Luke Molitor is a lifelong student of the Japanese warrior arts and ways, and is a Happo Biken Menkyo Shihan in the Bujinkan Dojo under the auspices of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi of Noda-shi, Japan. He has also taught, trained, and competed in a number of martial systems - Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Southeast Asian, and European, and has achieved ranks in several arts, including Brazilian style jujutsu, mixed-martial arts, kickboxing, fencing, and Western Combatives.He has lived in Japan for a significant amount of time, and currently splits his time between Dallas, Texas and Saitama, Japan, where he continues to study and train with Dr. Hatsumi and his senior Japanese teachers. He is also a close, trusted, dedicated student of Hiroshi Nagase, Kenichi Someya, and Toshiro Nagato, whose feeling permeates the Jigoku Dojo.
Ed Martin is a retired pilot who worked for TWA for 25 years. He began his martial arts career in the in the seventies with Karate and switched over to Ninjutsu. He studied directly under Massaaki Hatsumi, the world's foremost expert in Ninjutsu and the first Grandmaster to allow non-Japanese students to be trained in Ninjutsu.
He returns to Japan each Spring for advanced instruction, and is often asked to officiate in Ninjutsu's growing number of national and international exhibitions. He has published numerous articles in the art of self defense, writes a self defense column, and is the editor of the East Penn Commentator.
Angie Smith currently holds both a 7th degree black belt in Ninjutsu and a 2nd dan in Tae Kwon Do. She prides herself in teaching "Kid Ninja", ages 3 to 6 as well as adult Bujinkan clases and has previously taught Tae Kwon Do. Together with her 23-year-old son she was the official instructor of self-defense for the City of Highland, Illinois. She holds workshops in self-defense, specializing in self-defense for women and has had the honor to teach the workers at the Arkansas Rehabilitation Center in Hot Springs. She taught self-defense for the Charles Melvin Price Support Center for 3 years until the army base closed, in Granite City Illinois. She and her son now teach at their own dojo in Marine Illinois. They have published a "Kid Ninja" manual for teachers and young martial artists. Each year Angie travels to Japan and trains with Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, grandmaster of Budo Taijutsu. Besides her martial arts career Sensei Smith is a business owner and operates a child day care center for kids aged6 weeks to 12 years.
"Wild" Bill Johnson began his study of the martial arts in 1965. His early training focused on Karate, Aikijutsu, and Kenjutsu. In 1971 Bill went into the USAF and was stationed in San Antonio Texas. While there he trained in Shorin Ryu and Kenjutsu. Along the way he studied medieval knife fighting in Shreveport, Louisiana with Jean Jaques Devereaux and did some full contact kickboxing. Over the years, Bill developed into an accomplished martial artist with ranks in various systems.
In 1989 Bill moved to Charlottesville VA where he met Mike Fenster and started training in Bujinkan. Bill trained frequently with shihans Kevin Millis, Greg Stough, Phil Legare, Charles Collins, Karl Koch, Dick Severence, Doug Bruyer and occasionally with Jack Hoban. Bill regularly attended the US Tai Kai's from 1994 to 2003. At the 2001 Tai Kai, Bill became a Shidoshi.
Jeff Christian is a personal trainer and the Dojo Cho of the New York City Musosa Dojo. He has over 15 years in the Bujinkan. Jeff Travels to Japan regularly to further his training. When not attending Soke's classes, Jeff is often training with Oguri Shihan.
Jeff Ochester began his Bujinkan training in 1991 at Kurt Rittenhouse Martial Arts. Jeff has been going to Japan yearly for training since 1997. He passed the Godan test in 1999 at the Bujinkan Hombu in Japan, and was given a Judan in 2004. His most recent Japan trip was April 2008. Jeff enjoys training with Hatsumi Soke, Nagato Shihan & Noguchi Shihan, along with Dan Klug & Sean Askew. Jeff is a network operations manager for a local Township & Fire, a Level II Firefighter, an EMT-B, and an OPOTA Defensive Tactics Instructor.