Maasaki Hatsumi

Born in Noda City Japan, Chiba prefecture December 2, 1931. Hatsumi graduated fromMeiji University of Medicine in Tokyo, as a Home Tzugi (Osteopathic Doctor)with a major in theatre studies. He is respected as an accomplished practitionerof the ancient Japanese medical techniques of Seikotsu (natural healing), inaddition Dr. Hatsumi is an accomplished artist of brush and ink, in the Nihonjastyle. His art work has been exhibited in the Nagai Gallery of Tokyo and inParis, France.
Masaaki Hatsumi spent his youth training in a number of martial arts amongstwhich he was highly accomplished in judo, karate, aikido, traditional budo andwestern boxing.
During this early period he was assigned to teach judo at an American airforce base near Tokyo. It was here that he came upon the truth that the largerand more athletic Americans could achieve in a very short time what wouldtake the smaller Japanese years of study. He thought, «What good is afighting system where victory is decided mostly on size and strength»He then started searching for the kind of Budo that did not depended on thesize, strength of the opponent in order to win. It was during this searchthat he heard of a great martial artist from Nara in the West of Japan knownas Toshitsugu Takamatsu.

When Hatsumi first met his future teacher he said he felt stuck by the presenceof this powerful man and that for the first time he had the feelingThat allthe martial arts training he learned before » was a waste of time.»Through this encounter Hatsumi would take the night train of Saturday eveningto arrive Sunday morning every week for his apprenticeship in the nine lineageshe would later inherit as soke.