ah, thank you.
Do you know the reason for using a different family name?
And have you read the book?
Does anyone know about John Chang (Djiang)? I watched this youtube video which seemed pretty authentic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aos0hnwiHt8

However, on the Tao bums forum there seemed to be some kind of controversy around the whole issue. Quarrelling factions like everywhere, with a guy called David Shen who used to be with Mantak Chia and then became a student of John Chang and some other master teachers in China, and different number levels to achieve and exercises being dangerous to your health and this style more powerful than that, and 5,000 Euro workshops in Thailand. It sounds very interesting but also quite mixed up.
Info on this thread:
http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=1864
What do you think?

Lockfield
21st January 2008, 03:27
Are Kosta Dervenis of http://www.pammachon.gr and Kosta Danaos, author of Magus of Java, the same person?
Has anyone read the book?

Yes, it is him.

wait a minute: you mean this is the same guy who posted this "Rant: The Secret History of the Bujinkan, and how it relates to Pammachon" here in e-budo?

George Kohler
21st January 2008, 15:44
Do you know the reason for using a different family name?

I'll quote his website.


This website, being a Pammachon specific site, hosts Kostas articles and books that are martial arts related. In addition to these, Kostas has also written television screenplays and novels. He writes under an alias whenever possible, for peace of mind

Sorry, but I do not know anything about Magus of Java or John Chang.

Jiaozi
21st January 2008, 22:23
Thanks for your reply, George.
Does anyone else know anything about this type of neigong (internal practice) or the book?

JIGOKU
26th January 2008, 22:46
I am a student of Mr. Dervenis so if you have any questions feel free to E-Mail me....

Michael Becker
8th February 2008, 18:42
Are Kosta Dervenis of http://www.pammachon.gr and Kosta Danaos, author of Magus of Java, the same person?
Has anyone read the book?

Kostas is my friend, and while I am not authorised to speak on his part, I will make a few comments regarding my own opinions.

Regarding your initial question, since you have the website details, assuming you spent a little time looking through the pages, you already knew the answer to that question and really didn't need to ask it here on ebudo.

http://www.pammachon.gr/arthra.htm

I don't know if you have tried to contact Kostas through the Pammachon website or not, but it is an option, perhaps preferable, to posting this here.


Ah, thank you.
Do you know the reason for using a different family name?
And have you read the book?

I understand it means, 'Kosta the Greek'. Authors using pen names is nothing new or remarkable.

I read the first book and had the opportunity to read the manuscript for the second one prior to publication. Whether myself or anyone else has read the book really doesn't matter though. This really isn't the forum for discussing Kostas's books, given they do not relate to ninpo or ninjutsu.


Does anyone know about John Chang (Djiang)? I watched this youtube video which seemed pretty authentic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aos0hnwiHt8

I met John Chang in 2001 at his home in Indonesia and in 2002 when he visited Greece. Both times were at the invitation of Kostas. I personally have no doubts whatsoever regarding what I experienced, though I certainly wouldn't expect anyone else to. Such things need to be witnessed and felt in person.


However, on the Tao bums forum there seemed to be some kind of controversy around the whole issue. Quarrelling factions like everywhere, with a guy called David Shen who used to be with Mantak Chia and then became a student of John Chang and some other master teachers in China, and different number levels to achieve and exercises being dangerous to your health and this style more powerful than that, and 5,000 Euro workshops in Thailand. It sounds very interesting but also quite mixed up.
Info on this thread:
http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=1864
What do you think?

What happens within a school, providing no law is being broken, is no one elses business. I'm not going to confirm or deny any such remarks made on Taobums or any other forum. The Mo Pai is closed, so to speak, so if you are planning a visit to see John Chang I would advise you to forget it. I understand he wants nothing else but to be left in peace and I would hope people could respect that.

Kostas is working on Pammachon and his recently released, (in English), book on the subject is now available. If you are interested in what he is doing now, then a copy would not be hard to find.

If you want to follow what David Verdesi is doing, then you can find his Foundation Forum online by doing a Google search.

If you want to find a teacher on your own, then they are out there and it is for you to find one. If it is your fate to do so then it will happen.

As this is the Ninpo forum and since this matter really has nothing to do with ninpo or Japanese martial arts I'm not going to comment any further here on this. I suspect the moderators here would rather people stuck to discussing the relevant topics for this forum.

Please don't email or PM me, as I really don't want to, (won't), discuss any of this beyond this post.

Kyro Lantsberger
9th February 2008, 15:22
Please don't email or PM me, as I really don't want to, (won't), discuss any of this beyond this post.

Sorry to hear. Ive been curious about Chang for some time. Its good to find people with first hand experience of this sort of thing on a forum like this. Sometimes technology is helpful.

Im very glad to see the issues surrounding Chang being discussed at such a high level in this thread. This sort of topic lends itself to extremism, histrionics, and ungentlemanly behavior.

Ive been training in internal styles for almost 20 years, only counting 14 years amongst those with strong lineages. Ive met some people who have done some really amazing things which I have witnessed first hand, and all of them have said things very similar to what Ive heard from those in Chang's circle.

Ive skimmed Kostas' website, really like the directions he has gone with some things, he parallels my thinking in alot of ways, he just seemed to have thought of it years ahead of me!! --particularly submission grappling and swordsmanship (Hank Reinhardt) as done by an internalist.

