Taikai USA is an annual event, a continuation of Soke Hatsumi’s work in traveling and teaching the art of ninjutsu / Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. Taikai USA brings together instructors at the highest level to share their insights into this fascinating and unique martial art. It has been a great success, celebrating its 8th year in 2015.
Thanks from the staff and Committee to everyone who’s been an instructor so far:
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Mike Asuncion
Mike Asuncion started training in the Bujinkan martial arts in 1985, having first studied the martial arts of the Philippines (Doce Pares Arnis) at the age of ten. He also studied both western boxing and wrestling while at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As the head instructor of the UM Bujinkan since 1994, he very frequently travels to Japan to continue his personal training with Hatsumi Massaki Sensei, Bujinkan Soke.
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Jeff Christian
Jeff started training in the Bujinkan in 1983 and is ranked 15th dan. He currently works as a personal trainer in NYC and is the head instructor of Muzosa Bujinkan Dojo. In addition to running the largest Bujinkan dojo in NYC, he also teaches seminars across the country.
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Chuck Cory
Chuck Cory holds numerous awards, is listed in Who’s Who, and continues to travel worldwide for training and teaching. With over 39 years of martial arts experience, he holds black belts in over 10 martial arts (instructor rank in 4). Mr. Cory has taught the ‘Art of Safety’ at a federal level, military level, college level, and to women & children. His school in Irvine, California, continues to teach classes for the blind, deaf, injured, mute, students in wheelchairs, children with autism, ADD, Aspergers Syndrome, and more. Having been featured internationally on the History Channel, he continues to teach physical, psychological, and emotional self-defense through Bujinkan Budo.
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Sheila Haddad
Sheila Haddad has been training and teaching martial arts internationally since 1989 and is a global keynote instructor. She holds a 15th degree black belt (Judan Kugyo) in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu/Ninjutsu under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi, as well as black belt degrees in several other arts. Sheila also teaches self defense workshops of all levels for girls, teenagers and adult women. In addition to the physical, Sheila focuses on the psychological aspects of trauma and abuse, broadening awareness, developing intuition and sensitivities for prevention purposes. Sheila is an Executive Board Member of the American Women’s Self Defense Association and a member of the National Women’s Martial Art Federation.
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Karl Koch
Shihan Karl Koch is a 15th Dan in Budo Taijutsu and an authorized instructor of the Bujinkan Dojo of Japan. He is founder of the Blacksburg Bujinkan Shibu, the Virginia Tech Ninjutsu Club, and the Hidden Mountain Bujinkan Dojo. Although his three decades of experience in martial arts have emphasized eastern styles, his diverse background also includes western styles such as wrestling, archery, fencing, boxing, medieval infantry combat, and Native American weaponry and traditions. In 1981, he began studying the teachings of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi and began training almost exclusively in the Bujinkan in 1983. In 1996, he passed his 5th Dan test and was accepted as a personal student of Dr. Hatsumi and continues to travel regularly to Japan to train with him.
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Cathy Lewis
Cathy has been involved in martial arts for over 26 years. She has studied and taught kids and adults in Bujinkan Budo for over 19 years. She is a 15th Dan, and has traveled nationally and internationally since 1991. She regularly travels to Japan to study under the Bujinkan Soke, Massaki Hatsumi.Cathy teaches at Lifeskills Martial Arts in Irvine, CA. USA. She is certified as a Hatha Yoga Instructor and in Usui Reiki. She is involved with KidSafe911, SafetyHands Self Defense Tool and is a Board Member of the Association of Women’s Self Defense Advancement.
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Bud Malmstrom
Bud Malmstrom began his martial art training in Bujinkan Taijutsu in 1976, and is Judan Kugyo under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi. Bud Malmstrom has instructed seminars all over the world. He and the Bujinkan Atlanta Dojo have been featured on the TV show 20/20 and have been the focus of local and international news documentaries. Mr. Malmstrom has been on the covers of Black Belt and other martial arts magazines, has published numerous articles on the essence of the martial arts. He has also authored a book on Warriorship.
