Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster: Revised and Updated Edition [Paperback]

Stephen K. Hayes (Author), Masaaki Hatsumi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

Secrets of the Ninja Grandmaster is a collection of heart-to-heart lessons from ninja grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi to his senior student and first American disciple, Stephen K. Hayes. When this book was first published in 1987, it gave Western martial artists their first chance to learn what the grandmaster himself had to say about the essence of warrior training that emphasized real-world battlefield fighting methods (jissen-gata) - from the use of weapons to ninja invisibility to kuji warrior spirituality - as opposed to art or sport. This important volume is now available once again through Paladin Press, with an all-new epilogue and a techniques section that illustrates various classical ninja fighting defenses. This is essential reading for every martial artist who has ever wanted to go beyond the stereotypical images of the ninja sensationalized in action-adventure movies and gain access to the true secrets of the ninja grandmaster.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen K. Hayes was inducted into the prestigious Black Belt Hall of Fame for his years of pioneering work in introducing the Japanese ninja martial art to the American public. Hayes was awarded the extremely rare Ju-dan Tenth Degree Black Belt license by grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi of Chiba-ken, Japan. He is the founder of the martial art of To-Shin Do, a contemporary mind and body self-protection system based on ancient ninja martial arts principles updated and adapted for application to modern threats and pressures.

Masaaki Hatsumi trained with grandmaster Toshitsugu Takamatsu for 15 years and was granted the title of soke (lineage head) for the nine martial arts that he learned from Takamatsu Sensei. Hatsumi was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1986. His many books on the history, philosophy and methods of the Japanese martial arts have been translated into several languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press; Rev Upd edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581603754
• ISBN-13: 978-1581603750
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,425,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Welcome Return Of An Old Classic, April 14, 2003

By 

Jon F. Merz "http://www.jonfmerz.net" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster: Revised and Updated Edition (Paperback)

Palladin Press has certainly done an outstanding job of reissuing a definite classic in the canon of Ninpo books. The harcover edition is built for endurance, a thankful thing in my dog-eared library of martial arts texts.

If you've never experienced authentic ninjutsu before (because there are certainly plenty of fraudulent hucksters out there purporting to teach the real thing) then this book might confuse you at certain points, given the interesting taped-conversation transcripts that make up the bulk of this tome. At certain times, Hatsumi-sensei seems to say things which are contradictory to other statements he's made in the past. Fools will say this simply proves the man is nothing but a fraud. People who have known Hatsumi-sensei and experienced the true nature of this art will understand that such spoken contradictions are merely another aspect of what may well be the most comprehensive and fascinating system of self protection available anywhere. Hatsumi-sensei teaches quite a lot when he talks...and even more when he doesn't.

Most interesting to me was the updated chapter "Twelve Years later" which brings both Stephen K. Hayes and Masaaki hatsumi together once again in the recently opened Hombu Dojo to discuss the world of their art since the original conversations in 1986. Hatsumi-sensei once again has a great deal of important things to say - things that a lot of people should listen very carefully to. Having been over at the Hombu Dojo with a group of friends back in February of this year made the chapter all the more stirring for me.

There are some illustrated techniques at the end of the book, but the draw for me was to have this book to replace the beaten-to-hell Xeroxed copy I made from another friend's book, since I couldn't find this years ago. I'm glad to have the book itself now, made all the better with the updated chapter and excellent hardcover edition.

Don't miss this book!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you go to the source, be prepared to listen, November 14, 2007

By 

Pen Name - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster: Revised and Updated Edition (Paperback)

On the very front cover of this book, the authors are listed in the order of student-teacher. As a major cultural faux pas, this ought to serve as a warning to what follows inside.

Ostensibly an interview between teacher and student, this book is essentially promotional material for the interviewer. The material is translated and edited in such a way as to give weight to the importance of the interviewer and the answers that the grandmaster provides are so illuminating that one wonders whether he is simply doing his best to correct the misinterpretations that are revealed in the interviewer's questions and responses. An interesting aspect of this book is that the interviewer continually disagrees with his teacher.

If you can skip the self-serving introductions to each chapter and focus on what the grandmaster himself has to say, then you will find that this book can be extremely useful. Nontheless, because of the weight given to the interviewer, common Japanese expressions seem to have been interpreted in such as way as to give the sense that there are only two people in the Bujinkan dojo, which of course is plainly false.

The book's advertised feature is an updated chapter but I'm not sure as to why the interviewer would have even entertained the idea of including it as it only contains more disagreements with the grandmaster as well as a series of complaints and grievances.

Despite all of these flaws (or perhaps because of them) I still found this book enjoyable as it provides a very good example of the grandmaster's approach to answering questions and in spite of the book's editing and translation flaws, this approach is still very much in evidence. Nonetheless, a copy of the original Japanese recordings would go a long way in improving any further editions of this book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Return of a Great Classic, August 6, 2003

By 

matt (the reading room) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets from the Ninja Grandmaster: Revised and Updated Edition (Paperback)

I was delighted to see this in print again. If you have any interest in what the art of ninjutsu is about, this book will give you keen insights and serve as a great teaser to find out if one of hatsumi's students os teaching near you.

One of the catchy characteristics of this book is that is is for the most part the transcript of a meeting that Hayes and his wife had with Hatsumi over 12 years ago, back in 1986. Its new conclusion is a modern transcript of a meeting that the three had a year ago.

You will especially enjoy this book if you have trained with Hatsumi or his more skilled students. I would also recommend his other books, along with Stephen Hayes' books. Please take the time to look into getting Stephen Turnbull's books on Japanese martial arts. They are very well done and well illustrated!

A real gem! Enjoy!