Joe Maurantonio is a long time martial arts practitioner who found his passion in Bujinkan ninpo taijutsu (ninjutsu). In 1983, he helped found a small New York training group that was associated with Stephen K. Hayes and Darryl Caldwell. A few years later, he met and trained with Masaaki Hatsumi (soke) and many of the Japanese master instructors (shihan). In 1991, Maurantonio passed the instructor test and earned the title of shidoshi (士道師, teacher of the warrior way). Today, he is the lead instructor at the Bujinkan New York Dojo (Westchetser, NY), a senior member of the USA Shidoshi Kai (instructor's guild), and continues affiliation with the Bujinkan Hombu (Noda, Japan). Joe Maurantonio is an author and editor of many martial arts non-fiction works.