MASAAKI HATSUMI
Masaaki Hatsumi is the founder of Bujinkan, and the current grandmaster. He resides in Japan.
Hatsumi began his training under Ueno Chosui, before meeting Ueno?s teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. Hatsumi was accepted as Takamatsu’s student, and spent fifteen years on Honshu Island learning from Takamatsu.
Before Takamatsu died, he bestowed on Hatsumi “all the art of the nine schools”, and the grandmaster’s scrolls. Hatsumi then went on to found the Bujinkan Dojo in Japan.
Hatsumi focusses on the ‘feeling’ of technique, or what he terms the feeling of real situations.
Source: Wikimedia.org
THE WISDOM OF HATSUMI
“The first priority to the ninja is to win without fighting.”
“When weak or injured always continue training as you should always be able to adapt in any condition.”
“Forget your sadness, anger, grudges and hatred. Let them pass like smoke caught in a breeze. Do not indulge yourself in such feelings.”
“Always be able to kill your students.”
“Learning a technique is not an end in itself, it merely indicates where you need to start.”
“Any place we can breathe, we can do Ninjutsu.”
“Most people spend their time finding fault in the action of others, rather than their own.”
“There is no perfect technique. Just when you think you’ve got them, you’re dead because you didn’t.”
“If you do something and it saves your life, it was good taijutsu. In a real fight, you aren’t worried about what’s pretty.”
“To discover the truth, to achieve. a higher spiritual state, that is the true meaning of ninja.”
“You are not just fighting one opponent. You are fighting the unknown.”
“Those who desire only techniques will never understand this art. It is everything beyond that.”
“Move with your feet, the hands will follow.”
“The simplest is always the most difficult.”
“Separate yourself from the technique; separate yourself from yourself.”
“You must strive to cut out unnecessary movement. Waste in movement is wrong and will get you killed.”
“It is important to practice so your movement is the minimum necessary to complete its task.”
“Focus on the future for 50%, on the present for 40%, and on the past for 10%.”