Category: About

Author koryu

Taiyou e no Michi is a non-commercial organization that is dedicated to the teachings of the traditional Japanese martial arts. It was founded in 1995, by Igor Dovezenski, the only Macedonian that carries several titles in different classical martial schools (ryu-ha). Since it’s founding, the organization has been working without stop and has training sessions for its members every day.

The same year (2nd July, 1995), the first Ninjutsu dojo in the country – „Bujinkan Macedonia“ was opened within the organization. For now,it is the only acknowledged dojo* in our state by the leader of Bujinkan, soke Masaaki Hatsumi. „Bujinkan Macedonia“ even today is considered one of the most dynamic clubs in Europe, with numerous and active members, that speaks for the quality of the knowledge that is gained in the dojo.

In 2010, or fifteen years after the opening of „Bujinkan Macedonia“, „Daito ryu Macedonia – Koryu Dojo“ starts working within Taiyou e no Michi. Two Japanese martial schools are taught there: Daito ryu Aikijujutsu and Ono ha Itto ryu Kenjutsu (Takeda-den). This dojo is an equal member of the European Daito Organization (Daito Kai International), under the leadership of the only non-Japanese shihan for Daito ryu Aikibudo, Antonino Certa.

At the beginning of 2013, Igor Dovezenski becomes a student of shidosha Erik Louw, and several months later gives a blood oath (keppan) in front of the shihan of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujutsu, Nobutoshi Otake. The same year, in September, with permission and under the guidance of shidosha Louw, „Katori Shinto ryu Macedonia“ starts working, the third dojo in Taiyou e no Michi.

Igor Dovezenski is the first and only Macedonian from the Republic of Macedonia that has traveled to Japan with the purpose to train in and study the traditional Japanese martial arts. During the stay, he had the opportunity to study directly from the founder of the Bujinkan Dojo -Masaaki Hatsumi, as well as from the legendary heir of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujutsu – shihan Risuke Otake. In addition, Dovezenski is the only Macedonian that trained Daito ryu Aikijujutsu in Japan, along with other classical martial arts that originate from the Land of The Rising Sun.

Without any intent for expansion or personal glory, followed purely by love for traditional Japanese martial arts, Igor Dovezenski creates the only organization in Macedonia where the most famous Japanese classical samurai and ninja styles of combat can be practiced.

The organization dedicated to the study of traditional Japanese martial arts Taiyou e no Michi, from its beginning until today, has organized more than three hundred national and around thirty international seminars with participation’s from some of the most well-known world koryu masters. Besides the participation in several most respected intercontinental organizations, Taiyou e no Michi is open for collaboration and exchange of knowledge with all enthusiasts that share the common interest from the area of Japanese classical arts.

*dojo (道場) –  a place for perfecting the Path

Author koryu

The dojo for classical Japanese martial arts „Daito ryu Macedonia – Koryu Dojo“ was founded in March, 2010, dedicated to the study of two traditional koryu schools: Daito ryu Aikijujutsu and Ono ha Itto ryu Kenjutsu (Takeda-den).

The original intent of Igor Dovezenski was through training other classical Japanese arts to better understand the schools of Bujinkan. Through participation in seminars and contacting other masters that Daito ryu Aikijujutsu had impact on, he finally met the teacher Antonino Cherta, the only non-Japanese shihan for this old samurai art. Fascinated of his knowledge of the school, taught directly in the Hombu Dojo (Daitokan) in Abashiri (Japan), Dovezenski fell in love even more in Daito ryu Aikijujutsu and was immediately accepted for personal student of sensei Certa.

After the return from the training for instructors in Italy, Igor Dovezenski first opens a section, which during the time grows into a dojo. In 2013, he successfully passes the master title (shodan) and gains the title shidoin (instructor) and shibu cho (leader of a filial) or a representative of Daito Kai for Macedonia. Later on, with a decision of the shihan Certa, Dovezenski was delegated a task to organize the training and to be responsible for the work of all Daito ryu dojos that are going to start working on the territory of the Balkan Peninsula in the future.

For now, Daito ryu Macedonia is the only dojo for Daito ryu Aikijujutsu and Ono ha Itto ryu Kenjutsu (Takeda den) in whole Southeastern Europe. As equal member of the European Daito Organization (Daito Kai International), we maintain contacts regularly and organize seminars and intensive trainings with shihan Antonino Cherta.