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Ed Martin
Ed is a retired TWA pilot and so he travels and trains students worldwide. He returns to Japan each spring and winter for advanced instruction. As a teacher of ninjutsu, he was asked to pen a local newspaper’s column on self defense. Noted for his prose, he was asked to become editor of a community newsletter, The East Penn Commentator. Among many other endeavors to his credit, Ed produced a video tape entitled Self Defense for Everyone. This earned an award of merit from Masaaki Hatsumi and a suggestion by ninjutsu’s Grandmaster to make a sequel.
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Natascha Morgan
Natascha Tomarkin Morgan is one of a handful of Bujinkan women to hold the rank of 15th Degree Black Belt, having trained in the martial arts since she was 5 years old when she studied Judo in Bern, Switzerland, her native home. In the past 18 years she has traveled the world extensively, studying and teaching Budo and self-protection skills. In New Zealand she was recognized as a true warrior by the Maori people and given the Maori name for “Woman of Strong Spirit.” In Africa she has lived in the bush, honing her survival skills and studying the wild animals, and has taught self-defense to schoolgirls in South African townships. Fluent in four languages, she continues to travel, teaching her own unique forms of self-defense to women’s groups, rape crisis counselors, martial artists, and police personnel around the world, while also returning to Japan each year to further her own Budo training.
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Moti Nativ
Moti Nativ is head of Bujinkan Israel and former Chairman of the Israeli presidium of the International Budo Academy. He has been in martial arts since 1966 and in the Bujinkan since 1975. Moti has taught martial arts since 1979 including: Self-defense (Krav-maga), Judo, and Budo Taijutsu. Over the past 10 years Moti has specialized in the traditional kata of the Bujinkan schools and in performing the Shingen-gata. Moti is also an internationally-known Feldenkrais teacher, and he specializes in seminars for martial artists. Moti is a retired colonel of the Israeli Defense Forces and Judan Kugyo in Bujinkan.
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Kevin Schneider
Kevin Schneider is the chief instructor for the Bujinkan Akahige Dojo. He began studying the martial arts in the early 1970s. He began his study of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu in 1981. He first met grand-master Hatsumi Masaaki in September, 1982. Kevin began traveling to Japan in 1987 and became a direct student of Dr. Hatsumi and a member of the Shidoshi-kai in that year. Following directions from Hatsumi-sensei, he returned to United States and established the Bujinkan Akahige Dojo. Kevin became a licensed senior instructor (Shidoshi) in the Bujinkan system in 1991. In addition to Budo Taijutsu, he has studied Tomiki-ryu aikido, Chinese Kung-fu, and Kodokan Judo. He is a program manager for a telecommunications company and volunteers as a Firefighter/EMT. According to his wife, his most dangerous weapon is his set of bagpipes, which he does not play very well.
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Larry Turner
Larry Turner has been training in the Bujinkan since 1980. Traveling regularly to Japan since the late 1980s to study with Masaaki Hatsumi and the various Shihan, he is ranked 15th Dan in the Bujinkan. Larry teaches in Miamisburg, Ohio and at seminars around the country.
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Roy Wilkinson
Roy Wilkinson has completed 43 years of martial arts training in Bujinkan Ninpo Taijutsu, and is Judan Kugyo in the Bujinkan system. Roy has given numerous seminars in the United States and Europe, both within the Bujinkan and for other martial arts systems, and is the chief instructor of the Atlanta Bujinkan Dojo. He has trained current and former law enforcement, security, and military personnel, in addition to civilians from all walks of life, and has presented self-protection and women’s self-defense programs for both professional and collegiate audiences. Mr. Wilkinson has appeared in several European and American martial arts magazines, and was featured in the groundbreaking documentary on ninjutsu, Heart, Sword, Perseverance.
