Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu
武神館武道体術Japanese organization founded by Hatsumi Masaaki in Noda, Chiba Prefecture. It brings together nine ryuha inherited from his teacher Takamatsu Toshitsugu.
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Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
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About Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu
Bujinkan is a Japanese martial arts organization founded by Hatsumi Masaaki, born in 1931 in Noda, Chiba Prefecture. The year of its founding differs between sources: a 2022 press release from the city of Noda gives 1967, the government magazine Highlighting Japan in 2015 gives 1970 and English Wikipedia gives 1972. According to Green (2001) and the city of Noda, the home dojo is in Noda. According to nippon.com and Highlighting Japan, Hatsumi studied under Takamatsu Toshitsugu. The city of Noda states that in 1958 he took over from him as 34th soke of Togakure-ryu ninpo and inherited nine ryuha in total. Green writes that three of them are ninjutsu and six are other martial traditions, and that practitioners call the system Bujinkan budo taijutsu. According to Hatsumi in an interview for nippon.com, ninjutsu is neither a sport nor a competition and has no rules. We have not found Bujinkan or any of its nine schools in the list of member schools of the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai association.
History
According to nippon.com, Hatsumi Masaaki began studying under Takamatsu Toshitsugu at 27, according to the government magazine Highlighting Japan at 26. According to nippon.com, for another fifteen years, until Takamatsu's death, he travelled almost every week by night train from Noda to Kashihara in Nara Prefecture. According to the same article, Takamatsu, nicknamed the Mongolian tiger, passed nine schools on to him, including Togakure-ryu. Highlighting Japan calls him one of the last leaders of a ninjutsu school and writes that Hatsumi combined ninjutsu with samurai practices into Bujinkan budo taijutsu. The city of Noda names the nine schools: Togakure-ryu Ninpo, Gyokushin-ryu Ninpo, Kumogakure-ryu Ninpo, Gyokko-ryu Kosshijutsu, Koto-ryu Kosshojutsu, Shinden Fudo-ryu Dakentaijutsu, Kukishin-ryu Taijutsu, Takagi Yoshin-ryu Jutaijutsu and Gikan-ryu Kosshojutsu. According to nippon.com, Hatsumi founded Bujinkan in the second half of his thirties and began teaching abroad at fifty, according to the city of Noda first in the USA.
Technique
According to Hatsumi in an interview for nippon.com, the essence of ninjutsu is to sense the opponent's attack, not to evade it by strength or speed. Green (2001) states that in Gyokko-ryu and Togakure-ryu almost all basic techniques are performed with or without a weapon: empty-hand techniques become sword or staff techniques when a weapon is added. According to Green, weapons in the system are understood as tools by Taoist principles, and according to the school's legend the sword is not an object of beauty or worship.
Ranks and progression
According to nippon.com, the highest rank in Bujinkan is 15th dan. In the 5th dan test, the candidate must, according to the article, sense a blow from behind and dodge it. English Wikipedia gives kyu from 9th to 1st and dan up to the 15th grade. According to it, the title shidoshi is held by a 5th dan holder and shihan by a 10th dan holder, and a shidoshi may open a dojo and award grades up to 4th dan.
Today
According to nippon.com, the home dojo is in Noda near Atago station on the Tobu Urban Park line. The training hall has about 50 tatami, and on the day of the 2018 report about one hundred students were training in it, almost ninety percent of them foreigners. Numbers of practitioners differ between sources: Highlighting Japan in 2015 wrote of more than 100,000, nippon.com in 2018 of estimates of 300,000 to 500,000, and the city of Noda in 2022 of a reported 400,000 to 500,000 students in about fifty countries. In 2022 the city of Noda held an exhibition about Hatsumi in which Bujinkan took part. The city describes Ishizuka Tetsuji as dai-shihan of Bujinkan and a direct student of Hatsumi, who joined the Togakure-ryu dojo in February 1966.
Did you know
The city of Noda says Hatsumi holds a 5th dan in Kodokan judo and trained in karate, jukendo, boxing and old schools. It says he appeared in live-action parts of the TV series Shonen ninja Kaze no Fujimaru and Sekai ninja sen Jiraiya. According to nippon.com he is an honorary citizen of Los Angeles and Atlanta, and Highlighting Japan says he taught FBI agents and the British SAS.
Frequently asked questions
When was Bujinkan founded?
Sources differ. A 2022 press release from the city of Noda gives 1967, the government magazine Highlighting Japan gives 1970 and English Wikipedia gives 1972.
How many grades does Bujinkan have?
According to nippon.com, the highest grade is 15th dan. English Wikipedia also gives kyu from 9th to 1st below the dan grades.
Is Bujinkan an old Japanese school (koryu)?
We have not found Bujinkan or any of its nine schools in the list of member schools of the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai association. Green (2001) states that three of the nine schools are ninjutsu and six are other martial traditions.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.