In the International Daito Organization, Daito ryu Aikijujutsu and Ono ha Itto ryu Kenjutsu (Takeda-den) are practiced in the same manner as they were practiced in Daitokan.

In the past, the schools were mandatory for the training of all samurai of the clan Aizu and the family Takeda. The thirty-sixth descendant (soke), Tokimune Takeda, wrote in his will the two ryu-ha to be taught jointly under the name Daito ryu Aikibudo.

Daito ryu is a complete martial art. Along the bare-hand combat, the students study other Japanese classical weapons: katana, kodachi, yari, bo, tesen, jutte, shuriken, etc.
More information about Daito ryu Macedonia

Author koryu

Igor Dovezenski was born in 1974 in Skopje. At seven years of age, he started training karate, followed by other martial arts (gendai budo), that he trained until his fourteenth year. In 1986, he received a video recorder and a single VHS tape from his father with the movie „Revenge of the Ninja“. The same night his life was destined. All that started as a child game and a fantasy, would trace his Path forever. 

When he was 14 (1988), Dovezenski found out of the organization Bujinkan and its leader Masaaki Hatsumi and started creating his first contacts with known European masters of ninjutsu at that time. At the same time he ceased training karate and decided to devote himself fully to koryu bujutsu.

At the beginning of 1994, Dovezenski was recruited by the Military Police of the Army of Republic of Macedonia, and at the end of the training he was selected by the most elite squad in that time, called the AT Squad (Anti-Terrorist Squad). 

In 1995, Igor Dovezenski founded the Organization for teaching traditional Japanese martial arts Taiyou e no Michi, and in the same year (2nd July) opened the first ninjutsu dojo in Macedonia. At that time, he was one of the youngest instructors for martial arts in his country. With the course of time, his interest for classical schools grows even more, and the love for martial arts makes him go travelling more often and participating in many seminars throughout Europe. Since 1995, until today, Dovezenski has participated in more than 200 seminars, intensive courses and workshops for traditional and modern martial arts. As an instructor, he has organized and taught in over 600 (six hundred) seminars, intensive courses and workshops, among the most famous are his outdoor seminars that are the trademark of his dojo. He is known for several feats, such as „Survival in nature“ and „The Path of Shugenja“, that tested his endurance and his will. 

In 2005, Igor Dovezenski started achieving his first contacts with several instructors of Daito ryu Aikijujutsu, but he met the real teacher in 2010, when he left for Italy to the dojo of the only non-Japanese shihan for this art, Antonino Certa. After the return of the instructors’ training in Italy, Igor Dovezenski at first opened a section that with time grew into a dojo. In 2013, he successfully passed the master level (shodan) and earned the title shidoin (instructor) and shibu cho (leader of a branch) or representative of Daito Kai for Macedonia. Two years later, in April, 2015, Dovezenski successfully passed the test for the nidan (II dan), and in October, in 2018, for the sandan (III dan). At the begining of 2025, he also successfully passed the examination for 4th Dan. For those that don’t know, the highest degree that you can get for Daito ryu Aikijujutsu is the godan (V dan). 

During the participation on BuYu Kai in Germany (2011), in front of more than twenty shihans from around the world, Dovezenski successfully passed the so-called „sakki“ test or the test of the „deadly intent“. With that, he became the first Macedonian with a degree of godan (5th dan) in Ninjutsu and the first carrier of the title „shidoshi“ for the arts of Bujinkan in our country. 

Unfortunately, the same year (November), in a fall off a cliff during free climbing, shidoshi Dovezenski suffered a spine and pelvis injury, where the doctors were concerned about the prognosis of his future and the possibility for continuing training. Determined never to give up the martial arts, Dovezenski didn’t follow their advice for stopping physical activities and started researching the work and the functioning of the human organism in more detail. With the help of the traditional Japanese techniques for stretching and strengthening of the body, he managed to overcome the pain that arose during training, as well as to return his mobility and even more successfully continue with his everyday training.  

His restless spirit and the love for traditional Japanese martial arts guide him to the oldest documented koryu school „Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujutsu“. At the beginning of 2013, Igor Dovezenski left for the Netherlands and became a student of shidosha Erik Louw, and several months later gave a blood oath (keppan) in front of the shihan of the art, Nobutoshi Otake. In September, the same year, with permission and mentorship of shidosha Louw, work began „Katori Shinto ryu Macedonia“ – the third dojo in Taiyou e no Michi.

