About our dojo

Bujinkan Sessa Takuma Dojo opened in 2006 to make practise of these arts more accessible. As a dojo, our main aim is to continue passing on these martial arts as sincerely, enjoyably and correctly as possible.

The name comes from the yojijukugo (4 character saying), "Sessa Taku Ma", which refers to the process of rough hewn gemstones then being carefully cut into better forms before being ground and polished until smooth as an analogy of taking something full of unrealised potential and applying vigerous shaping and polishing to produce something precious and valuable.

These characters express the idea of working hard to shape, polish and improve, and cultivate one's character by hard study and application. The phrase also includes the concept of fellow members using friendly competition to push each other to get better.

Travelling regularly around the UK, Europe and to Japan for more than 25 years to find the best instruction, our attitude to training is relaxed yet serious and traditional yet not overly formal.

We recognise no one can do it for us and instead guide and encourage students to dig deeper within themselves to improve and go further.