The Bujinkan Dojo was founded by Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi and named in honour of his teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. The name Bujinkan can roughly be translated as Palace of the Divine Warrior.
The Bujinkan principally teaches the nine schools of traditional Japanese martial arts that Hatsumi Sensei inherited from his teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu.
Many of these old traditional styles (Koryu) were often lost or forgotten after the practice of martial arts in Japan was banned during the post World War II occupation. However, a few dedicated masters manged to keep some of these schools alive during this difficult period. We are indeed very fortunate in that nine such schools have been passed down to us today in the Bujinkan.
Each of these nine schools has it’s own particular characteristic or way of movement, and contain techniques for use with and without weapons, some of which are unique to some of the schools.
Several of the schools in the Bujinkan are related to one another and some share similar histories. Some of the schools histories date back almost 900 years.
The schools of the Bujinkan are:
- Togakure-ryu Ninpo/Ninjutsu
- Gyokko-ryu Kosshi-jutsu
- Kukishinden-ryu Happo Hiken
- Koto-ryu Koppo-jutsu
- Gikan-ryu Koppo-jutsu
- Shindenfudo-ryu Dakentai-jutsu
- Gyokushin-ryu Ninpo/Ninjutsu
- Kumogakure-ryu Ninpo/Ninjutsu
- Takagi Yoshin-ryu Jutai-jutsu