In 2014, during his three week stay in Japan, in acknowledgment of his quality and his longstanding dedication to Bujinkan, and his considerable knowledge of the ninjutsu schools that are though in the organization, Igor Dovezenski receives the hachidan (8th dan) directly from soke Masaaki Hatsumi.  

In April, 2018, Dovezenski leaves for another twenty-three day further specialization trip to Japan, during which everyday he trains up to eight hours with the greatest ninjutsu authorities that hold training sessions at the Hombu Dojo of the organization, visiting multiple training sessions in one day. He attends all of the training sessions held by the oldest living ninja – soke Masaaki Hatsumi, and the classes of his best shihans: Tetsuji Ishizuka, Toshiro Nagato, Yukio Noguchi, Isamu Shiraishi, KenIchi Someya and many others. During one of the training sessions, the shihan Yukio Noguchi gives to the leader of Bujinkan Macedonia the rank of 10 dan (judan), with which the only recognized Macedonian dojo today has a teacher of the highest rank. At the same time, soke Masaaki Hatsumi bestows to Dovezenski a bugo (a warrior’s name) – The Thunderous Tiger. He also gifts him with a Kakejiku (a hanging scroll) on which with his own hand he writes: “The exo of the Thunderous Tiger reverberates through the mountains”. In 2023, as part of his regular training, the teacher Dovezenski leaves for another two weeks of self-improvement in Japan, but this time he is accompanied by his son Petar Dovezenski. During the training session led by the teacher Yukio Noguchi, several Dai Shinah nominate him for a higher degree, with which he returns to Macedonia with the tittle of Judan Suigyo Happo Biken.
During his March 2024 self-improvement visit to Japan, Dovezenski in addition to training with the teachers Toshiro Nagato, Norio Sakasai, Yukio Noguchi and Isamu Shiraishi, visits the city of Koga (Koka) in the province of Shiga – a city known as one of the birthplaces of ninjutsu (besides Iga). While there he establishes contact with the members and descendants of the Fujibayashi family, whose ancestors were famous Shinobi warriors, he then stays for some time at their house where he is shown the secret walls, tunnels and passageways that dot the entire building, to be used in case the inhabitants needed to make a quick getaway from their enemies. During that same trip, the teacher Dovezenski pays a lot of attention to the study of the secrets of shaping a Japanese zen garden and the tea making ceremony known as Chado. Latter he visits several famous temples and gardens: Senso-Ji in Asakusa – Tokyo, Kodai-Ji and Kiyomizu-Dera in Kyoto and Narita-san in the city of Narita (and many other smaller Shinto and Buddhist temples throughout Japan).
Just a month later, in April of 2024, Igor Dovezenski leaves again on a two week Musha Shugyo to Japan, this time accompanied by his two daughters Kosara and Ksenija. During their stay in Japan the representatives of the Macedonian branch of Bujinkan Dojo train together with the teachers Toshiro Nagato, Yukio Noguchi, Isamu Shiraishi, Hiroshi Nagase, Vataru Tezuka, Koji Furuta and many others. Aware of the achievements and work of the teacher Dovezenski, and on recommendation by three other DaiShihan, he is awarded the title of Judan Kagyo Happo Biken.
In November 2025, upon the proposal of one of the first European masters of Ninjutsu – Steffen Frohlich from Germany – and supported by several other Dai Shihans, Igor Dovezenski was promoted to the rank of Jūdan Fūgyo Happō Biken.
In April 2026, Dovezenski once again traveled to Japan for regular advanced training, this time together with his student Taki Gakovski. There, they train with Japanese instructors Norio Sakasai, Isamu Shiraishi, Yukio Noguchi, Toshiro Nagato, Hiroshi Nagase, Wataru Tezuka, and others. In addition to the training sessions, they also visit several important cultural and historical sites related to Japanese culture and tradition. 

During his travels in Japan, Igor Dovezenski regularly trained in Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujutsu with the shihan Kyoso Shigetoshi, who described down to the tiniest detail the movements of this oldest of Kobudo schools. Still, the greatest surprise for Dovezenski was his acceptance in the company of Yasuada Iizasa, the 20th Soke of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu Bujutsu. For the surprise to be complete, he was called to the Hombu Dojo of this school, during which Dovezenski had the chance to talk to and give questions to the Soke. If you didn’t know, you can count on one hand the amount of non-Japanese that have taken tea and talked with m-r Yasuada Iizasa in his Hombu Dojo, it can only be imagined the honor that was given to the instructor Dovezenski. 