I have a couple comments to end with, mostly out of respect for this being a Ninjutsu board, might be a thread closer even. I grew up as a kid in the 80s reading Stephen K Hayes and the ninja mags, and alot of my thinking on MA has been forever rooted in this. In college, I got deeply involved in the internal Chinese styles and have hung my hat there ever since. From reading and studying around over the years, I think that the Takamatsu-den arts are heavily influenced by some aspects of the Neija styles. I dont think this is a scandalizing point at all. Living trees build new branches.

Over the years, I have noticed a certain type of person that is attracted to this type of training, "this type" meaning Nei Ja and Ninjitsu. I think we all do enjoy the martial part of the martial arts and thrive under the physical rigor. Also, I think we all see the deeper aspects of the whole person that are addressed under these systems. I love sub-grappling and MMA, but ultimately one has to acknowledge that although there are some tremendous skills that are trained and honed in these systems, they are still ritualized violence for young males. One cant maintain the psychological energy to stay in that lifestyle for long without burning out or becoming unbalanced in some way.

How all this relates to Magus-type events and people. I think all of us who would read and participate in threads like this, and be involved in these type of arts somehow intuitively know that there is something very special in the human person where physical training blends with emotions, psychology, and a number of other very subtle aspects of the human body-mind. I think we all know that power for its own sake is a trap, but I think we have all experienced a sense of wonder at glimpsing the apex of human potential, attainable only through years of dedication, very contrary to our text message abbreviated instant culture.

Bad things do happen between individuals, and I have seen some very high level schools implode in my time. It seems that the sublime, the horrible, and the ridiculous reside very close to each other at times.

I dropped an email to somebody on this thread. Ill probably get back to it. Im looking for a reading list......

Have a great weekend!!

Jiaozi
11th February 2008, 12:06
Take it easy, Michael.


Regarding your initial question, since you have the website details, assuming you spent a little time looking through the pages, you already knew the answer to that question and really didn't need to ask it here on ebudo.

This is what happenend:
I was leisurely clicking through YouTube and watching various videos which I found interesting (among them the Coral Castle in Florida as well as Joseph McMoneagle if you like ot check it out). I checked out one user's favourite and saw the report on John Chang from about twenty years ago. You probably know which one I mean. The guy with the eye-patch is in it.
When I saw the pyrogenesis it reminded me of something I had read here on e-budo a few years ago. I remembered it was by a guy called Kostas and that I found it very interesting what he had to say both about the Bujinkan (as I felt very disappointed after finding out that in the 80s we weren't told what it really is; not to mention all these fat people who got high dans) and also about this martial art he had discovered in Indonesia. So, I quickly checked both google, e-budo and his site and then was surprised to see a different name. So, I didn't peruse his site, and thus didn't see that information. Still weird to use an alias that is so similar to his real name instead of something totally different.

Kostas is working on Pammachon and his recently released, (in English), book on the subject is now available. If you are interested in what he is doing now, then a copy would not be hard to find.

Thanks- I would have known how to order at amazon ;-)
Obviously, there are many frauds out there who are either delusional or just after your money. You know how many fake QiGong and ninja stuff is out there and what have you.
The internet and especially sites like this have helped to create transparency and help people get disappointed and waste a lot of time and money.
Hence my post to get more information on this. I found the video very convincing and from the posts I've read here by Kostas I didn't get the impression that he was making up stuff. But reports of levitation are not something you believe quickly.
And talk of "tracking people on astral planes" and $5.000 workshops raises some red flags.


If you want to find a teacher on your own, then they are out there and it is for you to find one. If it is your fate to do so then it will happen.
I agree with you.

Regarding keeping information transparent I still find it amazing how often I come across info like this:
"Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi PhD broke with Japanese Tradition in 1995....
He is listed by their Government as a Natural living treasure."
http://www.amatsu.co.uk/index.html (under Dr. Hatsumi)
Two points:
1. Dr. PHD- I've had discussed this here before. Yes, a doctor is someone who treats people. However, the acronyms PhD and Dr are academical titles. No one was able to tell me in which discipline by which university Hatsumi-sensei has been awarded such a title.
(Under Seitai on the amatsu.co.uk site he is even called "Prof. Hatsumi - Lecture notes Japan 1986-1998"- Now, I know, that in Brasil a guitar teacher for example is called Professor, but not in Europe. Or please also let us know from which university Hatsumi-Sensei has received the professorship.)

2. Living National Treasure- As Don Roley writes:"Hatsumi is not a living national treasure." here:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14510&page=2

Now, I'm not saying this to disparage Hatsumi-sensei or the Bujinkan. And re 1 I'm not sure he's referring to himself as "Dr".and/or "Prof." and re 2 the term "National Living Treasure" is not used by him, but by many dojo websites, etc. as you can see quickly after a google search.
And Hatsumi-Sensei had done many great things and has received prestigious awards such as "Imperial Household Agency for his work in introducing an aspect of Japanese culture to people outside the country"(same post by Don Roley).
So, there's really no need for false titles, etc.. If the titles are appropriate, please state the facts.

hoshizawa
11th February 2008, 16:17
Totally unrelated, lol.

The link here:

2. Living National Treasure- As Don Roley writes:"Hatsumi is not a living national treasure." here:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sho...t=14510&page=2

Just bursted a major artery in my head, need to go to hospital now, lol.

Sorry I just had to after reading further into the posts there.

Ciao,

Lee