Ken Harding began training in Budo Taijutsu in 1984, and began teaching in St. Louis in 1988. His dojo is Missouri's first and oldest school teaching Budo Taijutsu.

Ken Harding received his "shidoshi" teaching credentials in 1991 from the only living ninjutsu grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi. Shidoshi Harding was later granted the rank of Kyudan directly from Masaaki Hatsumi while in Japan.

Ken Harding trained in Japan and throughout America during the 1990's with the world's highest level teachers, and he spent fifteen years as a full-time instructor who devoted his life exclusively to pursuing the warrior lifestyle in both practice and research. Shidoshi Harding has developed a worldwide reputation for the quality of his instruction and the attention he demands to the accuracy of his martial arts. His students are regarded as worthy of their ranks, as his ranking requirements are both stringent and realistic.

A teacher of several thousand students, Ken Harding has invested approximately 25,000 hours to the study and perfection of martial arts.
 

While he has studied other arts and disciplines in the past, from both the east and west, he says: "Within Budo Taijutsu is found a solution for every struggle, both internal and external. In our system of martial arts, we strive to be the master of all things: every conceivable fighting situation, as well as the areas of life that have nothing to do with fighting. It is a lifelong pursuit for personal improvement that never ends."

"I consider myself a lifelong student.  No teacher can cease being a student... to cease to be a student is to regress.  There is much to learn, even after you have been studying for twenty years. To teach is to learn twice. And yet a good teacher makes himself increasingly unnecessary. Too many people get sidetracked into worthless mysticism, instead of working on their skills and developing their mind.  There are no shortcuts-- the magic is taijutsu itself. The shortest way is the longest route."

More photos of Ken Harding here
Some of Sensei Harding's writings can be found in his book The Heart of the Warrior, which can be located in the Resources section.

    His personal philosophy regarding martial arts is as follows:

"Every time you involve yourself in a fight, there is the possibility, however small, that you could die.  That is the truth.  Therefore, martial arts training is of the utmost seriousness. It is not about competitions and trophies.  It is not about spiritual enlightenment.  It is about acquiring skills that will enable you to survive a life and death struggle. Through this training, enlightenment can occur. Every technique we study is potentially a killing technique.  The training is rigorous, painful and difficult.  There is no "quick and easy" way.  The results are skills you can trust with your life... that will last your whole life.  Along the way, you become a more complete person, developing understanding of human nature, tempering yourself with the spirit of endurance and confidence, and developing a powerful mind that sees the world the way it truly is."

 

Assistant Instructors

 

Mark Clarkson