In 1997, Shidoshi Hayes, seeking more control over his students who were leaving him to train under Masaak Hatusmi, founded the martial art of To-Shin Do, an art based in his experience of budo taijutsu and life experiences.
Is there documentation on this? I don't mind leaving it if it can be substantiated, but if not, it's a rather substantial POV statement and should be reverted.--MikeJ9919 20:04, 10 May 2005 (UTC)
Reversions
This article has been replaced by something that is obviously copied from some external source for several times now. This whole thing needs independent references and checking for any violations of POV and AUTO guidelines. jni 10:46, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
Questionable claims
I removed the claim that said Hayes was one of the world's foremost authorities on Buddhist studies. Buddhist studies is a branch of religious studies and to be considered an authority in such field would require one to publish dozens of articles in peer reviewed journals and write a few scholarly treatises. I don't think his books quite match any scholarly standards. I have not seen any indication of Mr. Hayes being anything other than a gifted practitioner of the arts, not their academic researcher.
I have also removed most references to an-shu , a some kind of title whose origins are unknown to me. Either it comes from esoteric Buddhism or is something he coined himself. It certainly is not a title commonly used in Japanese martial arts, so its meaning and origins should be researched for this article. jni 09:22, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
Corrections to blatant lies
I have, on several occassions edited this entry to correct the blatant lies left in it by questionable sources with dubious agendas. An-shu Hayes, I would assume, is the foremost authority on his own life story, and what I am posting is the only entry that has been reviewed and verified by him, and is supported as well by publically available media and publications.
I am working on a more "wikified" version, and until that is finished, out of respect for a living, breathing, person - I would appreciate it if you left this correct, if brief, version in place.
Unverified claims in this article:
- Claim that Masaaki Hatsumi is the 34 sōke of something called Togakure Ryu. Such a claim cannot be verified from any outside-Bujinkan sources, like academic research of Japanese martial traditions. It's worth noting, that in the third edition of the Bugei ryuha daijiten (encyclopedia of martial traditions) Watatani Kiyoshi stated that Toshitsugu Takamatsu (Hatsumi's teacher) had created his "ninpo" ryūha and teachings from "ninja-gokko" ("childhood ninja games").
- Claim that Mr. Hatsumi was able to instruct Mr. Hayes in "last authentic ninjutsu traditions" and that Mr. Hayes is teaching such a tradition (in comparison to his self-created modern martial art).
- That Mr. Hayes is an ordained teacher of some Buddhist sect (I'm not saying he isn't, just need a reference).
- The reference to unknown concept/term an-shu and its constant repetition as a title to Mr. Hayes.
- I dispute that Bujinkan ju-dan is "exceptionally rare" achievement. To my knowledge the Bujinkan system uses 15 ranks, not 10. In any case any extra praise needs to be toned down.
- Was he born in Ohio or in Delaware? Different versions have different information.
Well, pretty much everything else would benefit from additional sources. jni 09:06, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Copyvio
Also, some versions of this article could be thought of copyvios from . The page says they give explicit permission for Wikipedia to reproduce this article, but that is not enough. Our articles must be freely licensable under GFDL to all interested parties, not just wikipedia.org. And of course that external page cannot be used verbatim because it is very much POV and its tone is inappropriate for use in encyclopedia. jni 10:02, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Compromise
Greetings. I've been asked to have a look at the debate here (at least there is one!) and see if I can be of help. I'm glad you are discussing the things here, remembering our assume good faith policy. Hayes is a well known figure, and I don't see that we can't keep most of the info about him. We should have qualifying language for various claims and a more neutral presentation, though. This won't imply that whatever is said isn't true, but it's a larger style issue. In the world of martial arts (especially "secret" martial arts) usually the only source for their pre-20th century histories are the schools themselves. Look at some of out other martial arts bios and you'll see some examples of this. People who are well documented and well regarded, sensationalist martial arts movie stars and even, erm, "teachers" like Ashida Kim are given (or we try to give) what you could call "dry" entries. For instance, you can mention the person's title, but not every time you mention them by name. In conversation it is polite to, in an encyclopaedia bio it is redundant. When I have more time I will try to post a compromise article and see what everyone thinks. --Fire Star 15:01, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
SKH's supposed expulsion from the Bujinkan
The following text was added by User:12.210.27.45 :
Recently, Stephen K. Hayes was expelled from Bujinkan by Grandmaster Hatsumi and stripped of Shihan status, and is no longer allowed to associate himself with ninjutsu.
