Author: Bret Gordon
The cognitive dissonance of some people is absolutely amazing, while also endlessly frustrating, to watch. In the tireless effort to prove Hatfield sensei and I are lying about something, anything really, our detractors continue to reveal just how ignorant of and uninterested in the truth they really are... And the latest thing to come under attack is the American Jidokwan Association (official website).
As current President of the American Jidokwan Association, since October 3, 2017, I feel compelled to shed light on our organization's history as well as its ties to Korea as a legitimate source of authentic Jidokwan Taekwondo and Korean Karate.
By now, everyone is aware of the situation regarding my predecessor Patrick Justice (if you are not, please read these articles: part 1, part 2 and part 3) so I will not continue to speak on this matter. The facts of the situation have already been presented to the best of my knowledge, and there is nothing more for me to say.
As I have come to understand it, the project known as American Jidokwan Association stems from the collaboration of three individuals: William Sirbaugh, Shune Yung Davis and E.A. Fuzy. Unfortunately, this is where the organization's history gets... well... fuzy.
As current President of the American Jidokwan Association, since October 3, 2017, I feel compelled to shed light on our organization's history as well as its ties to Korea as a legitimate source of authentic Jidokwan Taekwondo and Korean Karate.
By now, everyone is aware of the situation regarding my predecessor Patrick Justice (if you are not, please read these articles: part 1, part 2 and part 3) so I will not continue to speak on this matter. The facts of the situation have already been presented to the best of my knowledge, and there is nothing more for me to say.
As I have come to understand it, the project known as American Jidokwan Association stems from the collaboration of three individuals: William Sirbaugh, Shune Yung Davis and E.A. Fuzy. Unfortunately, this is where the organization's history gets... well... fuzy.
E.A. Fuzy Anyone familiar with the martial arts scene in Ohio has heard of E.A. Fuzy and what he called "American Ji Do Kwan Karate." In fact, he was very active and public in his promotion of the art. His contributions to the martial arts community cannot be disputed, but as we all have, there are skeletons in that closet.
Because he was the only one teaching and promoting the art publicly, Fuzy felt he deserved sole credit for the development of the art and deliberately wrote out the contributions made by Sirbaugh and Davis. After all, why should those who aren't teaching on a broad scale be recognized for their efforts? One can only speculate what his motives would be, but there is a reason he no longer referred to his art as "American Jidokwan Taekwondo."
Because he was the only one teaching and promoting the art publicly, Fuzy felt he deserved sole credit for the development of the art and deliberately wrote out the contributions made by Sirbaugh and Davis. After all, why should those who aren't teaching on a broad scale be recognized for their efforts? One can only speculate what his motives would be, but there is a reason he no longer referred to his art as "American Jidokwan Taekwondo."
Sirbaugh in Korea Over time, Shune Yung Davis would retire and leave William Sirbaugh as the only active teacher of American Jidokwan Taekwondo, an art that he would pass to his stepson Steven Hatfield upon his death in 2009. Prior to their role in the development of American Jidokwan, Shune Yung Davis studied Jidokwan Taekwondo with his father (he was half Korean, half American). William Sirbaugh, on the other hand, had a background in Moo Duk Kwan and what would later be known as Hankido.
Now, an article has recently been published that includes an interview with one of Fuzy's students named Edward Mathna. Mr. Mathna states that the history of American Jidokwan as we have presented is a fabrication as he has never heard of Sirbaugh or Davis, to which I respond that the testimony of one person who appears to be very vested in keeping Fuzy's legacy and reputation intact is not the most reliable when it comes to either dispelling or perpetuating the facts that Fuzy presented. Far too many people take their instructor's word at face value as it is. But furthermore, one person or even a small group of people saying they have never heard of someone is far from conclusive.
Now, an article has recently been published that includes an interview with one of Fuzy's students named Edward Mathna. Mr. Mathna states that the history of American Jidokwan as we have presented is a fabrication as he has never heard of Sirbaugh or Davis, to which I respond that the testimony of one person who appears to be very vested in keeping Fuzy's legacy and reputation intact is not the most reliable when it comes to either dispelling or perpetuating the facts that Fuzy presented. Far too many people take their instructor's word at face value as it is. But furthermore, one person or even a small group of people saying they have never heard of someone is far from conclusive.
Brown's 7th Dan from E.A. Fuzy Rather, I'd like to present another student of Fuzy that can corroborate our history, who knew William Sirbaugh personally and has spoken to both Hatfield sensei and myself about American Jidokwan history on numerous occasions.
