Masaaki Hatsumi
Masaaki Hatsumi (初見良昭
Hatsumi Masaaki, born
December 2,
1931) is the founder and current headteacher of
Bujinkan Dojo martial arts organization.
He graduated from
Meiji University in
Tokyo with a major in theater production, and later opened his own chiropractic clinic in
Noda city.
From his childhood he studied many martial arts, including
judo and western
boxing. During this time, he was instructing American soldiers in the art of judo, and noticed because of size and strength superior to his Japanese comrades, they were learning in months what typically took a Japanese judoka years to master. In this, he began to question himself and his training. It was after this time, he began studying ancient
kobudo weaponry under
Toshitsugu Takamatsu.
In 1957 he began making his weekly trips to train with his new teacher in
Kashiwabara, taking a train ride some several hours one way. He did this every weekend, and was able to train with his
sensei often.
From Takamatsu he inherited the position of
sōke (headmaster) of 9
ryū (schools of martial arts):
*
Togakure-ryū Ninpō Taijutsu (戸隠流忍法"")
*
Gyokko-ryū Kosshijutsu (玉虎流骨指")
*
Kuki Shinden Happō Bikenjutsu (九鬼神伝流八法秘剣")
*
Kotō-ryū Koppōjutsu (虎'流骨法")
*
Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentaijutsu (神伝不動流"拳"")
*
Takagi Yōshin-ryū Jūtaijutsu (高木揚心流""")
*
Gikan-ryū Koppōjutsu (義鑑流骨法")
*
Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō (玉心流忍法)
*
Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō (雲隠流忍法)He has held training seminars for the
FBI,
CIA, the
Mossad and for
police in
Britain,
France and
Germany. He has served as a martial arts adviser to films such as the James Bond thriller
"You Only Live Twice" and the television miniseries
"Shogun." [
1]
Masaaki Hatsumi came to the attention of the western world again when his student
Stephen K. Hayes began appearing in martial art magazines in the late 1970s. The techniques that Hayes demonstrated in these magazines were then referred to simply as the techniques of the
Ninja. Westerners craving knowledge about these ancient systems of self defense sought out the teacher of Hayes and, thus, Hatsumi-sensei was introduced to the west. He first came to the
United States in
1983. He later traveled and taught throughout
Europe.
In the 1990s Hatsumi-sensei began teaching the nine schools under the banner of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. His training began to move from the pre-arranged
kata and
henkas, to teaching to grasp the feeling of a technique instead, to try to feel what makes a technique work under the most dire of situations. This principle is called
shinkengata, and represents life/death situations.
His Bujinkan system is comprised of the nine ryū (schools) listed above, and has a ranking system as follows:
Mukyu (commonly called 10th kyu) - White Belt9th - 1st Kyu - Green Belt (Red and White Patch)1st - 4th Dan - Black Belt, Shidoshi-ho (Black and Red Patch with Stars)5th - 9th Dan - Black Belt, Shidoshi (Black and Red Patch with White Border, and Stars)10th - 15th Dan - Black Belt, Shihan (Green and Orange Patch, with Stars)
Some of his more well-known senior students include:
*
Toshiro Nagato 15th Dan, Japan
*
Isamu Shiraishi 15th Dan, Japan
*
Pedro Fleitas 15th Dan, Spain
*
Steffen Frohlich 15th Dan, Germany
*
Bud Malmstrom 10th Dan (Judan Kugyo), Georgia
*
Bonnie Malmstrom 10th Dan, Georgia
*
Fumio Manaka 10th Dan, Founded the Jinenkan Dojo in 1996, Japan
*
Brinley Morgan 15th Dan, Manchester, England
*Roy Wilkinson 14th Dan (Judan Fugyo), Georgia
*
Greg Kowalski 14th Dan, Connecticut
*
Jack Hoban 15th Dan, New Jersey
*
Sveneric Bogsäter 15th Dan, Sweden/Holland
*
Stephen K. Hayes 10th Dan, Founder of Toshindo and Quest Centers, Ohio
*
Arnaud Cousergue 15th Dan, France
*
Bernard Grégoire 10th Dan, Canada
*
Phil Legare 15th Dan, 10th Dan Shinkenjutsu, Japan
*
Christian Petroccello 15th Dan, Argentina
*
Joe Maurantonio 10th Dan, New York
*
Ed Martin 15th Dan, Pennsylvania
*
Richard Van Donk 15th Dan, Soke of Decuerdas Escrima, California
*
Jeff Mueller 10th Dan, Maryland
*
Rafael Antonio Franco 10th Dan, Venezuela
*
Bo Munthe 9th Dan, first European to spread Ninjutsu in Europe. Sweden
*
Shoto Tanemura 8th Dan, Founded Genbukan Dojo in 1984, Japan
*
Sean Askew 10th Dan, Kentucky
*
David Dow 10th Dan, California
*Joel Everett 10th Dan, California, Youngest American to receive rank of Shihan
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AP HANS GREIMEL Last ninja: ‘Be able to kill your students'
