Masaaki Hatsumi (placeholder)

He is the leader of all the ninja, the grandmaster of bujinkan ninjutsu. He made his teaching and his art available to everyone in the world, not just his home country. I appreciate the courage it took to do this.

I met Doctor Masaaki Hatsumi (soke) in the Summer of 1997 in New Jersey at the 1997 New Jersey Taikai. It was, in short, an amazing experience. Soke’s footwork is so natural and yet so challenging to fathom. Years later, I am still unravelling the lessons from that week. He is truly a gift to humanity.

I admire him for taking a secret art and not letting it die out, but instead sharing it with the entire world.