This website has been created to promote enjoyment and practice of the martial arts by sharing insights gained whilst training in Dr Masaaki Hatsumi’s ‘Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu’.

There are nine traditions taught in the Bujinkan Dojo. Each contains a wealth of knowledge about humanity’s most basic instinct: the need to survive! War and peace have gone hand in hand since the dawn of time. Even in today’s ever-changing world, the spirit of the warrior lives on, prevailing through conflict and enduring hardship and yet, through cultivating a benevolent heart, the true warrior aims to bring balance. This balance is vital to fostering peace and mutual understanding and these are important if mankind is to progress to the next level of human development. Justice is the product, happiness the reward.

For martial arts practitioners and non-practitioners alike, I hope that the insights and knowledge shared within will benefit one’s life, leading to a healthier and happier way of living. It is to the testament of the Bujinkan Dojo and the lessons in life-skills taught there that this website is dedicated.

Onmyō is the older Japanese character reading of inyō, more commonly referred to in the West by the Chinese expression “yin-yang”. Meaning ‘shade’ and ‘light’, the concept of Onmyō expands to include female-male, positive-negative, inner-outer and life-death. In fact, it encompasses all of the opposites that are both hidden and seen in the universe and it is cyclical in nature. At a deeper level, it embodies harmony. Essentially, it is to reveal the hidden and to ‘see’ the obvious with fresh eyes and new understanding that we patiently persevere in our training.

Anyone studying martial arts cannot go too far without coming across the significance of Onmyō. It is found in kenjutsu (swordsmanship), sōjutsu (spearmanship) and in kyūjutsu (archery) it has become an obsession. In oriental culture, it is also found in astrology, philosophy, medicine and other sciences.

BuFuSui Ikkan

Andrew J S Young
Shihan, Bujinkan Dojo