Category: History

Confirmation Of Hapkido's Connection To Daito Ryu

5/11/2020

Author: Bret Gordon

For decades, the stories of Choi Yong Sul's training with Takeda Sokaku in Daito Ryu have been the subject of countless disputes. I've heard numerous versions of this so-called history, with everything ranging from Choi being the adopted son of Takeda to being just a simple houseboy. Some renditions emphasize they didn't know each other at all. What is indisputable is that when Choi returned to Korea following the end of the Japanese occupation, he was a formidable martial artist whose reputation grew quickly.

But where did his martial prowess come from? A technical analysis of Choi's teaching certainly shows similarities to Daito Ryu technique, but Takeda Sokaku was notorious for keeping meticulous records of every student he taught. Who can blame him when over the course of his career, he taught an estimated 30,000 students, many of whom were heads of other martial arts? He felt his art of Daito Ryu was proprietary and wanted a way to ensure those who trained with him wouldn't take what they learned back to their schools and pass them off as information that had been there already. It has been generally accepted that Choi Yong Sul did not appear anywhere in Takeda's records, nor did his alleged Japanese name "Yoshida Asao." It has been suggested that he was intentionally omitted because he was Korean, but other Koreans (such as Jang In Mok) appear in official Daito Ryu records so that's not a valid excuse. How then, can we reconcile that with his claims of studying with Takeda?

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Spotlight: Otsuka Ryunosuke

5/8/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

Occasionally, someone comes along and confirms everything you believe in. While there are countless historical examples of Asian martial artists reaching the highest level of their respective arts in record timeframes that would make the "time-in-grade" crowd start to seethe, I'll admit it's not as common for us wide eyes to do the same legitimately. However, when someone sets an undisputed precedent, in Japan no less, the results can't be ignored.

Born as Lösch Markus from Germany, Otsuka Ryunosuke moved to Japan in 2010 in search of classical martial arts. He met Otsuka Yoichiro of Hokushin Itto Ryu Hyoho, and quickly became a dedicated student and uchi-deshi. Just three years later, he was appointed Saiko Shihan (highest master) of the art. In July of 2014, Otsuka Ryunosuke earned Menkyo Kaiden (license of full transmission) from Yoichiro, who had since become the 6th Soke of the art. At that time is when he was taken on as an adopted son of Yoichiro and officially changed his name.

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Spotlight: Don Angier

5/6/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

One of the most influential and profound instructors of the aiki arts, Don Angier (1933-2014) quickly gained attention as probably America's first real soke. Growing up in Utica, New York, through an unbelievable stroke of fate Angier met Yoshida Kenji, son of Yoshida Kotaro (a prominent Daito Ryu instructor and soke of his family's own tradition) who had relocated to the United States for political reasons. When Angier inquired why Yoshida agreed to train him, he said "that he had agreed to teach me for several reasons. During his absence after our first meeting, he had been watching me to see what kind of a person I was, how much of a temper I might have, and generally how I conducted myself. He realized that he would probably never return to Japan, and he still had an obligation to pass the family art along... He said that he considered me a yoshi, an adopted son, such as those adopted by samurai who had no children of their own or those adopted by families who had lost the male heir" and was given the Japanese name Yoshida Kensaburo (view source).

The two would start training together privately for several years, from the time Angier was 15 or 16 until he joined the military during the Korean War soon after graduating high school. Now, when you do the math, that means he had about two to three years of regular instruction with Yoshida before joining the military and then would they would meet up occasionally until Angier was sent overseas. Unfortunately shortly after that, Yoshida passed away of pneumonia. After he was discharged in the early 1950s, Angier made his new home in California where he would spend the rest of his life teaching.

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Not Always What It Seems

4/26/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

There is an excellent book by Ellis Amdur, called "Hidden in Plain Sight: Esoteric Power Training Within Japanese Martial Traditions" (to order it, click here). I feel it's absolutely required reading for anyone serious about developing internal power or aiki. In a nutshell, it describes how mundane conditioning exercises and warm-ups taught to beginners at the start of class are actually the deep secrets everyone is searching for in order to develop these very advanced skill sets.

