MAGAZINE ONLINE AJL SEPTEMBRE 2017

Hanshi Abbas Lee Abdul Hussein
Over the centuries, while Ninjutsu was being practiced in Secrecy, no one knew anything about the
Art except the Ninjas themselves. When Japan emerged into the Modern Era and Feudalism
collapsed, the Ninja were absorbed into Japan's secret service and special services
groups.
The martial Arts boom of the 1970's saw two men searching for something
different. Doron Navon and Stephen Hayes found a Ninjutsu Headmaster living
in Japan who came from an unbroken line of Ninja Instructors dating back
almost 800 years. The Art was then brought to the Western World.
When speaking of Ninja, the image of a Black Clad Assassin disappearing in
a cloud of smoke is what comes to mind. This distortion has nothing to do
with the reality of studying Ninjutsu or "Ninpo" in its highest order. Ninpo is a traditional
Japanese Bujutsu Martial Art with a rich and viable History that stretches
back over Ten centuries.
Developed as a highly illegal counterculture to the ruling Samurai Warrior class, Ninpo
still flourishes today under the direct guidance of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, 34th grandmaster of the
Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu tradition and eight other Budo traditions. Dr. Hatsumi is the last variable true Ninja grandmaster having a
direct line of decent from Feudal Japan.