34th Grandmaster Togakure-ryu Ninpo
Hatsumi Yoshiaki was born December 2nd, 1931 in Noda (Just North of Tokyo).He later changed his first given name to Masaaki.
Hatsumi Sensei was introduced to Kendo by his father when he was seven years old. He also studied Judo and Karate. In Junior High School he was a gymnast, boxer, and the Captain of the Junior High School soccer team. He also studied social dancing which he believes helped him with the footwork in his budo training. In his college years he continued to practice Boxing and Judo, he belonged to the Judo and Drama clubs and studied Theatre Arts.
During his studies in Medical School, he received 4th Dan in Judo. He was asked to teach Judo to the American soldiers at the Yokota Army Base, which he accepted. He was in his early 20's and found that the big Americans seemed to have size and natural ability and Hatsumi found that they were learning in months what took the typical Japanese years. He began to question his training... What good is a martial art if a bigger or stronger person could easily defeat you? Hatsumi began searching for a true warrior tradition.
At 26 years old, Hatsumi Sensei met Takamatsu Toshitsugu in Kashiwabara City. Het traveled across Honshu islands every weekend for fifteen years to study with his teacher. The train ride took him over a half day from his home in Noda to Takamatsu's home in ashiwabara. After 15 years of studying, Takamatsu Toshitsugu died 83 years old in his home in Nara (just East of Osaka) April 2'nd in 1972. A few years earlier Takamatsu had already decided that Hatsumi would be the next sole inheritor and "Soke" (Family head) of:
Togakure-ryu Ninpo Happo Hiken, 34th Soke |
Hatsumi Sensei no longer travels outside Japan to teach. In order to train with him you must travel to Japan. He thinks it is very important for all serious practitioners to go to Japan on a regular basis for training. Hatsumi Sensei continues to release videos and books.
Hatsumi Sensei's organization is called "Bujinkan Dojo" (The Divine Warrior God's Place for Training). And the name of our style is generally called "Budo Taijutsu."
