The Ninjitsu students enter into the fabulous world of the Gozan Ryu or "Five Mountain Path of the True Warrior Spirit." This is the program you thought was lost to our generation! It incorporates the highest of the Japanese martial arts traditions.

The program consists of five distinctive phases of martial arts training taught in the ancient temple style.

The phases build on one another but each is internally consistent - that is, at the end of each phase the student graduates to the next level indicating his or her completion of an internally consistent program with its own distinctive objectives and goals. Gozan literally means five mountains, and thus the program entails a journey through five distinct "mountains" or phases. These are outlined below.

ICHI - The first mountain evolves from mat work - rolls, flips (ukemi brake falls) to Aiki principles. The students then receive in-depth training in the principles and techniques of Chinese Chi Gong and Nei Gong. Incorporated into the training are the fundamental principles of Shorinjin Ryu Saito Ninjitsu self defense, and the T'ai Ji principles of the Fu family Wu Dang WuShu arts of China. Students graduate to green belt.

NI - The second mountain is a wholistic course in the Chinese art of T'ai Ji Quan and the principles of Aiki. The emphasis is on the "First Premise", "Three Requirements" and the "Five Principles" of all combat arts.

SAN - On the third mountain, the students are now physically and mentally prepared to begin a serious, full study of the Shorinjin Ryu Saito Ninjitsu. This is a rare 1000 year old secret art taught only by the Saito family of Fukushima, Japan. Several styles of T'ai Jutsu (empty hand arts) are taught. The students must develop their natural skills of seeing, hearing, sensing and feeling to an extraordinary degree. Ancient ritual dances taught nowhere else in the world help to develop the mental and psychic skills of Ninjitsu. The emphasis is on the practical use of the art for self defense in any situation. Ranking evolves from green to blue to brown belt.

SEI - The fourth mountain is a complete review of all of the previous mountains. However, a very new and much more intense approach is taken. Here the dances become combat at the psychic level. Special skills including swimming, cold weather training, land survival, surveillance and reconnaissance are explored on natural terrain. Classical weapons and improvised weapons made by the students themselves are taught as part of the training in the history and culture of the world of the Saito clan. The students who graduate will have reappropriated all that the earlier mountains have taught them - making them qualified to teach the Chinese and Japanese arts at an unprecedented level of expertise and experience. There are several tests for belt ranking throughout this training. Now, with several years of intense training behind him or her, each graduate receives the "master's scroll" which holds the rank of 5th Dan Black Belt in the Shorinjin Ryu Saito Ninjitsu as well as instructor's certification from the Chinese Wu Shu Research Institute and T'ai Chi Arts Association headed by Sifu Bow Sim Mark. The graduate at this level has the full sanction of this Academy to teach these arts in their own schools. They can expect support of the Sensei, staff and students of the Temple of the Full Autumn Moon.

GOZAN - The fifth mountain is by invitation only.