MASAAKI HATSUMI
Beginning in childhood, Masaaki Hatsumi studied many of the more popular martial arts, including judo, karate and western boxing. While instructing American soldiers in the art of judo, he noticed that because of their superior size and strength, the Americans were learning in months what typically took a Japanese practitioner years to master. As a result, he began to question the legitimacy of modern martial arts training. It was after this time, while studying ancient Japanese weaponry, that he learned of a martial artist named Takamatsu Toshitsugu. After spending many years mastering Takamatsu’s deadly and frightening techniques of a style called Ninpo, Hatsumi was then ready to teach his newly mastered ninjutsu skills to the modern world.
Unlike many martial arts and their instructors, Masaaki Hatsumi focuses the training of the Bujinkan on what he terms the “feeling” of technique, or perhaps more accurately, what he terms the feeling of real situations. While technical knowledge of an art is considered important, the direction of this feeling-based approach guides the practitioner towards what he considers a “natural understanding” of what links various martial lineages as well as what is most effective in real situations.
Masaaki Hatsumi’s experiences include holding training seminars for law enforcement organisations worldwide, including the FBI, CIA, Mossaud and for the police forces in Britain, France and Germany. He conducted bi-annual training seminars throughout North and South America, Europe, Oceania and Africa. In Britain he was given a Minister of Culture Award, a Metropolitan Police Award, Environment Agency Letter of Appreciation, London Summit Secrecy Institution Chairman’s Award and certificates of friendship with the S.A.S., Royal Marines and the Royal Navy.
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