Category: History

How Okuden Killed The Martial Arts (Part 2)

1/13/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

In Part 1 (click here), I discussed how the secrecy of kata had led to the misconception that Karate is not viable for real violence. In this article, we're going to explore an even more esoteric art steeped in mysticism and tradition that most people discount as a fighting system - Aiki Jujutsu.

When most people think of the aiki arts, Aikido is what comes to mind. Unfortunately, the Ueshiba family has made it clear their vision for Aikido does not include fighting or contests of any kind. But the aiki arts as a whole are often subject to ridicule if not complete dismissal among the majority of the martial arts community. We get lumped in with the likes of George Dillman and his no-touch knockouts, which are nothing more than the power of suggestion over highly susceptible individuals.

Real aiki, on the other hand, is a set of biomechanical principles and processes. When you understand what you are looking at, everything is supported by sound principles of physics. The training methods, however, must be felt to understood. The better one is, the more fake it looks. My teacher once said "if you understand what just happened to you, it's not aiki." So again, we have another case of secrecy killing the art. But why?

How Okuden Killed The Martial Arts (Part 1)

1/12/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

In all martial arts, there are different levels of students. Some call them indoor and outdoor students. Some differentiate by saying they have both customers and students. Whatever the distinction, not all students are created equal, and they won't all reach the highest levels of a particular system. Some information is always held back. This information is called Okuden 奥伝 (secret teachings). It could be because the instructor is waiting until the student is ready, or maybe they want to keep something up their sleeve should the student get a little too cocky.

Some systems formally classify the material into various levels, and award certifications or licenses along the way. Others are informal about it, with the instructor being more selective (and usually subjective) with who they pass on certain information to. Some systems are more shrouded in secrecy than others, but the truth is that every art has secrets. But what happens when the refusal to share such secrets leads to the death of the style itself?

By now, everyone is familiar with MMA, and the culture shock that sent waves through the martial arts when BJJ became popular. If nothing else, it polarized everyone between those who suddenly believed the "old" styles were simple fantasy, and those who knew their validity (or at least knew there should be validity). In this article, I'm going to look at two arts specifically, Karate and Aiki Jujutsu, as that's what the majority of my experience has been in, but I am confident this will apply to others as well.

Aikido Is Just Jujutsu

1/10/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

As a follow-up to my last article, "Taekwondo Is Just Karate," let's explore another system that really should not be given it's own category as a new kind of martial art: Aikido. Founded by Ueshiba Morihei, Aikido has gained traction all over the world as a peaceful martial art based on the principles of mutual benefit and harmony. Essentially, the study of Aikido should lead to self-realization and personal growth while providing the practitioner with a set of techniques to defend themselves without causing undue injury or harm to their attacker.

Now, to understand what I mean when I say "Aikido is just Jujutsu," we have to look at what Jujutsu really is as well as the origins of Aikido itself.

By it's most simple definition, Jujutsu is a blanket term for all Japanese unarmed fighting styles with an emphasis on joint manipulation, throwing techniques and grappling instead of striking. This is due to its origins as a warrior art, meant to be used on the battlefield by Samurai who for one reason or another found themselves without a weapon. As in everything, context matters. When your opponent is wearing armor, developing a sophisticated striking repertoire like Karate isn't appropriate as they are not effective.

Striking in Jujutsu is meant to change the shape and position of the body, as well as create disruptions that allow you to more easily apply your finishing technique, whether that's breaking a joint, choking them out or throwing them on their head. Styles developed during the 250-year peaceful Edo period have a greater emphasis on striking than those developed during the Sengoku period, but still not to the level that we would classify them as striking arts.

Taekwondo Is Just Karate

1/9/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

Here come the pitchforks! A few days ago, I published an article on "Made Up Martial Arts" which discussed the very arbitrary method of categorizing and naming styles of Okinawan martial arts leading to the conclusion that really all styles are made up. Earlier today, I added the following to the end of the article:

"Another example of a 'made up' martial art is Taekwondo. In the 1950s following the Japanese occupation, nine kwans (schools) of Korean Karate were in existence. They all used either Tang Soo Do (Tode-Do 唐手道), Kong Soo Do (Karatedo 空手道) or Kwon Bup (Kempo 拳法) to describe their respective styles.

The Korean government, wanting to regulate martial arts, ordered the kwans to unify and come up with a new name for what they taught to remove the connection to Japanese and Okinawan martial arts, and so the name "Taekwondo" was coined and they formed the Korea Taekwondo Association. They created the Palgwe and KTA yudanja forms to separate themselves from their predecessors, and later replaced the Palgwe series with the Taegeuk forms simply because they still looked 'too Japanese.'"

Let's explore that a little more....

Writing Your Own Scrolls?

1/7/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

American Yoshinkan Makimono

About a year ago, I posted a picture of two scrolls (Hiden Mokuroku and Hiden Okugi) we use in American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu that were carried over from our Daito Ryu origins. Admittedly, they are issued more for nostalgia and preservation than anything else as we do not teach from them, but they are still a cool reminder of our past and foundation.

Immediately, someone unfamiliar with the traditions of Daito Ryu jumped on to say that I wrote them and they're not authentic scrolls. They're absolutely right! But that's how it's supposed to be...

