NINJA, HEALER, ARTIST, INNOVATOR.
DR. HATSUMI MASAAKI [初見良昭] WAS BORN ON 2 DECEMBER 1931 IN NODA, CHIBA. FROM A YOUNG AGE, HE FOUND AN INDEFATIGABLE PASSION IN MARTIAL ARTS. HE EVEN TAUGHT JUDO TO U.S. SOLDIERS AT THEIR AIRBASE WHILE A STUDENT AT MEIJI UNIVERSITY.
AT THE AGE OF 26, DR. HATSUMI MET LEGENDARY MARTIAL ARTIST, TAKAMATSU TOSHITSUGU [高松寿嗣] and SPENT THE NEXT 15 YEARS UNDER HIS TUTELAGE. BEFORE PASSING AWAY IN 1972, TAKAMATSU-SENSEI BESTOWED UPON DR. HATSUMI THE TITLE OF SOKE OR GRANDMASTER OF 9 ANCIENT MARTIAL ARTS LINEAGES.
BASED ON THE 9 SCHOOLS, DR. HATSUMI CREATED A UNIFIED, MARTIAL ARTS COMBAT SYSTEM, WHICH HE NAMED BUDO TAIJUTSU (THE MARTIAL ART OF NATURAL BODY MOVEMENT).
DR. HATSUMI THEN FOUNDED THE BUJINKAN DOJO [武神館道場] (OR “HALL OF THE DIVINE WARRIOR”) IN HIS HOMETOWN OF NODA. SINCE THE 1970’S, STUDENTS - both domestic and FROM ABROAD - HAVE FLOCKED To noda to TRAIN UNDER dr. hatsumi.
TODAY, THE BUJINKAN IS AN INTERNATIONAL MARTIAL ARTS ORGANISATION THAT NUMBERS OVER 100,000 STUDENTS WORLDWIDE.
WHEN NOT TEACHING IN THE DOJO, DR. HATSUMI HAS WORKED AS A BONE-SETTER IN HIS CLINIC IN NODA, and IS A RESPECTED FIGURE IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. DR. HATSUMI IS AN AVID CALLIGRAPHER & PAINTER, and DURING TRAINING BREAKS, OFTEN SHARES HIS WISDOM and HUMOR WITH HIS STUDENTS THROUGH HIS BRUSHWORK.