If your image of Ninjutsu comes from films, anime, or video games — set that aside for a moment. The real Japanese warrior art looks very different. Quieter, deeper, and rooted in spiritual disciplines that pre-date the samurai.
What you'll find here is the Ninjutsu of the Taguchi lineage: a living transmission from Grandmaster Taguchi Sensei, whose direct successor I am.
What the Taguchi lineage carries
The Taguchi-Ryu Ninjutsu (Nyoken Nyohen Jutsu) is a complete warrior path. It binds together three streams that older Japanese sources knew as one:
- Ninjutsu — the warrior arts of Iga and Kōga
- Wing Chun — Chinese close-range combat that flowed into Japan
- Escrima — Filipino weapon arts that entered through trade routes
And it carries Kuji Kiri as its spiritual spine — the nine seals as a daily practice, not a stage effect.
The four core disciplines
The art is structured around four central disciplines:
- Taijutsu — empty-hand body art
- Kenjutsu — the sword
- Enbojutsu — the long staff
- Tantojutsu — the short blade
Each one is taught as both technique and as a doorway into the spirit-dimension of the warrior.
Body, weapons, mind
The body work begins with Taihenjutsu (rolling, falling, body-positioning), Jūnan Taisō (flexibility-conditioning), and Taijutsu (empty-hand combat). The weapons train sword, staff, half-staff, short blade, and stick. The mind work is Kuji Kiri — and through it, the connection with the spirits that the older lineages always knew.
Bujinkan and the Taguchi lineage
People sometimes ask how the Taguchi lineage relates to Bujinkan. The short answer: they are two valid paths to Ninjutsu, with different historical roots, different emphases. The Taguchi line preserves a stream that runs through the synthesis of Ninjutsu, Wing Chun and Escrima — and which keeps Kuji Kiri at its spiritual core.