Out of the Shadows

When most people think of Ninjutsu, they think of black-clad warriors with super powers who perform unbelievable feats. The reality of the Ninja is the story of the special forces of feudal Japan, the Navy SEALs of the day.

There are many modern day practitioners of ninjutsu, some come from a solid lineage, while other are ninja in name only. The most recognizable face of modern ninjutsu is that of Stephen K. Hayes, the first American to teach ninjutsu in the west. He is a direct student of Maasaki Hatsumi, 34th soke of the Togakure style of ninjutsu. Mr. Hayes himself has refined this system for the modern landscape to form a system he calls To Shin Do, To-meaning sword, Shin- The spirit of a focused intention, and Do - meaning way of mastery.

Mr. Hayes began referring to his art as To Shin Do because of the negative light that the words ninja, ninpo, and ninjutsu inferred.


Far from the "super art" that is portrayed in the movies, To Shin Do or Bujinkan training is an honest form of the Japanese martial arts , that even for the day of the samurai, was reality based training with the mindset of using what worked and not relying on "rules" to necessarily govern how one defends themselves.

For more info on To Shin Do, visit their website at skhquest.com.