That's a pretty bold statement and one which obviously needs a source for it to stay in the article. Lawyer2b 04:16, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
Words from a former Student
I'm a former student of Hayes from the late 1980s, and I invite any moderator to email me privately to verify my credentials and original documents. I can speak confidentally on SKH's being stripped of his Shihan title from Grandmaster Hatsumi. Hatsumi and Hayes were inseparable in those days, with SKH flying monthly to Japan to see his Master. While SKH never missed an opportunity to have a photo taken with Hatsumi, there seem to be no recent photos of Hatsumi and Hayes. Let me explain:
Hayes was an outstanding teacher and one of the most learned Martial Artists I've ever met (paradoxically, he is a very private man). During the time of Hayes and the spread of Ninjutsu, a cult seemed to have sprung up around Hayes. Things were great for SKH until the annual Shadows of Iga festival held at Camp Campbell Gard (sic) in Hamilton Ohio on September 4-9, 1987. This was the 7th festival SKH had held. People from all over had mailed in $250 to go the the festival. But when we got there, we were told at the registration desk that we had to cough up an additional $100 because Grandmaster Hatsumi was there with three of his black belts.
The registration desk was manned by a member of SKH's inner circle, Cpl Brin Morgan of the British Royal Marines. Despite the fact that many of us had come from all over the world to be here, Cpl Morgan brusquely told us that anyone who didn't have the extra cash on them had to go home. The demands of the extra $100 went very badly on many of us (about 230 were in attendance, typical for the festival, many had saved months to get there). To make matters worse, the first night in the auditorium Hayes told us that we were forbidden to take pictures of Hatsumi, and were enouraged to purchase official photographs instead. (Many people were angry at our treatment by SKH, and there were many thefts, including wallets and even SKH's Ninjutsu flag.)
On Sunday evening, September 6th, there was a Q&A with Grandmaster Hatsumi. At that time Grandmaster Hatsumi spoke, through his translator (SKH's wife) at great length AGAINST obtaining a blackbelt solely via videotapes. He was particularly passionate on this subject (Hatsumi then told us that his own videotapes had deliberate errors in the techniques so force people to attend his seminars, which also went over very badly with the crowd).
In 2004, SKH started selling a DVD set on his website which, on completion, would earn someone a black belt in Ninjutsu. There seem to be no later photos of SKH with Grandmaster Hatsumi after this time. It is also after the DVD blackbelt was released that SKH stopped calling himself Shihan, or a Ninja, or even claiming to have a present black belt in Nunjutsu, and instead started using the obscure An-shu .
In order for Stephen K. Hayes to call himself a ninja , a Shihan or claim to have a present black-belt ranking, requires the consent of Grandmaster Hatsumi, both traditionally and legally. If Grandmaster Hatsumi stripped SKH's Shihan status, that's like the AMA stripping a doctor of his credentials - the man can no longer call himself a doctor, practice medicine, or use Dr. before his name.
I've heard that the truth is that Grandmaster Hatsumi had a final falling out with SKH in 2006 and stripped him of Shihan status, and SKH is no longer allowed to associate himself with Bujinkan Ninjutsu or Masaaki Hatsumi, partially because of the DVD blackbelt (there are also rumors that Grandmaster Hatsumi demanded and was denied royalties for SKH's present teachings. While I don't have direct knowledge of this, SKH and Grandmaster Hatsumi were clearly financially linked from the first time they met). SKH can not and does not call his system Ninjutsu, but now calls his system To-Shin Do. He can not, and does not, refer to himself as a black belt. Most importantly, he can not and does not call himself Shihan , and now uses An-shu .
While
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