Now, the title of the book is what got me thinking. Hiding things in plain sight is all too common in the world of traditional martial arts and it is up to the student to uncover them. This journey of discovery is a crucial element of one's martial arts progress, and to this day I still find myself having lightbulb moments that I can't wait to call my instructor about. This article is actually one of those lightbulb moments that I had awhile back, and maybe it'll help cut down on the time it takes for you to understand the connection of what I'll be discussing.

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Spotlight: Tanemura Shoto

4/11/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

It is amazing what you can accomplish when you start young, meet the right people at the right time, and have an extraordinary level of dedication and personal drive, often going above and beyond what most believe to even be possible. Tanemura Shoto of Genbukan fame is one of the most well-known and respected martial artists of his time. To date, he has either fully inherited or been awarded Menkyo Kaiden (highest level attainable) in no less than 23 different martial arts styles and serves as the President of the Genbukan World Ninpo Bugei Renmei, Kokusai Jujutsu Renmei and the Nihon Kobudo World Federation. On behalf of the US Association of Martial Arts, I would like to extend an overdue congratulations to Tanemura sensei for setting the bar so high, and I hope one day to have half of his credentials.

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There Will Be A Reckoning

4/2/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

What interesting times we're living in! Nothing brings out people's true nature like a crisis, and we are seeing the beginning of a revolution. The world as we knew it will be forever changed by COVID-19, but the subject of this article is a slightly narrower scale.

As a Budoka, it is fascinating to watch the shift in dynamic of the martial arts industry as it faces collapse and frankly, I'm not too upset over it. For centuries, martial arts have been handed down through families and clans as life-saving skills of war meant to protect the ones you love. It is in this spirit that I run my dojo. We are purposely small and intimate, allowing us the opportunity to develop bonds that transcend the four walls of our commercial space. I don't just accept everyone with a credit card, but rather only those who will benefit the school as much as we'll benefit them. These bonds allow us the foundation of trust and mutual respect to push the limits of our training and experience with one another, the benefits of which are exponential. All of this is in stark contrast to the cultural norm we see today...

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No Standards In The Martial Arts

4/1/2020

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Author: Bret Gordon

For the better part of human history, martial arts prowess and authority has been determined by one's skill and knowledge. I mean, how else can you judge someone's legitimacy in skills of war except by their execution of those skills? It is only in the relative peace of the modern world that people began to even care about certifications, because we're so civilized.

Over the last few years, I have been blessed with numerous opportunities to travel the country and share my art. I've been able to network with some of the biggest names in the martial arts community, and have been asked to share my reviews and critiques as a "subject matter expert" on several projects by published authors. I'm truly grateful for every opportunity afforded to me, and I'd like to think the respect that I've earned is due to how I carry myself both on and off the mat.

It's been awhile since someone even insinuated that I or my instructor may be less than legitimate, so I'll admit the recent charade mentioned in my previous article (read here) caught me off guard. What's even more shocking is this "determination" was based solely on my age! In the martial arts community, there is a common sentiment regarding age and time restrictions when it comes to issuing rank and licensing, but as I've said before, there simply is no universal standard. Issuance of credentials are at the discretion of the headmaster or the governing body of that particular style, and their authority in such cannot be disputed simply because you disagree with their requirements.

But here's the kicker. Those same people wouldn't blink an eye at an Asian instructor with half of the experience claiming the same or even more. If my last name was Nakamura, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. For whatever reason, Westerners have this self-inflicted inferiority complex towards our Asian counterparts in what is considered possible and legitimate. We have a mystique about the Asian culture that clouds our judgement and leads us to revere those who really aren't that different from us.

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It Takes A Lifetime... Or Does It?

9/23/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

One of the most deeply held convictions in the martial arts today is that it takes a lifetime to master a single art. Those who claim high rank in more than one art are often met with a scoff, and a condescending "That would never happen in Japan." Except that it did...

