- Masaaki Hatsumi
-
Masaaki Hatsumi Born December 2, 1931 Residence Noda, Chiba, Japan Style Ninjutsu[1] Teacher(s) Toshitsugu Takamatsu Notable students Stephen K. Hayes[2] Masaaki Hatsumi (初見良昭 Hatsumi Masaaki, (born 2 December 1931) calls himself the 34th ninjutsu Soke (Grandmaster), and is the founder of the Bujinkan Organization. He currently resides and teaches in the city of Noda, Chiba, Japan.[3]
Contents
Early years
Beginning in childhood, Masaaki Hatsumi studied several popular martial arts. After teaching martial arts to the U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan he noticed that the larger and stronger Americans had an advantage in bouts when using the same techniques. [4]He began to question the legitimacy of modern martial arts training and started to search for an art where persons of equal skill truly were equals, even if the other one was more muscular. It was after this time, while studying the ancient Japanese weaponry of the Masaki Ryu under Yumio Nawa, that he learned of ninjutsu and a martial artist named Toshitsugu Takamatsu who claimed to be proficient in this art.[5] In 1957 he and Fukumoto Yoshio began making regular trips to train with his new teacher (who resided at the time in Kashiwabara, in Nara), taking a 15-hour train ride from his hometown of Noda in Chiba. This training continued for 15 years until the passing of Toshitsugu Takamatsu in 1972.[6]
Schools
Hatsumi claims that from his instructor he inherited the position of sōke (headmaster) of nine ryū (schools of martial arts):[7][citation needed]
- Togakure-ryū Ninpō (戸隠流忍法)
- Gyokko-ryū Kosshi jutsu (玉虎流骨指術)
- Kuki Shinden Happō Biken jutsu (九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術)
- Kotō-ryū Koppō jutsu (虎倒流骨法術)
- Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentai jutsu (神伝不動流打拳体術)
- Takagi Yōshin-ryū Jūtai jutsu (高木揚心流柔体術)
- Gikan-ryū Koppō jutsu (義鑑流骨法術)
- Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō (玉心流忍法)
- Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō (雲隠流忍法)
Approach
Masaaki Hatsumi focuses the training of the Bujinkan on the "feeling" of technique, or perhaps more accurately, what he terms the feeling of real situations. Hatsumi has a non-standoffish teaching approach, leading Black Belt Magazine to call him "wild, funny, unpredictable, and a cross between Charlie Chaplin and Obi-Wan Kenobi." [8] While technical knowledge of an art is considered important, the direction of this feeling-based approach guides the practitioner towards a "natural understanding" of what links various martial lineages as well as what is most effective in real situations. In addition Bujinkan students do not participate in martial art tournaments because they see their martial art as non-competitive and not a sport.[9]
Films
He has also served as a martial arts advisor to various films and television productions, including the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice,[10] and in the first film from the highly popular Japanese series Shinobi no Mono. He also appeared in and was the stunt coordinator for the Japanese show Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya.[11]
Ninjutsu Lineage
Masaaki Hatsumi's claims to have a lineage related to the historical ninja in Japan are not supported by research independent of his own Bujinkan organization. [12]
The 1963 version of the Bugei Ryūha Daijiten has this to say regarding Takamatsu's Togakure-ryu "this genealogy refers to various written records and oral transmissions and there are many points/places where embellishments have been added and people appearing in the genealogy are also made older than they actually are. Thus the genealogy can be considered to be something that (Toda) Shinryūken newly arranged around the end of the Tokugawa shōgunate.".[13]
Neither Hatsumi, nor his teacher Toshitsugu Takamatsu have been recognized as having any historical relation to ninjas or ninja schools.[14] The Iga ninja museum of Japan lists the only legitimate inheritor of authentic Ninjutsu as Jinichi Kawakami.[15] The Bugeicho (11/1963) editor Kiyoshi Watatani states that Hatsumi's ideas and lineage are only his ideas and that he has no proof to support them[16]. In the words of Donn Draeger:
The late Fujita Seiko was the last of the living ninja ... No ninja exist today—Donn Draeger, Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts, p 130, 1969Awards
- 2001 - Apostolic Blessing, the Vatican.[17]
- 2001 - Lifetime Achievement Award, USMA International Hall of Fame.
- 2003 - Award for the Promotion of Culture (社会文化功労賞), Japan Council (日本文化振興会).[6]
Publications
- Masaaki Hatsumi, The Essence of Budo, The Secret Teachings of the Grandmaster (2011), Kodansha International, 978-4-7700-3107-5
- Masaaki Hatsumi, Unarmed Fighting Techniques of the Samurai (2008), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-3059-7
- Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese Sword Fighting (2006), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2198-4
- Masaaki Hatsumi, Advanced Stick Fighting (2005), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2996-6
- Masaaki Hatsumi, The Way of the Ninja (2004), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2805-1
- Masaaki Hatsumi, Ninpo: Wisdom for Life. 1999, Kihon Press, ISBN 978-1587762062
- Masaaki Hatsumi, Essence of Ninjutsu. The Nine Traditions 1988, Contemporary Books, ISBN 0-8092-4724-0
- Masaaki Hatsumi and Quintin Chambers, Stick Fighting (1981), Kodansha International, ISBN 978-0-87011-475-5
References
- ^ Welzenbach, Michael (1988-04-30). "Japan's Hatsumi Will Highlight Burbank Martial-Arts Event". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-30/news/vw-1804_1_martial-arts-schools. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ Welzenbach, Michael (1988-04-30). "Japan's Hatsumi Will Highlight Burbank Martial-Arts Event". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-30/news/vw-1804_1_martial-arts-schools. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ Bujinkan Hombu Dojo Contact Information
- ^ Adams, Andrew (1970). "Ninja: The Invisible Assassins". Ohara Press. "."
- ^ "Takamatsu: The Man Who Taught Ninjutsu To Today's Ninja Master". Black Belt Magazine. June 1985. "."
- ^ a b (Japanese) 武神館宗家初見良昭師
- ^ Ninpo Wisdom for Life
- ^ Groak, William (August 1986). "Black Belt Times: Ninja Leader Hatsumi Returns to U.S.". Black Belt Magazine: p. 16.
- ^ What is Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu?.
- ^ Masaaki Hatsumi at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Sekai ninja sen Jiraiya at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ http://www.koryu.com/library/ninjutsu.html
- ^ Watatani Kiyoshi and Yamada Tadashi (1963). "Bugei Ryuha Daijiten". Various. pp. 293.
- ^ http://www.bullshido.org/Ninjutsu
- ^ http://iganinja.jp/en/faq/index.html The Iga ninja museam of Japan lists the only legitimate inheritor of authentic Ninjutsu as Jinichi Kawakami.
- ^ Bugeicyo 11/1963
- ^ Apostolic Blessing
External links
Categories:- Japanese martial arts biography stubs
- 1931 births
- People from Chiba Prefecture
- Japanese ninjutsu practitioners
- Living people
- Martial arts school founders
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