Shin gan

  

shin shin shin gan ability  

(God's eyes, God's mind)

The style of Togakure-ryū has been described by its practitioners as being less restricted into certain training regimens like other styles and instead encourages questions and individual, personal training. One of the main goals of the training is to teach students the ability of shin shin shin gan (God's eyes, God's mind) so that they can learn to properly know their opponents and defend themselves.

The historical claims stated by Masaaki Hatsumi and his Bujinkan organization have been disputed, as there is little evidence to corroborate the history as it is told. TheBugei Ryūha Daijiten has claimed that embellishments were made to the history, changing the age of things to make the school appear older than it is.

Bujinkan sources indicate that Takamatsu became well known throughout China and Japan for his martial arts abilities and also his knowledge from studying Ninjutsu that he then imparted to various Chinese nobles. Passing on the title of Sōke to Masaaki Hatsumi (the stated 34th Sōke) it was Hatsumi who took the style public, which has resulted in the high amount of media and public attention on ninjas in the Western world. Masaaki also went on to found the Bujinkan, an international martial arts organization, in Noda, Chiba. The group combines modern Togakure-ryū and the eight other martial arts styles.

Training areas

There are 18 training areas that modern Togakure-ryū focuses on. The areas are constantly updated to remain relevant to modern threats that practitioners will need to face. The Togakure ryu Ninjutsu Hidensho is a Japanese manuscript written by Takamatsu, in the possession of Masaaki Hatsumi, that documents modern Togakure-ryū. The document is purported to contain the origin of the "18 Skills of Ninjutsu". Modern Togakure-ryu is taught in the syllabi of the Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenkan, and To-Shin Do.

The training areas include:

• Seishin teki kyoyo (spiritual refinement)
• Tai jutsu (unarmed combat)
• Kenjutsu (sword techniques)
• Bo-jutsu (stick and staff fighting)
• Shuriken-jutsu (throwing blades)
• Yari-jutsu (spear fighting)
• Naginata-jutsu (halberd fighting)
• Kusari-gama (chain and sickle weapon)
• Kayaku-jutsu (fire and explosives)
• Henso-jutsu (disguise and impersonation)
• Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
• Ba-jutsu (horsemanship)
• Sui-ren (water training)
• Bo-ryaku (strategy)
• Chōhō (espionage)
• Intonjutsu (escape and concealment)
• Ten-mon (meteorology)
• Chi-mon (geography)