1 AUG 2025
I sometimes get asked whether Togakure Ryu is really an old style of Ninjutsu. Some folks might say things like Takamatsu-sensei "made it all up," because 1,000 years of unbroken lineage to a line of assassins who dress in all black and throw shuriken like confetti is honestly a stretch. And if that's how you see it, I can totally understand! I dont think it's 1,000 years old, either. I don't know when it started, but Togakure Ryu is not a modern invention.
First, there's a lot of history and culture that I honestly do not know! But, I do know that a lot of absolutely legit old Japanese martial arts have some kind of mythological written history with a founder that trained under demons because he's the Main Character™ of Budo! Also, I can see how it's a bit of a stretch to think that we have 1,000 years of accurate, unbroken Ninjutsu history when more recent figures like Bruce Lee and Helio Gracie already have wild myths and marketing surrounding them and their modern totally legit martial arts systems.
I do follow Sean Askew's pursuit for verifiable Ninpo history, though, and he's a real smart dude! Through his website, I know that the Toda family (Takamatsu-sensei's ancestors), and their family martial arts and their battles exist on written record. That record shows them using the right stealthy tactics in the right region of 1500s Japan. It might not look like the popular image of a shadowy figure weaving hand signs, but it does look like the ancestors to the martial arts I'm practicing now were using the same principles back then, too.
Martial arts, the Bujinkan Dojo included, are often packaged with a ton of half-truths that you have to sort through when getting into it. After sorting those for myself, I do know that the principles Toda Katsunori was using 500 years ago, and the tactics Takamatsu-sensei was using 100 years ago, and the techniques from Soke I've been using in my own lived experience all tend to line up properly. The only thing that's really changed is the times, and it's the job of the living to account for that.