Welcome to Bujinkan
Welcome to the Bujinkan Yamaneko Dojo in Tucson, Arizona! Here you can learn all there is to get you started training in one of the last, remaining true martial arts. Budo Taijutsu is the complete martial art, incorporating strikes, grappling and weapons to form a complete package.
The Bujinkan Yamaneko Dojo in Tucson was founded in 1990 by Shihan Prather under full charter from Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi. Shihan Prather has been a personal student since 1984.
Yamaneko News
The Bujinkan Yamaneko Dojo Turns 20! 1990-2010
This year the Bujinkan Yamaneko Dojo celebrates twenty years of warrior arts and service to life and freedom! I thank my teacher Hatsumi-Soke for his kind generosity to me over the past 25 years, and I congratulate my deshi for their dedication and sacrifice. Last year alone, several students told us how training had literally saved their lives or the lives of their loved ones. There is no higher calling in budo than to the service of life and freedom. This is the essence of magakoro, the warrior heart of strength and compassion. And none are better nor more dedicated to it than the Bujinkan Yamaneko Dojo. The last 20 years have been great. The next 20 will be even better. Gambatte!
-Shihan Jeffrey Prather, 15th Dan
What is a Traditional Dojo?
By definition, dojo means “place of the way”, or “place for seeking the way”. And what THAT means is a dojo is more than just a practice hall; it is an institution for bettering oneself through effort and determination.
One of the most dominant characteristics of a traditional dojo is the emphasis placed on serious self defense and combat. No matter how graceful or beautiful an art, the techniques MUST boil down to stark effectiveness.
Almost as important as technique is the development of character. While some fighting styles in the modern world are indeed effective, they lack a sense of deeper personal perfecting that is a trademark in traditional arts. This is not a critique on either traditional or nontraditional – simply an observation about priorities.
Traditional dojo are often austere places that utilize methods handed down over many generations. However, as time moves on, teachers find what space they can to offer their arts. To determine if you are in a traditional dojo, you need to examine the mindset of the place more than the walls. And part of that mindset involves formality.
Excerpt from Matthew Apsokardu's book "Surviving A Traditional Dojo"