Old Seeker, Young Master

Today is Losar Tibetan New Year, and I am living at the Sakya Pema Ts’al Monastic Institute at the foot of the wall of mountains that is the Himalayas, just outside Pokhara, Nepal, south of the forbidden Tibet border. I came here with three Black Belt friends from the SKH Quest Center Hombu Dojo in […]

An-shu and Dalai Lama in Indiana

An-shu Stephen K. Hayes introduces His Holiness the Dalai Lama, taking his teaching seat at right CLICK HERE to watch a video of An-shu Stephen K. Hayes as he introduces His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a teaching session October 2007 (An-shu appears at minute 6 after cultural performers) A full list of the teachings […]

Festival 2007 Success!

Get ready for our 28th Annual Fall Festival – “Ninja Timeless Treasures ” in October 2008 SKH Quest Festival $299 enrollment gets you 2 full days of training with top To-Shin teachers from around the globe, special participant diploma, lunch as our guest both days, special super demo Saturday night, and wonderful new friendships to […]

North American Shihan-Kai

From left, An-shu Rumiko Hayes, Shotokan Senior Master Takayuki Mikami, Washin Ryu Founding Master Hidy Ochiai, Lenovo Computers President and CEO Bill Amelio (major sponsor of his teacher Hidy Ochiai’s event), Mrs Mikami, and An-shu Stephen K. Hayes (Photo by Leo Dokutoshi Pimentel) When I was a colored belt still years away from earning my […]

Farewell to Bonnie

When I first journeyed to Japan in the 1970s for training in what would become my life work, and throughout the first ten years of my return and subsequent teaching that began in the 1980s, my friends Bud and Bonnie Malmstrom were two of my most ardent supporters and dearest friends. Every seminar I presented […]

Black Belt Advanced Training '06

Our year-end advanced Black Belt seminar drew top To-Shin Do Black Belts from across the USA, from California to Colorado to Carolina to Maine to Massachusetts to Florida. We celebrated our 10th year anniversary of To-Shin Do development with advanced interpretive training based on Koto Ryu Koppojutsu katas Ten-Chi and Kyo-Gi, along with skilled grappler […]

Fundamental Angling Footwork

Here’s an out-take from Festival 2006, focusing in on some fundamental Gyokko Ryu footwork. Notice how real this looks. That’s the To-Shin hallmark – taking the classics and teaching them in a way that brings them into fresh relevance in the modern age. CLICK HERE for information on how to get your own 3-DVD set […]

Vajrakilaya Phurba at Sakya Centre

Today is my 57th birthday, and I am living at the Sakya Centre monastery in the wooded stretch between Dehradun and Rajpur, northern India, not far from the forbidden Tibet border. I came here to study a powerful mind transformation method for channeling what most of us would call typical human weaknesses into warrior powers […]

Kumamoto Budokan Demonstration

Rumiko and I went to the annual Kumamoto Budokan kobudo martial arts demonstration for the day. A substantial list of martial arts masters from the Kumamoto area performed demonstrations of their swordsmanship, archery, bojutsu, jujutsu, and shurikenjutsu for the small crowd. The Kumamoto Budokan is a wonderfully traditional structure with a wide-open wooden floor, high […]

Masaaki Hatsumi Visit

Rumiko and I rode the trains to Noda City for training at Masaaki Hatsumi’s Bujinkan Hombu dojo on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was a nostalgic feeling to walk the streets of Noda once again, and I was amazed at how much the small industrial city has not changed in the 30 years I have […]