In 1972, Toshitsugu Takamatsu, the 33rd Soke of the Togakure Ryu Ninja died. He passed on the title of Soke to his student and protege M. Hatsumi. To honor his teacher, the new Soke named his school Bujinkan Dojo. Bujin means divine warrior and kan means hall. In this school he taught a small group of tough, dedicated students the art of the ninja.

In the mid 70's Hatsumi Sensei started a group called the Shidoshi-kai. This group of students were charged with going out and teaching the fundamentals of the arts. Each was given a hand-made book called "Tenchijin Ryaku No Maki," that served as a list of technical basics and a certification of authority to teach. The new teachers were told to develop their own curriculum for teaching the art. Each was given total independence as far as interpretation and emphasis of the material in the book. Stephen K. Hayes, the only westerner in the original Shidoshi-kai, was charged with taking the information outside of Japan to share it with the world.

Being Japanese, all the other original members of the group could use their own name for their school, for example, Bujinkan Manaka Dojo. Shidoshi Hayes did not like the sound of a western name mixed with Japanese words, as in Bujinkan Hayes Dojo, so he decided to use the name Bujinkan Kasumi-An Dojo. Kasumi means "haze" in Japanese, a play on words.

After Shidoshi Hayes' return from Japan, he started teaching this art around the world. He attracted many students, and the great western ninja boom started. Spending thousands of hours teaching classes, workshops and seminars, Shidoshi Hayes' refined his curriculum to be a very efficient way of teaching westerners the art described in the "Tenchijin Ryaku No Maki," and taught to him by Hatsumi Sensei.

As time went by, and the art grew, students became teachers. Students who studied with Shidoshi Hayes long enough qualified to use the Bujinkan Kasumi-An curriculum, if they wanted to. Some of the early students, such as Bud Malstrom and I decided to. Some of Shidoshi Hayes' students, such as Jack Hoban, decided to write their own. Now we are up to the 4th generation of some of these student teachers, so the art has become very diverse.

Hatsumi Sensei has given the instructors of the world something. The freedom to teach as they like. Whether it is a gift or a curse is up to each instructor. Each student needs to consider that when training at any dojo, including mine.

"We are each given a book of rules, and box of tools, and a shapeless mass. It is up to each of us to decide whether they will build a stepping stone, or a stumbling block." - unknown author

Jean-Pierre Seibel is the Dojo Cho of New York Budo, a Manhattan-based martial arts school teaching the techniques of the Togakure Ryu Ninja. He may be contacted via E-mail at: NYBUDO@aol.com.