In this article, I want to explore the numerous cases of both young achievers of high positions (yes, plural) as well as those who were fortunate enough to attain mastery of more than one art. Now, before I do so let's get two counter-arguments out of the way. The two most common I hear are that times were different back then, they were able to train for 12 hours each day and so progressed much faster. That sounds great, except that even then they had jobs and families to tend to just like today. The second myth is that the life expectancy was so short, 20 was middle-aged. The global average life expectancy in the latter half of the 19th century was around 70, also much like today. When you think about it, the conditions were not different and so what we really have is a self-inflicted inferiority complex of the Western martial artist to their Asian counterpart.

So who were these superhuman martial artists that were able to do the impossible? Well, for the sake of time let's just include all members of the Samurai class pre-Tokugawa Shogunate who had to learn not just one, but demonstrate proficiency in 18 different martial arts (collectively called the Bugei Juhappan). In this article, I want to focus on the modern era (post-1868). The short list is as follows:

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Stop Associating Karate With The Samurai

8/29/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

One of the primary marketing ploys of commercial karate is to use imagery of the Japanese Samurai to promote their school. They cling to the Bushido code as if it empowers them with divine morality, and the idea that the Samurai were these noble, scholarly warriors. Both of those assumptions are far from the truth.

First, the Bushido code was implemented during the Tokugawa Shogunate, a 250-year peace period, in an attempt to control the behavior of the Samurai, a highly trained fighting force with now no enemy to fight. It had no place during the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Period). But I guess rape, pillaging and murder isn't acceptable if they're not in some far away land on campaign?

However, I find issue with karateka using the Samurai for marketing not for the hypocrisy of it (although that's a big factor), but rather the fact that it's historically incorrect. The Samurai had absolutely nothing to do with the development of karate! The Samurai were the military nobility of feudal Japan, the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class (abolished in 1868). Each clan had their own proud tradition of combat styles, and the history of koryu Japanese martial arts is well-documented. Jujutsu was the most common unarmed fighting style of the Samurai, one of 18 fighting disciplines (called the bugei juhappan) that they were expected to train in. Karate wasn't introduced to Japan until at least 1921, 53 years after the abolition of the Samurai class. But that doesn't mean that karate doesn't have a proud warrior history of its own.

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Art May Be Subjective, But Martial Arts Are Not

7/8/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

This is going to be short, and more of a rant than anything else. I could drag it out, but I really hope that's unnecessary. People get hung up on the word "art" in martial arts, and take it completely out of context. They use it as an excuse for their material not being martial, combative or warlike (read "practical in any way"). Art is subjective, correct? Except that this interpretation of the word "art" is completely incorrect. To understand why, we must look at the root word and break it down. Of course the word "martial" comes from the Latin martialis, meaning "belonging/dedicated to Mars (or to war)." The original meaning of the Latin artem, from which "art" is derived, is actually synonymous with "skill" or "discipline."

However, considering the majority of martial artists study disciplines of Asian origins, let's look at how they write the term. In Japanese, the word for martial arts is bujutsu 武術 (in Chinese, the same characters are pronounced wushu, and in Korean it would be moosul). When you break up the kanji, the character jutsu 術 does not mean "art" at all. It literally translates to, can you guess? Skill, technique or discipline. So here again, we see the proper definition of "martial arts" being "skills/techniques of war." How does that imply anything other than all training should be combative in nature?

Thankfully, there is a growing trend towards practicality and self defense in the martial arts community... But it should've never gotten this bad. At their core, martial arts are effective means of controlling, restraining, injuring, maiming and killing an enemy. When we forget that, we end up with XMA and tricking... All physical endeavors should be respected for the effort and dedication necessary for proficiency, but as for what should be classified as martial arts? I think you know where I stand.

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USAMA BLOG

Confirmation Of Hapkido's Connection To Daito Ryu

Spotlight: Otsuka Ryunosuke

Spotlight: Don Angier

Not Always What It Seems

Spotlight: Tanemura Shoto

There Will Be A Reckoning

No Standards In The Martial Arts

It Takes A Lifetime... Or Does It?

Stop Associating Karate With The Samurai

Art May Be Subjective, But Martial Arts Are Not

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