Igor Dovezenski is the first Macedonian from the Republic of Macedonia that trained in the dojo of Dr. Hatsumi, as well as the dojos of his oldest students who are respected dai-shihans in the organization of Bujinkan today. He is the first Macedonian that learned directly from the legendary heir of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto ryu Bujutsu – shihan Risuke Otake, at his Shimbukan Dojo. In addition, Dovezenski is the only Macedonian that trained Daito ryu Aikijujutsu in Japan, along with other classical martial arts that came from the Land of the Rising Sun.

On the 14th of September of 2015, during  a meeting of the Professorial council of the Institute for ethnology and anthropology, the members of the collegiate unanimously approved the project presented to them by Igor Dovezenski for the opening of a “Laboratory for Easter Cultures” as part of the Institute, with which classical martial arts in Macedonia finally reach the academic level. With this, the students that study at the IEA, as part of the classes for “Ethnology of Asia” and “Ethnology of Japan” visit extra classes during which they study the theory and practice of martial arts that are taught in the Organization “Taiyou e no Michi”.  

Owing to his great love for the classical Japanese martial arts, his wish to dedicate his life to perfecting his knowledge of them and his need to be with his three children, who are already following in his footsteps. Igor Dovezenski in July of 2023, quit his position at the University of “Cyril and Methodius” where he had been working for the past 18 years and started to professionally teach the martial arts that he represents in the Republic of Macedonia.  

Owing to his unique and selfless way of teaching the arts and his extensive knowledge of the techniques, Dovezenski has often been invited to teach outside of his country, but also, oftentimes, students from abroad have come to Macedonia so they can study under him and learn more about the Ninjutsu and Bujutsu arts. Up to this moment he has taught in Switzerland, Turkey, Serbia, Portugal, Montenegro, Romania, Germany, Czech Republic, USA and France, and in Macedonia people have come to learn from him from countries such as Spain, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, China (Hong Kong), Poland, France and Serbia.  

Shidoshi Igor Dovezenski never had the intention for expansion and personal glory. He never trained so he could „gather“ diplomas and titles. The attempts of several of his „colleagues“ to present themselves as great masters or creators of their styles, always seemed petty to him. During his career, to this day, as a martial artist, he was always led by the great love for the Japanese traditional martial schools. His sacrifice on that field is great, and because of that he is very respected by his students. Igor Dovezenski never collaborated and never participated in anonymous organizations where titles and degrees are received with payment of monetary resources, on the contrary, he collaborates and participates in the most respected world organizations led by proven masters and koryu descendants.  

Although his life is dedicated to the traditional martial systems, Dovezenski respects the training and the discipline of the fighters in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) greatly and several times he has helped some of them by giving lessons for specific subjects at his dojo. 

Igor Dovezenski also is a certified physiotherapist – masseuse, and the creator of the system of Shinobi Taiso®, which aims to help those with difficulties and pain during movement, with the goal of improving their bodily mobility. 

The leader of “Taiyou e no Michi” together with his students regularly takes part and organizes humanitarian events, during which he demonstrates the arts that he teaches in his dojo. In February, 2018, he held a demonstration of Bujutsu, Aikijujutsu and Ninjutsu in front of the Japanese consul in Macedonia, his excellency Toyokazu Kubota. 

Igor Dovezenski is an ethnologist by trade and he has an excellent grasp of science, he also loves art, and so beside his writing, he partakes in other creative endeavors. He is the creator of the first Japanese garden in the country and the author of the first Bujinkan manga “Takamatsu in China” which is sold internationally. He loves his country and tries to transfer that love of this little piece of land, called Macedonia since the beginning of time, to all of the people surrounding him. He is a father of three children that already follow in his footsteps. He spends his free time with his family on his country property far from the city noise, where he tries to restore harmony with nature as much as he can. 

Author koryu

РАЗГОВОР СО УЧЕНИЦИТЕ

„Разговор со учениците“ е првата македонска книга која е посветена на традиционалните боречки јапонски самурајски и нинџа вештини. Во неа, учителот Игор Довезенски, преку разговор со своите ученици, дава објаснување за создавањето на класичните јапонски борбени традиции, за источната филозофија, за начинот на размислување на воините од далечниот исток, за Патот, како и за животот воопшто.