Masaaki Hatsumi was born in December 1931 in Noda city, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He grew up with an avid love of the martial arts and in his youth studied many martial art styles. Hatsumi began practicing when he was seven years old and found his fathers Bokuto ("wooden sword"). From that point on he began studying many popular Japanese martial arts and earned ranking in Karate, Aikido and Judo. After he attained a 4th degree Black Belt in Judo he was asked to teach at a United States Army base. He was in his early 20s and found that the big Americans seemed to have size and natural ability and Hatsumi found that they were learning in months what took the typical Japanese years. He began to question his training... What good is a martial art if a bigger or stronger person could easily defeat you? Hatsumi began searching for a true warrior tradition.

While studying kobudo ("ancient weapons") with a renowned instructor Hatsumi learned about a teacher named Toshitsugu Takamatsu, of Kashiwabara City which is to the west of the Iga region of Japan. As a last hope of finding a teacher who could impart the essence of a living warrior tradition and not just some recreational sport or lifeless art form, Hatsumi traveled across Honsho island to seek out the teacher he had searched for his whole life.

The train ride took over half a day to get from Hatsumi's home to that of Takamatsu. In 1957, upon meeting Takamatsu, Hatsumi felt a strange aura emanate from him. Takamatsu was well into his 60's when the two met. Hatsumi was only 26 years old . Full of confidence, Hatsumi had a match with the veteran battler and learned the true meaning of training. In Hatsumi's own words:

The pain of his technique was different from any pain I had ever suffered before. I had only felt a cold, momentary pain, while with Sensei I was exposed to a hot, burning pain. It was as if something would explode, if my blood would be sucked up and I would die right away. He didn'tjust apply one GYAKU but four or five. I immediately knew this is what I was looking for. I asked to be his student. At that time, Takamatsu did not accept any new students, and yet, seeing something special in this young man he agreed to teach him. For Takamatsu the meeting was more like a reunion than a first meeting. In a poem to Hatsumi, Takamatsu wrote:

"In the days of the Tenei era there was great master of Koppo.
He was calm and peaceful like the flowers of springtime.
Yet he was so brave that not even 10,000 enemies could make him show fear.
He could even strike down a wild animal with but a single blow."

For over fifteen years Hatsumi trained under the supervision of Takamatsu and in 1972, with the death of his teacher, Hatsumi Sensei became the heir to the last and oldest ninja tradition existing.

Joe Maurantonio was born on a hot New York summer day in the mid-1960's. Maurantonio became interested in the martial arts at a young age. He enjoyed watching martial arts movies and television shows that offered their viewers heroic ideals.

Initially, Mr Maurantonio began training himself by watching martial arts classes, television, friends, relatives, and through reading books. He trained on his own and with friends that had achieved intermediate ranking in karate and judo. He became proficient in nunchaku, tonfa and shuriken through self-instruction. When he went to work with his father he would often watch classes in Tai Chi Chuan and Kung Fu. In the evenings he would practice the moves as he had watched them being corrected.

When he joined high school, it was with the hopes of entering their karate program. Disappointed that the program had been cancelled, Mr Maurantonio found himself lucky to become friends with a practitioner of Kempo Karate. Together the two training in private. Mr Maurantonio and his instructor-friend eventually decided to join an eclectic dojo. After training there for a short time, the instructor was impressed with Mr Maurantonio's nunchaku skill and asked that he instruct several individuals in its use.

It was at that dojo that Maurantonio met one of the most humble and sincere sempai he has ever trained under. To this day, he remembers his first sempai and the training they shared with great fondness.

During his high school years, Mr Maurantonio travelled around visiting other dojo. He saw a variety of martial arts training and went to city/state libraries to research information on various styles. He also spent several hours a week reading about history and culture of Japan (and to a lessor degree, China and India).

During a trip to Hawaii, Mr Maurantonio trained by the ocean, on the beaches and in the nearby woods. He found an interesting book by Andrew Adams called Ninja: The Invisible Assassins and read about two interesting martial arts instructors named Toshitsugu Takamatsu and Masaaki (Yoshiaki) Hatsumi. The book left him wanting much more...

When he returned home, he found several other books on the subject of ninutsu and was very interested in a book called Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art by Stephen K. Hayes. The following year, Mr Maurantonio attended his freshman year at college. It was there that he met the person that would introduce him to Stephen K. Hayes, North America's leading authority on Ninjutsu.

Enjoying the training and insights, Mr Maurantonio focused on learning the martial art that he felt was most appropriate for him. In 1986, over three years after being introduced to Bujinkan ninjutsu, Mr Maurantonio met Masaaki Hatsumi, 34 ^th Soke of Togakure Ryu.

It was also later that year that Mr Maurantonio worked on his first Japanese translation project. Around that time he was published several times in the then-popular Ninja magazing as well as several leisure newspapers.

Mr Maurantonio passed the Godan Shinsa in 1991 and was awarded the title of Shidoshi (teacher of the warrior ways). He has travelled to Asia, Europe and throughout North America to pursue his martial arts training.

Related Credentials: