In August of 2003, 72 year-old Masaaki Hatsumi, the GrandMaster of Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu, left his home in Japan and came to the United States to demonstrate the true art of the ancient Japanese Ninja. Hatsumi’s system is called "Bujinkan" and contains elements of classic combat martial arts, as well as, the mysterious art of Ninjutsu.
This 3 DVD
SET contains the incredible techniques and fighting style of the Ninja, including esoteric weaponry and hand to hand fighting. Hatsumi’s teaching style is very conversational and gives insight into the warrior life philosophy of, perhaps, the most mysterious guerilla fighters who ever lived.
Now at an advanced aged, but still remarkable strong and agile due to decades of his Ninja training, Hatsumi has said that he will never teach again outside of Japan. His retirement from international instruction is the end of an era.
Blackbelt magazine’s 1986 Instructor of the Year, Dr. Hatsumi is best known for "opening the doors" to Ninjutsu to non-Japanese. As GrandMaster of the Bujinkan Dojo, Dr. Hatsumi actively travels the world to share the teachings of Budo Taijutsu as passed to him by his teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. Until 2003, Dr. Hatsumi held two annual international Taikai (gatherings) for training, usually alternating between Europe and the United States. This DVD represents the last of these events.
Dr. Hatsumi founded the Bujinkan, which means "Divine Warrior Hall," in honor of his teacher, Toshitugu Takamatsu. The nine warrior schools of the Bujinkan hail from the ancient battlefields of Japan; six are old samurai schools, the remaining three are schools of the oft-misunderstood Ninja.
These historical roots provide a mine of rich teachings that are equally applicable to modern situations. Dr. Hatsumi teaches the importance of understanding the principles underlying techniques, not just the mechanics—things that will serve the greatest benefit in the flurry of a real fight.
This is the Bujinkan’s biggest draw for tens of thousands of practitioners around the world, many of whom are involved with law enforcement or personal security. Dr.
Hatsumi has penned over a dozen books, and is the former chairman of the Writers Guild of Japan.
Among Dr. Hatsumi’s other many honors are the title of Knighthood from Germany, Honorary Doctorate degrees in both Human Sciences and Philosophy, Honorary Texas Ranger, and numerous Honorable Citizenship awards from locales as close as Los Angeles, California to as far as Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Hatsumi’s work has also been recognized by numerous government and law enforcement officials, such as the FBI and the
NSA. Dr. Hatsumi holds black belts in several arts, including judo, karate, kendo, aikido and
jojutsu, and has studied such western arts as boxing.
He is grandmaster of the following nine schools of the Bujinkan:
