Meet a Real-Life Ninja

Matthew Woodard is a man with many talents. He speaks Japanese. He flies airplanes. He scuba dives. He’s an actual ninja. All in a day’s work.

“It’s one of the advantages of doing what I do,” said Woodard. “When you’re with a client, you have to do what they do, so this keeps me learning new things.”

What exactly does Woodard do for a living? Two things really. He’s a martial arts expert or a bujinkan ninjutsu who runs Moorpark Ninja in east Moorpark. He’s also the CEO of an executive security firm called Matthew Woodard & Associates. The two businesses make a riveting combination.

Woodard has lived and operated his business in Moorpark for the last 13 years. Originally from Lima, Ohio, he moved out to Westlake Village 15 years ago.

“I came out to work for a martial arts school,” he said. “As it turned out, I bought that school and eventually, after two years there, we moved to Moorpark. We also moved the school to Moorpark.”

He’s been training in martial arts since he was a small boy.

“I started when I was five,” he explained, “when I got a martial arts lesson as a birthday present. In those days, there were no kids in these classes, but the karate teacher decided he would let me train. That was 38 years ago.”

He’s certified as a 15^th degree “dan” blackbelt and still trains three times a year with his Japanese grandmaster in Noda City, Japan. As proof he pulls out his bujinkan certification card from his wallet and points to his various levels of certification on his studio wall. The card and the certificates are mostly in Japanese.

Woodard says he specializes in teaching adults the full gamut of self-defense, from martial arts to the use of and defense against all different kinds of weapons, including staffs, swords and knives. As a certified NRA instructor, he also includes gun training as part of his program.

His martial arts training eventually led to his involvement with executive security.

“I started my first protection detail back in my late teens,” he said, “when my father had some friends that were leery of traveling overseas. They expressed their concern, and my father said ‘Hey you should take my son.’ And that’s how it all started.”

Woodard progressed from there to event security and security consulting. He worked for the Cincinnati police department for seven years as both a cop and a security specialist. While in Cincinnati, he helped create the first National League protective team for Major League Baseball.

“We did it for the Cincinnati Reds in 1990,” said Woodard. “We were specifically there to protect the players and the players’ families. During that same time, I also worked with a group contracted out by the federal government to protect the Dalai Lama.”

Woodard’s firm offers a wide range of security services, from travel to event security, to manning command centers at a person’s home, to all the different facets of executive protection. It’s intense and sometimes very personal, according to Woodard.

“Executive protection is like being a manager of a person’s life,” he said. “I deal with three things:  keeping a person safe from intentional harm, accidental harm and embarrassing situations.”

Woodard admitted the job has its perks, especially for single individuals in their 20s or 30s.

“You’re traveling with someone to exotic locations, sometimes on a private Gulfstream jet. You get to experience stuff that you normally wouldn’t have access to,” he said.

On the other hand, a security specialist is not on vacation. Woodard emphasized that when he’s on location, he’s working.

He said, “I think the hardest thing for people to realize is that this is not like the movies, bullets flying, that sort of thing."

Woodard continues to explain some of the demands of the job. He said, "If you want to know what it’s like, go to a hotel and stand in a stairwell for four hours. You’re awake when they’re sleeping. Then you’re awake when they’re awake."

And that about sums it up for a working, real-life ninja.

If you’re interested in Woodard’s martial arts training, visit their website or call 805.532.1794. 

For more information about executive security services, visit their website or call 805.796.5717.