Masaaki HatsumiMasaaki Hatsumi (初見良昭 Hatsumi Masaaki, (born 2 December 1931) refers to himself (and is generally recognised) as the 34th Togakure-ryū ninpo Soke

Soke

The word soke has several meanings:* Soke , an early Western jurisdictional concept.* Soke or eke is a Tongan stick dance, originating from Wallis and Futuna., a Japanese title meaning "head of the family," and is usually used to denote the headmaster of a school of Japanese martial arts.* Soke of...

 (Grandmaster

Grandmaster (martial arts)

Grandmaster and Master are titles used to describe or address some senior or experienced martial artists. Such titles may be, to some extent, aligned to the elderly martial arts master stock character in fiction...

), and is the founder of the Bujinkan Organization

Bujinkan

The Bujinkan is an international martial arts organization based in Japan and headed by Masaaki Hatsumi, it is best known for its association with ninjutsu. The system taught by this group, called Bujinkan Budō Tai jutsu, consists of nine separate martial arts traditions .-Origins:Hatsumi's...

. He currently resides and teaches in the city of Noda, Chiba

Noda, Chiba

is a city located in the far northwestern corner Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 155,431 and a population density of 1500 persons per km²...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.
Beginning in childhood, Masaaki Hatsumi studied several popular martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

. After teaching martial arts to the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soldiers stationed in Japan he noticed that the larger and stronger Americans had an advantage in bouts when using the same techniques.