Blog Posts

Instructor Spotlight: Hanshi Joseph Slonski

8/12/2018

Author: Bret Gordon

Beginning his martial arts journey in 1972 under Richard Barathy, Hanshi Joseph Slonski has had a long and prosperous career in Budo. In 1973 after relocating to California, Slonski began training in Shuri Ryu under Pete Rabino (a direct student of Robert Trias). There he stayed until 1978 when he moved back to New York, dabbling in other arts and training across Long Island.

In 1984, Slonski moved once again to Florida. By chance, as a young and high spirited brown belt, Slonski caught the eye of Hanshi Charles Bridgewater. Mr. Bridgewater first trained under Phillip Koeppel before training with Robert Trias directly, even becoming Mr. Trias's bodyguard. Eventually, Mr. Bridgewater broke away from Trias and established the Shorei Ryu system as a refinement of Trias's Shuri Ryu (Shorei Ryu was one of the original names Trias used for his art before settling on Shuri Ryu), drawing on his experiences in Kajukenbo and Shinto Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu (Mr. Bridgewater served in Law Enforcement alongside Shinto Yoshin Ryu founder Douglas Grose). Hanshi Bridgewater took Slonski under his wing and from then on, Mr. Slonski became his personal disciple and adopted son.

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The Dilemma Of Efficiency

7/15/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

There's an age-old debate in the martial arts about which type of training is "better." Now, "better" itself is a very subjective term. Better in what way? Everyone has their own definition, as well as their own personal goals they hope to achieve through the study of martial arts... So the "best" martial art is the one that can best serve your purpose. But putting that aside, there's an interesting (and rather frustrating) dilemma in the comparison of training methods. The two biggest debates I've seen are between traditional and sport martial arts, and between "reality-based self defense" and MMA. Let me first say that while some training methods are better suited for a particular purpose, all training has value. But let's say there was a way to determine which truly is better overall. That's where the problems start.

In order to determine which is better, there needs to be a level playing field, something that doesn't currently exist. You see, for a traditional karateka to prove his training is better, he has to beat the sport martial artists at their own game. He has to enter an open tournament, play by their rules and out-perform them. It can definitely be done, but at what cost? How much modification does he have to do to his art in order to do so? Doesn't that conformity already mean in that moment he's no longer performing traditional karate, but rather a version of it designed for sport? The reverse is true as well. For a NASKA competitor to do well at a WKF event, they have to play by their rules, and are therefore no longer performing sport karate.

This isn't a new concept, however. The entire existence of Judo can be attributed to this dilemma. Following the end of the Samurai era, where classical martial arts could be tested on the battlefield (although Japan had just come off a 250-year peace period, where it could be argued the devaluation of traditional arts as "combat-ready" had already begun), individual ryuha began competing with one another. When Kano Jigoro burst onto the scene in 1882, naturally his goal was to prove that his new art of Judo was better by implementing a new form competition. So what did he do? He invited all of the classical arts to send their best fighters in order to compete in a friendly match, that he got to pick the rules for. Not only that, he stacked the deck by enlisting Saigo Shiro, adopted son of Saigo Tanomo (instructor to Daito Ryu's Takeda Sokaku), to be his prized fighter (read more about this by clicking here). So in essence, he used classical jujutsu to prove that Judo was better than classical jujutsu in a Judo-style tournament. Yeah, that makes my head hurt too.

Let's extend that to the debate between RBSD and MMA...

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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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Taiji Can't Fight

5/26/2018

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Author: Neil Ripski

The recent fight between a one-year MMA fighter and a Taiji teacher from Shanghai yet again demonstrates how weak Taiji has become and I am tired of it.

Taiji is not a magic pill that makes you suddenly able to fight, what you train is what you become and if you never train to pick up your hands against an opponent, not a compliant partner, you are not going to be able to use your art effectively. There are certainly many benefits to Taiji training without any fighting aspect involved, the health and longevity, sensitivity, and chance for self-work are all amazing parts of the art but realistically these things do not make a fighter. Nothing wrong with that, but deluding students and ourselves into thinking that it does make a fighter is a terrible crime. It breeds false confidence and unrealistic expectations and skews people’s visions of reality. Then, when challenged these dreamers find themselves being taken apart by beginners in arts that actually train fighting.

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Etiquette & Protocol For Supplemental Training

5/25/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

As instructors, we need to admit to ourselves that we're not perfect. We don't know it all, and sometimes a student is looking for something that we can't provide. Our responsibility as instructors is to provide for our students and guide them on the path that helps them achieve their goals, not ours. One of the hardest things to hear as an instructor is that your student wants to train with someone else, but we have to understand there's a lot more to it. Often times, it's not that they want to replace their training with you but rather supplement it to fill in the gaps. There is no style, and no instructor, that is the best in the world at everything. It's this situation that I want to address in this article, from both the student and instructor's perspective.

