About Ninja Sports Instructors

Theresa Murphy

I began training in the martial arts in 1984. I studied Shotokan, Taekwondo and Kenpo mostly as a great way to stay in shape that was far more appealing than running or lifting weights. I was owner and head instructor of a martial arts school from 1991 to 1997. In 1999 I attended a Mark Davis Seminar and started looking for a place nearby to train in Ninjutsu.

I found one of his senior students (Dennis) and left the other arts and my black belts behind to train full time in this art. It was the first art I had trained in that had an answer for what to do when attacked if you are smaller or at a disadvantage. I was hooked the first time I tossed a big guy over my shoulder and it didn’t feel like I did anything!

Over the years I have become a student in the Togakure Ryu leadership class with Mark Davis and have spent over ten years taking privates lessons and training with Rumiko Hayes. Because of our relationship, I hosted the only two Seminars taught exclusively by An-shu Rumiko Hayes.

In the first several years of training, Dennis and I researched, tested and created LIVE: Lessons In Violence Evasion, a program designed for women to evade and escape violence. LIVE has been taught at seminars, classes, colleges, crisis centers and other events. I am passionate about teaching women how to live safer and happier lives through LIVE.

I am thankful every time that I am able to teach and see students realize there are alternative answers to protecting themselves other then what is currently provided by the martial art industry. I still continue my training with Dennis Mahoney, Mark Davis, and An-shu Rumiko Hayes while teaching at Shinobi Science and laughing joyfully every time I take Dennis to the floor—“because tossing a big guy never gets old!”

How Ninja Sports Began: Knee Surgery, Ninjutsu and Science

Going from a highly recruited Division 1 college athlete starting my freshman year to the injured reserve list with a torn ACL was the beginning of my journey to find a better, safer way to move. Now as the founders of Shinobi Science, Theresa and I have nearly six decades of professional training in the ninja martial arts, and continue to practice and teach Ninjutsu at Shinobi Martial Arts, our dojo in Plaistow, New Hampshire. We are proud members of Mark Davis' New England Ninpo Society, Stephen K. Hayes' To-Shin Do Kasumi-An Organization, and the Bujinkan Dojo of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi.

Ninjutsu, the traditional art of the Japanese Ninja, is all about evading, escaping and surviving violence, threats and volatile situations. And while Shinobi Science is a training system not a separate martial art, these life-saving principles from the ninja form the basis for every lesson, exercise and technique, and are the foundation of Ninja Sports. 

We used modern scientific concepts of the conversion of gravitational potential energy into momentum and kinetic energy along with the load bearing capabilities of biotensegrity to demystify and explain the movement methodologies of the ancient Japanese Samurai and Ninja Warriors in order to apply them to the need of athletes today, ensuring that every movement you make is efficient, powerful, and safe.

LIVE Ninja Safe

As the owners and instructors at Shinobi Martial Arts in Plaistow, New Hampshire, we specialize in taking the lessons of the ninja martial arts and combining them with modern science to make them easily understandable and customizable to the unique needs of individuals and groups. 

Shinobi Science, our martial arts learning system, provides a scientific method for students to accelerate understanding and skill acquisition. This program is the source of all our customized programs. Shinobi Science is part of the growing collection of LIVE Ninja Safe programs designed to meet specific needs of groups and individuals. 

Other LIVE Ninja Safe programs include:

• Ninja Sports: Using the emerging field of biotensegrity and ninja body science to provide enhanced performance and safety for athletes of all ages.
• LIVE: Lessons In Violence Evasion was designed specifically for women, however the concepts can be used by anyone who wishes to evade and escape a violent situation. 
• The Ninja Brain: Combining ninja awareness and focus techniques with modern science to explore how your mind creates your daily reality and how you can take charge of that process to live the life you want to live.

Future LIVE Ninja Safe projects:

• Move Ninja Safe for those of any age who wish to prevent injury and improve balance and mobility.
• LIVE and Work Ninja Safe customized programs, which apply violence evasion concepts to specific needs of different occupations like EMS, Medical and Healthcare, Realtors, etc. 
• Children LIVE Ninja Safe which adapts LIVE to a younger audience and includes injury prevention.