Charles "Buddy" Brown was a student of E.A. Fuzy's from the early 1970s right up until the latter's death, holding the rank of 7th Dan in "Ji Do Kwan Kong Soo Do." He is also heavily active in promoting the Koroshi School of Defense where I believe he also holds high rank. I first spoke to Mr. Brown in 2018 and as someone active who was highly active in the Ohio martial arts community, it was refreshing to hear him talk about our shared and common history as brothers in American Jidokwan. In July of 2018, we extended membership to Mr. Brown as well as recognition of his 7th Dan through our organization in honor of his contributions to the art and dedication to American Jidokwan.
Charles "Buddy" Brown was a student of E.A. Fuzy's from the early 1970s right up until the latter's death, holding the rank of 7th Dan in "Ji Do Kwan Kong Soo Do." He is also heavily active in promoting the Koroshi School of Defense where I believe he also holds high rank. I first spoke to Mr. Brown in 2018 and as someone active who was highly active in the Ohio martial arts community, it was refreshing to hear him talk about our shared and common history as brothers in American Jidokwan. In July of 2018, we extended membership to Mr. Brown as well as recognition of his 7th Dan through our organization in honor of his contributions to the art and dedication to American Jidokwan.
When the recent interview with Mr. Mathna was published, I reached out to Mr. Brown to get his opinion. The screenshot at right is just a small part of the conversation, but clearly shows that E.A. Fuzy is not the sole founder of American Jidokwan and that William Sirbaugh was indeed part of the development. While the majority of Fuzy's training came from Robert Moore and Curtis Harrington, he did work with William Sirbaugh as the art came to fruition.
As I said, we can all speculate as to why Fuzy decided to claim sole credit for American Jidokwan and I won't speak ill of him as nothing can take away from the contributions and attention he brought to the art, but I will say that those who propagate the incomplete history he presented need to further their research. But to say or imply Sirbaugh was not part of the development of American Jidokwan simply because he was not public in his teaching is outright false.
Following Fuzy's split from Sirbaugh and Davis is when he began calling the art either American Ji Do Kwan Karate or American Ji Do Kwan Kong Soo Do depending on when you studied with him. Sirbaugh and Davis retained the use of American Jidokwan Taekwondo, and Justice during his tenure as President would introduce the name American Jidokwan Tang Soo Do. This was done to differentiate the art from the common image of sport Taekwondo.
As I said, we can all speculate as to why Fuzy decided to claim sole credit for American Jidokwan and I won't speak ill of him as nothing can take away from the contributions and attention he brought to the art, but I will say that those who propagate the incomplete history he presented need to further their research. But to say or imply Sirbaugh was not part of the development of American Jidokwan simply because he was not public in his teaching is outright false.
Following Fuzy's split from Sirbaugh and Davis is when he began calling the art either American Ji Do Kwan Karate or American Ji Do Kwan Kong Soo Do depending on when you studied with him. Sirbaugh and Davis retained the use of American Jidokwan Taekwondo, and Justice during his tenure as President would introduce the name American Jidokwan Tang Soo Do. This was done to differentiate the art from the common image of sport Taekwondo.
Now, when Justice was dismissed from the AJA and Hatfield sensei resumed an active role, the decision was made to teach in a very Japanese/Okinawan fashion. After my institution as President on October 3, 2017, we made the push to emphasize Korean Karate over Taekwondo, teaching many hyung carried over from Shotokan in addition to the KTA series of poomsae (we do not teach the Taegeuk series created by the Kukkiwon). That said, I wanted to re-establish our connection to the Jidokwan Headquarters in Korea as they are still active. Contrary to popular belief and misinformation distributed by the Kukkiwon, the individual Kwans are still instrumental in the promotion and teaching of Taekwondo. The Kukkiwon's intended purpose was to serve as a Dan registry and set basic minimum standards for universal certification. The actual training of the art itself was still up to the Kwans to go above and beyond the minimum standards set by the Kukkiwon. It is by this foundation that the American Jidokwan Association operates.
 Hatfield's 7th Dan from Korea |  Gordon's 5th Dan from Korea |
In 2018 and 2019 respectively, both I and Hatfield sensei were recognized by the Korean Jidokwan Headquarters (see above) but it gets better.
