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Zen Beikoku Bujutsu Kyokai
                 全米国武術協会
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Raising the standards of the martial arts

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The Bushido Fallacy: Character Development In Martial Arts

10/19/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon
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Integrity. Respect. Courage. Honor. Compassion. Sincerity. Loyalty.

Few martial artists are unfamiliar with the seven virtues of Bushido, the honor code of the feudal Samurai. Often equated with the European code of chivalry, Bushido has been been used as everything from a propaganda tool by the Japanese Imperial Military to the ethical conscious of modern corporations. The only problem is that Bushido as we know it has almost nothing to do with the Samurai (at least as we picture them), and even less with martial arts. 


Because of our fascination with all things Eastern, and the fact that American school owners have figured out that character development brings in more students than intense training and bloody noses, many commercial schools have latched on to the image of the Samurai and their code of honor. The virtues of Bushido have become taglines on flyers, and soccer moms are rushing to drop off their kids for the parenting they failed to provide.

​The problem is that martial arts training rarely builds character, it reveals it. If we truly believed that martial arts training built character and made people better human beings, we would suggest enrolling every convicted felon in the local dojo for rehabilitation. After all, if martial arts are the secret to becoming a compassionate, honorable person, there should be nothing to worry about, right? I shouldn't have to clarify that last statement as sarcasm, but this is the internet. No person in their right mind would take a violent criminal and give them the tools to make them more skilled at violence (though codified prison-based fighting systems do exist as it is). 

Do you know what martial arts training does a really great job of building though? False humility. The kind of humility that makes people point out that their humility makes them better than you. This is the same trait that drives people to ostracize those they feel are arrogant and condemn them for their egotism. It's the same trait that leads people to become trolls, attacking others for not conforming to their beliefs. If you were truly humble, you would understand the actions of others have no bearing on you and would mind your own business, leaving people to their own devices. I would prefer someone who is loud and arrogant over someone who pretends not to be any day. At least one is genuine... ​So if martial arts training does not really build character, what about the Samurai? How did they exist as these semi-mystical beings devoted to a life of honor and a divine sense of virture and righteousness? 


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Beware The Martial Arts Police

10/17/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon
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The cancel culture we see permeating the country right now, with corporations rushing to tell the world how "woke" they are while demanding the removal of anything deemed offensive, has infiltrated the martial arts. In the midst of COVID-19, we cannot lose sight of the real pandemic that has been plaguing our community since the dawn of the internet: the Martial Arts Police. We are all too familiar with the self-righteous individuals who spend their days behind the keyboard telling others what they believe is right and wrong. While the garden variety troll can be found commenting on various videos with such intellectual analyses as "tHaT wOuLd NeVeR wOrK iN tHe StR33Tz," select individuals appoint themselves to a higher level of authority, imposing their will across the entirety of their echo chamber and violently harassing those who do not submit to their demands. Ironic, since most of their targets are those who promote themselves to a position they feel is unwarranted or unjustified...

The simple truth is that while there are some generally accepted norms, there is not a single universal standard regarding anything in the martial arts. The standards, rules and regulations are established by the founder/headmaster and/or governing body of the individual style that is being taught. Their word is law, and they are the only ones with the authority to impose any sort of regulation on the members of that system/organization. Many popular styles are no longer centralized, with numerous organizations imposing their own rules and regulations upon their members that may or may not align with other branches of the same art. This is why rank, title and license are absolutely meaningless outside of the context they were awarded in... And why it's so confusing to me that there are people who actually spend their time trying to regulate and condemn others that do not fit into the confines of their understanding that they otherwise have no affiliation to. 


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American Jidokwan Familial Disputes

10/15/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon
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As President of the American Jidokwan Association (official website), I have been entirely forthcoming about our organization's history. Neither I or my teacher, Hatfield sensei, were there when the organization was created and therefore there are things we simply don't know. What is detailed on the history section of our website linked above is the most accurate presentation we are able to put forth about events that predate our involvement, and even though this contradicts earlier versions that we have published we believe it is in everyone's best interest to publicize correct information. I will say that at no point have we deliberately misrepresented or spread falsehoods about the American Jidokwan Association's history.

One thing we have been clear about is that we are not the only ones with a claim to the "American Jidokwan" name. To date, I know of at least 6 different schools or organizations that use the name, some of which have no connection to the rest. These groups are:
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  1. Ernest Lieb, American Jidokwan 1965 (Switched the name to American Karate Systems 1973)
  2. Robert Moore/Curtis Herrington, American Jidokwan 1968 (Used interchangeably with Ohio Jidokwan)
  3. Ernest Al Fuzy, American Jidokwan Karate 1995
  4. William Sirbaugh, American Jidokwan Taekwondo 1995
  5. ​Thomas Henzey, American Jidokwan Federation (date unknown)
  6. ​Herb McGuire, American Jidokwan Martial Arts (date unknown)​

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Controversy Of The Rising Sun

10/4/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon
PictureImperial War Flag, 1870-1945
According to Japanese mythology, after the creation of Heaven and Earth, the gods Izanagi and Izanami were given the task of forming a series of islands that would become what is now Japan. In some of the earliest writings, Japan became known as "the land of the rising sun" as the Japanese archipelago is east of the Asian mainland, thus "where the sun rises." In fact the Japanese word for Japan, Nihon 日本, literally means the "origin of the sun."

This belief has led to numerous symbols throughout Japanese history depicting the image of the rising sun (Asahi). Since ancient times, there have been many variations of the Asahi that represented festiveness and good fortune. It was first adopted as the Imperial War Flag on May 15, 1870 under the Emperor Meiji, and was used until the end of World War II in 1945. It was re-adopted on June 30, 1954 as the Japanese Naval ensign, and the Japan Self Defense Forces and the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces currently use a variation as well. 


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