Respect and loyalty form the foundation of the instructor/student relationship. It must be mutual and constant. Many things we may not give a second thought to are actually considered to be very disrespectful, and should be avoided.

Earlier tonight, I was contacted by someone who currently trains at another school but was looking to supplement their studies with more realistic self defense training. Upon learning that they were a student elsewhere, I immediately turned them down. If you are a student somewhere, and there is something you have an interest in but are not currently learning, your first responsibility is to talk to your current instructor. Often times, we can accommodate you. I certainly do not teach everything I know within my main program, and many instructors are the same. Perhaps what you're looking to learn is also on the minds of other students in the school, and this "want" can influence your instructor to add an additional class/program, or even offer private training.

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PSA: Ryon Connery

5/24/2018

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Earlier this week, I was contacted by a gentleman named Ryon Connery who was interested in receiving certification as the founder of his own style. As per our regulations, he sent me the three following certificates below as verification of his rank:

Now, obviously he does not hold high enough rank to be considered for a founder's license, but what struck me as even more odd is that he tried passing off his 8th Kyu (yellow belt) Bujinkan certificate as a black belt rank. But, like we do for all prospective members, we looked up Mr. Connery. What we found was shocking, and so we decided to publish this public service announcement. Unfortunately, here are the results:

Ryon Thomas Connery is a Level 2 sex offender, and has two convictions of child molestation (2nd degree) and one conviction of attempted child molestation (view source). The comments on the attached website read:

"In 1999 Connery was convicted in Lewis County Juvenile Court of Child Molestation 2nd Degree for the Sexual Assault of a 13-year-old female. At the time of the offense Connery, then 17-years-old, became romantically involved with the female and coercing her into sexual activity. As a result of the conviction he was sentenced to 156 weeks of confinement. While he was in custody for that offense another sex offense came to light. This involved a then 13-year-old Connery having sexual contact with an 8-year-old female. He was convicted of this new offense and served his sentence concurrently with the other crime. After his release from juvenile custody in 2002 additional sex offenses came to the attention of authorities. Those crimes, occurring prior to his 1999 conviction, involved sexual contact with female children that were known to him. In 2002 he pled guilty to the single offense of Attempted Child Molestation 2nd Degree. As a result of that conviction he was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Since his release for the sex offense, Connery received a conviction in Lewis County Superior Court in 2014 for Assault of a Child. Based on the type of crimes committed, Connery has been classified as a clear risk to re-offend and this notification in required."

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"That Doesn't Work, I'll Just Let Go!"

5/9/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

As an aiki jujutsu instructor, this is a statement I hear almost on a daily basis. It stems from both the outrageous number of charlatans floating around the internet and the overall ignorance when it comes to advanced martial arts. For those that don't know, what this statement is referring to are the wrist-grab connection drills that show an aiki practitioner effortlessly throwing an attacker without any conventional technique (to see an example of these drills, click here). This sounds ridiculous, and sometimes looks so too, but I assure you it's real. I know this because I was a heavy skeptic too, until I landed on my rear enough times to finally ask how it worked.

Before I go into the larger problem that this statement exemplifies, I want to explain how and why these wrist-grab connection drills work. First and foremost, we must understand that what is being demonstrated are not self defense techniques. They are drills meant to reinforce fundamental principles of balance, sensitivity, motion, timing and structural manipulation. Once the student learns and ingrains these principles, they begin to infuse them into conventional joint locks and throwing techniques to make them more efficient and effective. But that doesn't mean these drills require a compliant attacker either. In fact, the very premise of aiki involves receiving the force of your attacker and returning it. Therefore, you must have a committed attack to work from. The attacker must grab you with malicious intent.

The common response is that the attacker can simply let go and neutralize the technique. In theory, that's true, but the reason they don't let go is based on our natural fear of falling. Do you ever notice how when you lose your balance, you immediately reach out for something to grab onto? In order to fight this fear, the body has a postural control system that has two major functions: to ensure that balance is maintained by bracing the body against gravity, and to fix the orientation and position of the features that serve as a frame of reference for perception and action with respect to the external world. Postural control relies on multisensory processing and motor responses that seem to be automatic and occur without awareness. Our balance relies on the alignment of the vertical line. In reference to aiki connection drills, at the moment of contact the attacker is immediately shifted off their center line, giving the sensation of falling. The body's postural control system tries to correct that by anchoring itself to the only stable thing around it - the person throwing them. This gives the practitioner enough time to finish the throw by compromising the attacker's structure to the point of no return. So now that we've cleared that up, let's talk about the bigger problem!

