Shihan - 10 Dan Ku-Gyo Menkyo Kaiden Happo Hiken

Nikolaos Stefanidis devoted over three decades of his life to the martial arts. In search of an all-embracing martial art, he travelled to Japan and the U.S. to study Ninjutsu under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi and other Shihan. In 1987 the Grandmaster himself awarded the second Dan and Shidoshi-Ho coaching license to him. Niko founded the Bujinkan Dojo Duesseldorf and was one of the pioneers of the Bujinkan in Germany. Even today, he enhances his knowledge during his regular visits to the Grandmaster in Japan. He received all of his graduations Soke Hatsumi himself. Niko Stefanidis is one of the worlds highest graduated Bujinkan Shihan and an internationally respected trainer. He regularly holds seminars and international training courses in numeral places like Colombia, Greece and naturally in Germany. As a guest coach, he has made a name in other martial arts associations. He introduces the respective coaches in Ninjutsu techniques and thereby contributes to the appearance and distribution of the Bujinkan. Niko emphasizes on a practicable training whereby he does not forget the importance of tradition. As a Shihan he helps to adapt the Bujinkan as a living martial art to the demands of today. To Niko it is important that not only advanced, but beginners cant benefit from his skills and therefore partly takes over their workout. In his classes, he makes a point to convey not only techniques but also a human mind. In the course of his teaching in the Bujinkan, Niko has awarded Dan graduations to Bujinkan Buyu, some of whom have now taken over the responsibility as a coach in the Bujinkan.

The versatility of the BBT is reflected in the different personalities of our trainers. In addition to their individual development, Shihan Stefanidis assigned them the responsibility for the development of students. The tradition of the Bujinkan requires every teacher to enrich the training with his own experiences and approaches of training in our dojo.