Stephen K. Hayes
| Stephen K. Hayes | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 9, 1949 Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
| Alma mater | Miami University |
| Occupation | Ninja Master, Martial arts, instructor, author, and Buddhist priest |
| Spouse(s) | Rumiko Urata Hayes |
| Children | Daughters: Reina and Marissa |
Stephen K. Hayes (born September 9, 1949) is a self-described American Ninja master, martial artist and writer.
Stephen K. Hayes was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and raised in Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from Fairmont West High School in Kettering, Ohio, in 1967.
Hayes attended Miami University in nearby Oxford, Ohio, reportedly because he "heard they had a judo club". It turned out to be a Korean Tang Soo Do school, not judo, but Hayes remained. In 1971, he graduated from Miami with a Bachelor of Arts degree, having majored in speech and theatre.
In the 1970s, Hayes traveled to Japan. In June 1975, he met and began training under Tsunehisa Tanemura and then after Tanemura left Masaaki Hatsumi, who refers to himself as 34th Grandmaster of Togakure-ryū ninjutsu (there is no known evidence of the supposed previous 33) and is the founder of the Bujinkan (武神館) organization.
Hayes returned to the United States with his wife, Rumiko, in late 1980 when his Japan residency visa expired, and began teaching and authoring numerous books and magazine articles.
In 1985, he was entered into the Black Belt magazine's Hall of Fame as Instructor of the Year. He was again featured on the cover of Black Belt in the March 2007 issue; The magazine's opening editorial described him as "one of the 10 most influential living martial artists in the world".
In 1993, Hayes was awarded the judan (tenth-degree black belt) in Togakure-ryū ninjutsu from Hatsumi.
In 1997, he founded the martial art of To-Shin Do, an art based in his experience of budō taijutsu.
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