Hombu Dōjō classes for 2023

The classes schedule in Hombu Dōjō have been announced for 2023. This schedule will come into effect early January and will remain as such until further notice.

Classes will be taught by SAKASAI Norio, Sōke of Takagi Yōshin Ryū and Gikan Ryū, FURUTA Kōji, Sōke of Kumogakure Ryū, NAGATO Toshirō, Sōke of Shinden Fudō Ryū, NOGUCHI Yukio, Sōke of Koto Ryū, ISHIZUKA Tetsuji, Sōke of Gyokko Ryū), Dai Shihan SOMEYA Ken'Ichi, Dai Shihan NAGASE Hiroshi, Dai Shihan TEZUKA Wataru, and Dai Shihan Paul MASSE.

Sixth Anniversary of our Dōjō

On 18 March, we celebrated the sixth Anniversary of Bujinkan Fudō-Myōō Dōjō at Kinoya.

Most students made it and we also celebrated some new ranks acquired. Gambatte Kudasai!

Happy 90th Birthday Sōke

On 2nd December 2021, the whole Bujinkan community celebrated Hatsumi Sensei's 90th birthday, although the pandemic still does not allow for free travel to Japan and Hombu Dōjō is still closed for training.

On this picture (courtesy of Dai Shihan Paul Masse), Hatsumi Sensei (sitting), Sōke of Bujinkan, is surrounded by the nine Ryūha Sōkes (standing). From left to right: Tsutsui Takumi (Togakure Ryū), Iwata Yoshio (Kukishin Ryū), Sakasai Norio (Takagi Yōshin Ryū and Gikan Ryū), Furuta Kōji (Kumogakure Ryū), Kan Junichi (Gyokushin Ryū), Nagato Toshirō (Shinden Fudō Ryū), Noguchi Yukio (Koto Ryū) and Ishizuka Tetsuji (Gyokko Ryū).

Shinden Fudō Ryū cycle

Bujinkan Fudō-Myōō Dōjō is proud to announce that Dai Shihan Ivan Marovic will be delivering an advanced class every Friday from 12 noon to 1:30 PM in our Dōjō. WhatsApp Fred to register your interest. Ivan started his Bujinkan journey in Serbia in 2000, as a student of Dai Shihan Mirko Ostojic, and founded the Bujinkan Ryōto Dōjō in Belgrade, Serbia; and in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

For the next couple of weeks, Dai Shihan Ivan Marovic will explore the feeling of Shinden Fudō Ryū ("The Tradition of the Immovable God School"). This school is a Daken Taijutsu Ryūha founded during the 12th Century by Izumo Kaja Yoshitero, who studied Chinese Kempo boxing. The school has throws, locks, and very straightforward strikes and kicks that use the body as a striking weapon and often appears hard in application. There are no formal postures in this school as the kamae is in your heart (kokoro no gamae and most techniques start from the natural postures (Shizen or Fudoza). Nagato Toshirō is the 27th Sōke in the lineage of Shinden Fudō Ryū and one of the mentors of Dai Shihan Ivan Marovic.

COVID-19 Advisory - Dōjō reopening

After having been closed for almost five months as part of the precautionary measures to ensure public health, I am delighted to announce the reopening of our Dōjō in line with the direction from UAE authorities and health officials. To ensure you can go back to training in a safe environment:

• We have gone through a full sterilisation programme with high grade disinfectant
• We installed a hand sanitizer station in the changing room
• We have established new procedures, including fogging and sanitization of weapons, tools and accessories after each class
• We will operate at limited capacity, so liaise with your instructor via our WhatsApp group
• You will be temperature checked before entering the Dōjō
• You will be expected to wear a face mask at all times

I am looking forward to seeing you all back at the Dōjō.

Bufū Ikkan!

Fred "Ginkuma" Casagrande

New Dōjō jerseys

Manatee has designed a set of new Dōjō jerseys to wear for training when the gi is not required:

You can also order our incredible Hoodie online!

New Sōke of the Bujinkan Ryūha

On the occasion of Hatsumi Sensei's 88th birthday, he officially passed down the title of Sōke of several of the Ryūha: Tsutsui Takumi is the new Sōke of Togakure Ryū; Kan Jun'ichi is the new Sōke of Gyokushin Ryū; Furuta Kōji is the new Sōke of Kumogakure Ryū; Noguchi Yukio is the new Sōke of Koto Ryū; Ishizuka Tetsuji is the new Sōke of Gyokko Ryū; Nagato Toshirō is the new Sōke of Shinden Fudō Ryū.

Hatsumi Masaaki remains Sōke of Kukishin Ryū, Takagi Yōshin Ryū and Gikan Ryū until further notice. He also remains Sōke of Bujinkan and newly appointed Ryūha Sōke remain Dai Shihan in Bujinkan.

On behalf of Bujinkan Fudō-Myōō Dōjō, I would like to extend our congratulations to all newly appointed Ryūha Sōke, and our best birthday wishes to Hatsumi Sensei!

Shinden Fudō Ryū Daken Taijutsu Seminar

My teacher, Dai Shihan Arnaud Cousergue just finished a two-day seminar on Shinden Fudō Ryū organized with our brother dōjōs from Bujinkan UAE.

Two intense days, filled with kaname, and a lot of learning opportunity for all the students who attended, and it ended with the first Sakki Test given in the country, an unbelievable experience for all of us, and especially for the new Shidōshi (me).

New Website

We have just launched our new website and updated our class schedule. If you are a member of our dōjō and you do not have an active user account, please fill in this form.

Fudō-Myōō

Before our first class was held in Dubai, our mentor, Dai Shihan Arnaud Cousergue calligraphied a Kanji to be inserted in our Kamidana. This Kanji was Fudō-Myōō, a powerful Japanese warrior deity, and one of the five Wisdom Kings.

His name means "immovable protector" and he burns away all impediments and defilements. He carries a rope in his left hand to bind injustice and control violence, and a sword in his right hand to cut through ignorance and illusion. It was decided that he would become our patron deity, and we became the Bujinkan Fudō-Myōō Dōjō.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

• Kimitsuru Sensei (Hatsumi Mariko), 30 August 2020
• Seno Sensei (Seno Hideo), 7 May 2019
• Oguri Sensei (Oguri Koichi), 17 January 2012
• Takamatsu Sensei (Takamatsu Toshitsugu), 2 April 1972

In memoriam.