Yukihiro Sugino
Master Sugino Yukihiro inherited the leadership of the Sugino Dōjō in Kawasaki after the death of his father, Sugino Yoshio. He holds 9th dan in Katori Shintō-ryū and 7th dan in aikidō Aikikai.
Sensei Sugino Yukihiro always taught in his father's dōjō. Now, he passes on the traditions of the school also outside his family dōjō and visits the west at least twice a year, conducting workshops and lectures on both Katori Shintō-ryū and aikidō.
He was awarded the 9th dan kobudō by the International Nippon Budō Federation.
Ulf Rott
Master Ulf Rott is the representative of Katori Shintō-ryū for Germany on behalf of Master Sugino. He introduced us to Dōjō Sugino and to this day he passes on to us the teachings of Sensei Sugino.
Sensei Ulf currently holds the rank of 5th dan in Katori Shintō-ryū and 6th dan in Aikidō (Aikikai Shihan). In Leer, he runs his own dōjō, where he teaches Aikidō and Katori techniques. On a daily basis, he works as the headmaster of a gymnasium in Leer (Germany).
Yoshio Sugino
Master Sugino Yoshio began his adventure with martial arts before World War II with kendō, jūdō with Jigirō Kanō-sensei (founder of jūdō) and finally with aikidō with sensei Morihei Ueshiba (founder of aikidō). He started the practice of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū with sensei Kanō around 1928 at the Kōdōkan Dōjō. Sensei Sugino Yoshio took his lessons from 4 shihans, mainly from Ichizo Shiin (for about 10 years) and from Tamai, Ito and Kuboka. In 1927, he founded a dōjō, where he initially taught only jūdō, then in 1937 he began teaching aikidō as well, and after World War II Katori Shintō-ryū.
From 1953, he was invited to prepare fight scenes in samurai films. The most famous film is "Seven Samurai" starring Toshirō Mifune and directed by Kurosawa Akira. In 1981, he was awarded the 10th dan kobudō by the International Nippon Budō Federation. For many years he traveled around Europe and the world promoting Katori Shintō-ryū. He entrusted the running of his dōjō to his son Sugino Yukihiro.
Goro Hatakeyama
Master Goro Hatakeyama began learning martial arts at the age of 13 from kendō in a high school dōjō. He then studied traditional jūjutsu for many years. At the age of 37, he began training Katori Shintō-ryū under the guidance of the eminent master Yoshio Sugino. Hatakeyama quickly became a close student and assistant to Yoshio Sugino, from whom he received the highest rank of 9th dan and the title of Menkyo Kaiden.
Master Hatakeyama ran his own dōjō (separate from the dōjō of Risuke Otake and Yukihiro Sugino - Yoshio Sugino's son) and devoted several months each year to spreading Katori Shintō-ryū outside of Japan. Seminars with his participation took place in: France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Great Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Canada and the United States.
After a long illness, the master died at the age of 81 in Ofuna (Kamakura) on December 8, 2009.