Dr Masaaki Hatsumi is the Soke or Grandmaster of the nine schools of the Bujinkan Dôjô. This title was passed to him in the late 1960's/70's by the previous Soke, Toshitsugu Takamatsu Sensei, who died on April 2nd, 1972. Hatsumi Sensei is the 34 grandmaster in an unbroken chain stretching back almost 1000 years, although many of the different Ryu stretch even further, and have Chinese ancestory. Soke Hatsumi was born in Noda City, Japan, where he still lives, on December 2, 1931. The title of the school Hatsumi founded in the late seventies is the Bujinkan Dôjô. This means Divine Warrior School, or Hall of the Warrior Spirit, and is named in honour of the previous Soke, Toshitsugu Takamatsu Sensei.  Before meeting Takamatsu Sensei, Hatsumi Sensei was already an accomplished martial artist, holding a 4th Dan in Judo and numerous other dan grades in arts such as Aikido, Kendo, Karate and boxing

"I taught judo in the US Army Base when I was in my early 20's, where I enjoyed throwing those big Americans," he says in his book, Ninja Submission. "However, one soldier held my arm with a waza similar to Onikudaki. I pretended it was nothing, but I knew he beat me. Since those guys actually fought in the war, they must have studied various waza."

"From that experience, I started to doubt what I had been doing." Hatsumi journeyed from Noda to Kashihara city to meet a budo sensei he had heard of called Master Takamatsu. "Though he was in his 70's, I was thrown about like a child, even though I was 26 years old and full of confidence."

Hatsumi Sensei trained with Takamatsu for over 15 years before being granted the title of Soke, or grandmaster, of many of the schools Takamatsu held title to.

Now every year, Hatsumi sensei sets a 'theme' he will follow in his teachings, usually a combination of unarmed combat, or taijutsu, and one of the many weapons of the Bujinkan. In previous years, Hatsumi Sensei has taught weapons and unarmed combat drawn from all nine of the ryuha, or schools, he holds title to, rather than from any single school, but from 1998 on, he started to focus on one ryu each year, starting with Shinden Fudo Ryu, or 'School of the Immovable Heart.'

This year, 1999, Hatsumi Sensei has chosen to teach Kukishinden Ryu, or the 'School Handed Down From The Nine Demon Gods.' This is one of the oldest schools in the Bujinkan and is widely respected in Japan for its seminal influence on other martial arts. It is a complete school, meaning it includes taijutsu unarmed combat, an unparalleled system of stick and staff fighting and sword fighting as well.

The founder of this school was a guard named Yakushimaru Kurabito Takamasa, who was awarded the name 'Kuki' because of his exceptional skill. Traditionally, the school was practiced by naval warriors, with the result that many of the stances used are unusually low, in order to give greater stability and balance on boats.