On April 6, 2020, Hatfield sensei was appointed as an official branch president by the Headquarters in Korea, making the American Jidokwan Association an official representative of the organization. We are the only American Jidokwan lineage to hold such recognition. This is not to discredit any other organization using the American Jidokwan name, it's just the truth.
On April 6, 2020, Hatfield sensei was appointed as an official branch president by the Headquarters in Korea, making the American Jidokwan Association an official representative of the organization. We are the only American Jidokwan lineage to hold such recognition. This is not to discredit any other organization using the American Jidokwan name, it's just the truth.
Now, the one argument our detractors will probably try to use is "why is everything with Hatfield and Gordon always secretive? What are they hiding?" After all, Sirbaugh taught privately. Hasaka Yutashi, founder of American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu and friend/training partner of Sirbaugh, taught privately. Why has "no one else" outside of our circles ever heard of these people, and why do we hold onto information rather than making everything publicly available? It's not that no one has ever heard of them (as you can see from my discussion above with Mr. Brown), but rather not everyone gravitates to the public eye or needs the world to know their name. And most importantly, because it's none of anyone's concern! Unless you are a student, the history of these men has no bearing on you whatsoever.
We are not alone in this sentiment. In fact, when I contacted the Daito Ryu Kodokai using Hasaka sensei's birth name to independently verify the history I was given, the response I got was essentially "Why do you want to know?" and I had to jump through hoops to prove who I was in order to even get them to talk to me. While they are known for their meticulous records, the various Daito Ryu groups are also known for notorious silence. After all, it took them until 2018 to release evidence that Choi Yong Sul did in fact study with Takeda Sokaku in Japan. That's over 30 years since the former's death, and nearly 75 since the latter's, meaning Choi lived his entire life denounced as a fraud by the Daito Ryu community, who outright lied about there not being a connection between Choi and Takeda, only for the eimeiroku to be made publicly available by Kondo decades after the fact (I wrote about this document here).
It was actually through a third party, an independent Daito Ryu researcher and instructor who chooses to remain anonymous, that I obtained most of my information and historical pictures of Hasaka sensei, not from my teacher. This is why I have no questions about Hasaka sensei's legitimacy and who he was. But my main point is that information is not always given freely, many times because it's simply no one's business. Unless the information affects you directly, as if you were a student or member (and this information is made readily available to my students), you really don't have a right to just know something.
Neither I or Hatfield sensei claim to know everything about the history of these arts, and as more is learned we update the information that's available in order to present the most accurate picture possible. Sometimes, that information does contradict earlier contributions but is no different than any journalist writing a retraction of a piece they got incorrect. For hundreds if not thousands of years, people knew the world was flat... All aspects of academic history, on every scale from world history to local, are constantly being rewritten as further research is done. No one questions the historian when they publish new information, even if it does contradict the old. I will continue researching the arts I have come to love, as well as teaching them to the best of my abilities, and when I know or can do better, I will.
It was actually through a third party, an independent Daito Ryu researcher and instructor who chooses to remain anonymous, that I obtained most of my information and historical pictures of Hasaka sensei, not from my teacher. This is why I have no questions about Hasaka sensei's legitimacy and who he was. But my main point is that information is not always given freely, many times because it's simply no one's business. Unless the information affects you directly, as if you were a student or member (and this information is made readily available to my students), you really don't have a right to just know something.
Neither I or Hatfield sensei claim to know everything about the history of these arts, and as more is learned we update the information that's available in order to present the most accurate picture possible. Sometimes, that information does contradict earlier contributions but is no different than any journalist writing a retraction of a piece they got incorrect. For hundreds if not thousands of years, people knew the world was flat... All aspects of academic history, on every scale from world history to local, are constantly being rewritten as further research is done. No one questions the historian when they publish new information, even if it does contradict the old. I will continue researching the arts I have come to love, as well as teaching them to the best of my abilities, and when I know or can do better, I will.
EDIT (September 28, 2020) - In order to establish Mr. Brown's connection to American Jidokwan and Fuzy, I took the liberty of enlarging the signatures on his certificate posted above. I am unsure of who the Association Representative is but the Examiner is clearly Mary Kay Fuzy and the Director/Chief Instructor is Ernest Al Fuzy. Therefore, it is clear Brown was promoted directly by Fuzy to his 7th Dan.
EDIT (October 5, 2020) - As stated above, research into the history of American Jidokwan prior to mine and Hatfield sensei's involvement is ongoing. For the most up-to-date and accurate information, please click here.