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De-Mystifying Chi: A Scientific Explanation

5/7/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

To start with, I promise this will not be some hokey article about a mystical force that no one can feel, see or otherwise experience. I'm not even going to talk about spirituality. The chi I'm talking about (and will be further referring to in Japanese as ki) is a very measurable force that exists within all things in nature. So what is it, and how is it applied in true internal martial arts?

Ki 気 literally means "energy," which is commonly defined as the ability to do work. In a martial arts context, we're referring specifically to the generation of force. Energy is created in the human body by a flow of electricity. At rest, the average human body produces around 100 watts of power. Electricity is required for the nervous system to send signals throughout the body and to the brain, making it possible for us to move, think and feel. Almost all of the cells in our body can use charged elements (such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium), called ions, to generate electricity, and therefore energy.

All martial arts, and in fact all human movement, use this energy to generate power in their techniques. The amount of power you can generate is dependent on your overall use and understanding of biomechanics and proper structure. But this isn't an article on the most efficient way to punch or kick. Let's get deeper in our study of the arts, and specifically look at the taboo internal arts.

Most people's definition of internal martial arts comes from a rudimentary understanding of Taijiquan and Qigong. To them, the "internal" classification refers to the healing properties of these practices, and that's certainly part of it. The flow of energy through the body helps improve the circulatory and respiratory systems, which in turn promote overall health. But can you use ki combatively? Yes! There are two distinct applications of ki in the internal martial arts: disruption and connection.

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You're Not A Soke!

3/11/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

I probably shouldn't write this, because the more information you put out, the better people can lie. However, if just one person can avoid making the mistakes that so many of us have made when we were first starting on our own, then it's worth it. Let's be clear right from the start. If you are the founder of your own system, you are not a soke! But before I can clarify why, we must explore the most misunderstood title in the martial arts today. Keep in mind that everything I am about to write is done so from a Japanese perspective, based on tradition and historical precedent.

There are two types of titles in the martial arts, administrative titles and teaching titles (shogo). Administrative titles are technically positions, rather than titles to be addressed by, and establish your authority of overseeing the system and your level of responsibility. Teaching titles exist as an extension of the Menkyo (license) system. The various shogo titles indicate hierarchy between the instructors of a system, as they follow a preset order of progression, and establish your authority of transmitting the system. The most common shogo titles are Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi. Shihan sometimes get thrown in there as a teaching title, while other organizations/styles use it administratively, so that will specifically depend on the style we're discussing.

Soke 宗家 is an administrative title. It designates the holder as the inheriting headmaster of the art they represent, much as the CEO is the head of a corporation. It is never meant to be used to address the person, just as you would never say, "Good morning CEO Smith," and it's most certainly never to be used by the holder in referring to themselves. Rather, it is most appropriately used in writing of official documents or when talking about someone. Then, like all other Japanese titles, it is to follow the person's name (i.e. John Smith, soke). So now that we've clarified the proper use of the title, what exactly does it mean to be Soke?

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The Importance Of Vigilance: Active Shooter Response

2/16/2018

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Author: Bret Gordon

First off, I'd like to thank all of my readers and subscribers for being so patient. It's been over a month since my last article, and I wish I had something more enjoyable to write about.

For those that don't know, I live in Central Florida about 4 hours from where the Parkland shooting happened just two days ago. In this article, I am not going to engage in the "gun control" debate as the recent social media explosions have already proven everyone is set in their ways (on both sides). Instead, I want to discuss how important it is to be vigilant and proactive in maintaining your own and your family's safety.

Posted signs now litter most public venues that read, "See Something? Say Something!" That sounds great, and I believe all suspicions should be reported, but to think it's enough is simply ignorant. What happens when nothing is done about your concerns? The FBI released the following statement regarding the Parkland shooting: "On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI's Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him...Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life...We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami field office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time."

So a concerned citizen followed the proper steps to notify the appropriate authorities of their suspicions, and not even a follow-up look was made. I understand how swamped law enforcement of all levels must be, but no one had time to make a phone call to pass the information along? But that's neither here nor there. There's no preventing it now, but I sincerely hope that steps are taken to review and fix whatever problem caused this major crack in the system.

That said, what can you do to make sure you don't end up in this tragic situation, and how do you survive one if you are?

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In an effort to share information, each year we publish a book containing all of the articles written that year. This book is an excellent supplemental training tool for the beginner and master alike! To order the most recent volume, click the image below. For previous years, please contact our headquarters.

Articles of 2016

USAMA BLOG

Instructor Spotlight: Hanshi Joseph Slonski

The Dilemma Of Efficiency

Art May Be Subjective, But Martial Arts Are Not

Taiji Can't Fight

Etiquette & Protocol For Supplemental Training

PSA: Ryon Connery

"That Doesn't Work, I'll Just Let Go!"

De-Mystifying Chi: A Scientific Explanation

You're Not A Soke!

The Importance Of Vigilance: Active Shooter Response

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