In Daito Ryu, the tradition of students writing their own scrolls goes all the way back to Takeda Sokaku, who first disseminated the art to the public (and many believe to be illiterate). An article from noted Daito Ryu practitioner and historian Guillaume Erard goes into detail on the subject (click here for full article):

Made Up Martial Arts

1/5/2022

Author: Bret Gordon

Okinawan Newspaper Featuring Karate Day

Awhile back, Jesse Enkamp put out a video called "Why ALL Karate Styles Are Fake" detailing how the numerous styles of Okinawan and Japanese karate came to exist. To summarize, in 1927 when Kano Jigoro visited Okinawa and the local martial artists put on a demonstration, in order to hide any connection to China during this highly nationalistic era they decided not to say this was a demonstration of Tode 唐手 (Chinese Hand) and instead referred to their respective demonstrations by the region of Okinawa the individual practitioner was from (Naha, Tomari and Shuri).

However up until this point, it was considered all the same art with different flavors based on individual teachers. One can argue that's all a style is anyway, but is that enough to formalize it as an independent martial art? Unlike Japanese martial arts, which have been divided into formalized styles as early as the 15th century, Okinawan martial artists all traveled and cross-trained to pursue their personal growth as practitioners. Even today, there is a spirit of unity among karate practitioners, culminating in the annual Karate Day celebration (commemorating the 1936 meeting when prominent Okinawan masters came together and officially adopted the term Karate 空手 to describe their art, along with the adoption of the kyu/dan rank system, shogo titles and competition format to conform it into a Japanese martial art).

Kosen Judo: Extinct, Competition Ruleset, Or Independent Style?

12/21/2021

Author: Bret Gordon

Any discussion of Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu inevitably ends up mentioning Kosen Judo, but there is a lot of misconception about what it actually is. In this article, let's explore this rather obscure subsection of the grappling world, including its origins and what it has evolved into today.

The word "Kosen" is an abbreviation of Koto Senmon Gakko (literally "higher speciality school") and referred to Japanese colleges of technology that cater to students aged 15-20. The Kosen schools began holding competitions in 1898, and began inter-collegiate tournaments called the Kosen Taikai from 1914-1944. Largely, the matches held at these events followed rules set by the Kodokan (pre-1925) with input from the Dai Nippon Butokukai. Some major differences to other competitions were the fact that competitors could pull guard and go right into ground work, and were still allowed to perform some techniques that had since been banned in normal Kodokan contests. Naturally, this allowed for competitors to develop a sophisticated grappling repertoire.

Kano himself disapproved of these rules and was quoted in 1926 as saying that Kosen Judo contributed to create judoka more proficient at winning sport matches at the cost of being less skilled in self defense. Interestingly, this is one of biggest criticisms of modern BJJ by the martial arts community today. Ultimately, the Kosen school system was abolished in 1950 and the first iteration of Kosen Judo ceased to exist.

Titles In Japanese Martial Arts

12/18/2021

Author: Bret Gordon

After a rather long hiatus, I am happy to announce the return of the USAMA blog as a source of information relating to news, history, traditions and training methods of the martial arts. In this article, I'd like to address the very misunderstood customs surrounding titles, specifically those used in Japanese martial arts.

Otsuka Ryunosuke (right), Soke of Hokushin Itto Ryu

The first title I'd like to address is that of Soke... There is a lot of misinformation about the title of Soke 宗家 in the martial arts. First and foremost, it does not mean the founder of the style so let's just get that out of the way...But more recently there has been the misunderstanding that Soke is not a martial arts title at all, that it's purely a legal position connected to one's koseki (family registry). While this is one use of the title, there is documented usage of it in the martial arts among both Koryu (pre-1868) and Gendai (modern) systems to designate the lineage holder of the art. Just off the top of my head, Japanese arts that specifically use the title of Soke (or Soke Dairi if there is no current headmaster) are:

Mugai Ryu, Hokushin Itto Ryu, Toda-Ha Buko Ryu, Daito Ryu, Hakko Ryu, Koden Enshin Ryu, Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, Yagyu Shingan Ryu, Shidare Yanagi Ryu, Tendo Ryu, Kurama Ryu....

I could go on but I believe I've made my point. There is enough precedent in the Japanese martial arts community to warrant the use of Soke to designate the inheriting headmaster of a system. We can further argue as to whether or not is it appropriate for arts outside of Japan to use the title, but still the historical precedent is set. To quote an article on Koryu.com from William Bodiford:

American Jidokwan Familial Disputes

10/15/2020

Author: Bret Gordon

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:

Ernest Lieb, American Jidokwan 1965 (Switched the name to American Karate Systems 1973)
Robert Moore/Curtis Herrington, American Jidokwan 1968 (Used interchangeably with Ohio Jidokwan)
Ernest Al Fuzy, American Jidokwan Karate 1995
William Sirbaugh, American Jidokwan Taekwondo 1995
Thomas Henzey, American Jidokwan Federation (date unknown)
Herb McGuire, American Jidokwan Martial Arts (date unknown)

Controversy Of The Rising Sun

10/4/2020

Author: Bret Gordon

Imperial 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.