95 Ninja 500 the coils be constantly grounded?

Okay, so i have a 95 ninja 500. I can not get it to spark any. The coils both have power going to them. but no spark. I just check by taking a tester and hooking one side to the hot and then connecting the other side to the ground poles on the coils and i do not get a light hence there is no ground going to the coils. should there be ground going to the coils constantly? I grounded the wires out by running another wire to the ground side and turn the engine over and still no spark. any suggestions? I can ground one side of the tester out by grounding it to the bike and then touch the tip of the spark plug and i get a light showing that there is power going to the plug.. I need help!