Ninja Gaiden II Video

My friend DY Sao, extraordinary martial arts actor, put up on YouTube four minutes of the taping we did together for the Ninja Gaiden II video game documentary. DY and An-shu Rumiko and I spent two days taping for the documentary in New York City in spring 2008. We first did a day of interviews […]

We Cannot Go Back

Very few of my students or students of my students will have any idea what this building represents. The few who do recognize it will likely be heartbroken to see it in this condition, a rundown water department depot in a small Ohio village. In the 1980s, ninjutsu (and eventually To-Shin Do as 21st Century ninjutsu) […]

Consider a Code of Ethics

A friend who owns and operates one of our SKH Quest Center Martial Arts affiliate schools suggested that we might prune some of the words out of our 14 Point Code of Mindful Action warrior protector ethics to make it easier and quicker for young students to remember and recite. Might help adults, too. To-Shin Do […]

Long-Time Battler Now at Rest

I just heard the sad news that my friend Thubten Jigme Norbu left this life a few hours ago. He was born in 1922 in the village of Taktser in Amdo eastern Tibet. His younger brother, born in 1935, was enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama and is now the Nobel Peace Prize laureate recognized around […]

Martial Arts Vision?

On his blog, my Boston Martial Arts Black Belt friend Chris Penn posed to me the question of how one develops vision. How do we become visionary? I call Chris a visionary. He looks at information technology that to most of us is arcane abstract futuristic speculation and then he shows me exactly what I as […]

Professional Martial Arts Teacher?

NAPMA September 26-28, 2008 in Clearwater, Florida Are you a martial arts professional with your own school? Would you like to be a more successful martial arts professional with your own school? The second-most heartbreaking conversations I have with certain friends always revolve around the classic mistake of running a martial arts school like a quirky hobby […]

Hakim's New Dojo

My long-time friend Hakim Isler has returned to civilian life after more than a year in the sands of Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army. Hakim’s combat experiences have made him even more determined to share the SKH Quest To-Shin martial art and 14-point Code of Mindful Action with as many people as […]

Advanced Black Belt Testing Summer '08

Our Summer ’08 Advanced Black Belt training and testing seminar was an especially important event. Yes, as always, participants came from all across the USA, from California to Florida. Yes, as always, training was intense, and included a super-session of full group feedback. And yes, it was wonderful to see two long-distance students with a […]

Ninja Mind and Determination

Rumiko and Stephen K. Hayes with daughter Marissa and her Grandmother Carolyn on graduation day in front of Marissa’s senior project – the creation of a “Rumi” brand of women’s martial arts wear based in style, comfort, and inspiration Let’s explore dreams and determination and the ninja will to win. My daughter Marissa just graduated […]

Palden Sakya Lamas in Dayton

My dear friends Lama Pema Wangdak of New York Palden Sakya Centers, and Lama Kunga Dhondup, ritual master of Pema Ts’al School in Pokhara, Nepal, joined us in Dayton for an initiation and teaching in the spiritual practice of White Tara longevity meditation. SKH Quest Center instructors travelled from as far away as Florida, Colorado, and […]