(continued)

Like most martial artists, Mike's martial arts adventure was sparked by Bruce Lee. After seeing Bruce in a couple movies and spending time in front of a mirror trying to move like him, Mike decided to get some professional help... in the form of martial arts lessons. Washington, DC in the early-70's wasn't exactly a martial arts Mecca so he started training in Tae Kwon Do at the age of twelve. Feeling that TKD was a little "lacking" (hand techniques and weapons) he began studying Southern Chinese Gung Fu shortly thereafter. Mike's longtime love of magic, especially close up magic, soon was displaced with his growing enthusiasm for the martial arts. Doug Henning and David Copperfield's meteoric rise was thus assured....

After entering college in Western Pennsylvania (at Geneva College), where he taught TKD and self-defense classes, he was introduced to Ninjutsu by one of his students. After doing some research and talking to some other instructors, Mike decided to start over again as a ninja-wanna-be... "Ninja First Class Krivka reporting for training, Sir!"

This started Mike on another martial path that would lead him to train with (the then relatively unknown) Stephen Hayes and Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi (Bujinjkan Ninpo Taijutsu Grandmaster). Mike's love for Ninjutsu sent him to every corner of the United States to receive training and learn more about this art. The dynamic training and diversity of technique fascinated Mike and he pursued the information with the zeal of a fanatic, amassing volumes of notes, videos and documentation on ancient systems and modern applications. After training under Dr. Hatsumi for a number of years, Mike looked to Shoto Tanemura, who was the head of the newly founded Genbukan Ninpo Bugei Dojo, to continue his Ninpo training. Training under Grandmaster Tanemura was sometimes severe, as indicated by some of Mike's "war stories" and video documentation, but the training only led him to want to learn more and more.

 


For training contact Mike Krivka at (301) 404-2571 (9AM - 9PM EST).
For website issues contact Joe Marszalek.