Michelle’s the Ninja granny!
Apr 23 2008 by Gavin OConnor, South Wales Echo
GRANDMOTHER Michelle Murray’s NHS day job means she has a knack with a needle.
But the ninja nan is just as sharp with her bare hands and has a wicked spinning kick to match. That’s because the Cardiff-born phlebotomist has qualified as one of the UK’s best martial arts practitioners.
Michelle, 44, has spent seven years training her way up to the exalted position of Fifth Dan black belt in ninjitsu – making her number two in the UK.
The grandmother of two took up the discipline in 2001 after meeting her partner, Marc Moor, 51, a former bodyguard to a Greek shipping tycoon, and the couple are now the highest-ranked ninja pair in the UK and teach classes in Bridgend and the capital.
“I met Marc at a junior doctors’ party,” said Michelle, formerly of Ely, Cardiff.
“He invited me along to watch one of his classes and I was hooked.
“It was a bit scary at first because it’s very much male-dominated.
“But I developed a great sense of confidence and you gain a real calm through training.”
The couple have been running Budo Warrior School classes at Plasnewydd Community Hall, Shakespeare Street, Roath, for seven years and they also have a class at the Bridgend YMCA.
But for Michelle to reach her Fifth Dan rank, she had to travel to Japan to pass the mystical and ancient sakki test at the hands of Ninja Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi.
Michelle, who started her medical training at Rookwood Hospital and has worked for the NHS for 22 years, said very few women have managed to pass.
“You have to sit on the floor with your eyes closed. Hatsumi stands behind you, sword in hand (a bamboo sword, no longer a real sword) and then strikes down with an intent to kill the student.
“If you dodge the attack successfully you get awarded the fifth dan.
“This is the first step of Bufu (true warrior’s way).”
Michelle, now living in Newnham- on-Severn in the Forest of Dean, said the student has to rely on sensing the strike before moving, which she did successfully.
Marc passed his Fifth Dan in 1999 and now has the rank of Tenth Dan.
“Women generally go for karate or kick-boxing,” said Michelle. “Ninjitsu is more defensive martial arts and I think everyone should give it a go.”
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