Martial Arts

Budō (武道) normally refers to the practice of Japanese martial arts, but I take it a bit more generally to refer to any tradition of martial culture which seeks to develop positive physical and psychological qualities in its adherents. I currently practice martial arts which originated in China and Japan.

Modern Jujutsu

From April 1989 to November 2005 I practiced an art called Kaze Arashi Ryu. The basic ideas of movement used in Kaze Arashi Ryu, its nomenclature, terminology, and ranking system are almost identical to the art of Miyama Ryu; a modern mix of Aikido, Karate, and Judo founded in the 1960's in Tremont, NY. A number of arts were created in the 1970's from similar roots, including Icho Yama Ryu and Hoteikan Ryu.

Some of the locking and throwing methods taught within Kaze Arashi Ryu bear a strong resemblance to methods taught by Yonezawa Kasumi, who brought a variant of Daito-ryu (the parent art of Aikido) to the United States in the 1970's. Initially a practical art with a primary emphasis on modern self-defense, applying Aikido-styled techniques with a strong pre-war Aikido or Daito-ryu flavor, Kaze Arashi Ryu eventually grew into a more byzantine and baroque practice, with new techniques continually being added to the mix.

In the end, I came to realize that Kaze Arashi Ryu was not an almost extinct martial art handed down from the mountains of northern Japan as my teacher had claimed, but rather his own imperfect creation. I longed instead for an approach to martial arts that was more cohesive, and more importantly, transparent. In the fall of 2005 I ended my involvement in Kaze Arashi Ryu.

New Beginnings

Growing up in New York City, I had a good number of friends who had practiced various forms of Kung Fu, and I always retained a desire to learn more about Chinese Internal Martial Arts. I also hoped to learn more traditional forms of Japanese martial arts, instead of the more eclectic approach I had originally been exposed to. So, once I finished learning the technical curriculum at our jujutsu school, I decided to seek out and study more traditional approaches to martial arts, both armed and unarmed.

I have since given up most of my modern Jujutsu teaching to instead spend my time studying traditional Chinese and Japanese martial arts. These arts include the Japanese arts of kenjutsu, bojutsu, naginatajutsu, and iai and the Chinese arts of bagua, taiji, and xingyi. The latter include empty hand methods as well as staff, spear, straight sword (jian), and two-handed broadsword (miao dao).

I have retained a greatly condensed version of the modern jujutsu I was taught and licensed in under the name Inyoken Jujutsu. My remaining jujutsu friends and I are continuing to explore our old curriculum under the lens of proper body mechanics and refined strategies that are part of the Chinese Internal martial arts, continuing to distill a workable subset that can serve as a strong locking and throwing curriculum that is integrated with our practice of Chinese Internal Martial Arts.

Baguazhang

In 2004 I began learning the Gao Lineage Bagua as taught by students of Hung Yimien. I started working through its eight houses (the Gao system is modeled around the sixty-four hexagrams of the Taoist Yijing). Bagua as I am learning it is not meant to be a complete pedagogy, but rather is a form of graduate studies of martial arts. It is designed to be learned by someone who already knows how to fight, and introduces new ideas to him in order to amplify his existing approach. I was interested in bagua in particular because it is supposed to be circular and have Taoist influences in its development; I was curious what parallels there were with what I already knew.

I am finding that bagua is helping improve my balance, posture, coordination, and giving me an ability to generate power while staying very relaxed. These are all things I already knew were important, but the bagua is helping me focus on them to a greater degree than I had before. I am getting a better kinesthetic sense of what "good form" really means, and the importance of not rushing through things. These are things I already knew were important, but the devil is in the details. It is easy to verbalize something as being important, but sometimes hard to see how far we can take each ideal. It is also easy to get into a pattern of practice where you feel you are doing things well enough, and are blind to the fact that you can improve. Gaining skill in martial arts, or any physical pursuit, is synonymous with realizing you have these unconscious limitations and working through them to the next level.

In addition to Gao style bagua, have also recently begun learning Yin and Liu style bagua as taught by Zhang Yun, and the swimming dragon bagua pole changes of the Chen Pan Ling style of bagua, under the direction of Paul Cote. Recently, on a trip to Pittsburgh to visit Zhang Yun, I began learning Bagua Jian as well.

Taijiquan

Since late 2005 I have been learning a form of Wu style Taiji under Paul Cote, as taught in a lineage passed down by renowned master Wang Peisheng, who was quite well-regarded in China for his combative ability. Wang's disciple Zhang Yun has taught the arts of Yin Cheng Gong Fa in the United States for a number of years now. Taiji for me is a microscope by which I can examine my quality of movement, sensitivity, and balance. The subtlety of effect is something that must be felt directly, but when it is, it opens the mind up to a whole new world of possibilities.

In addition to the 37-step Wu taiji form of Wang Peisheng, I practice push hands, Da Lu (big roll-back), taiji gan (staff), miao dao (two-handed broadsword), and jian (straight sword).

Xingyiquan

Two of my friends in Minneapolis, David Dettloff and Troy Gehrett, have begun studying Essence of Evolution with a student of Su Dongchen. Su is a highly regarded internal martial artist from Taiwan and Japan, who has fought a number of full contact bouts against other martial artists. David and Troy are really enjoying their new practice, and I have been lucky enough to visit some of the EOE training sessions they have been attending in Minneapolis, as well as participate in a seminar Su Dongchen gave in Minneapolis in April of 2007. From working with them, I have picked up the five elemental (wuxing) fists of xingyi and have incorporated them into my practice. For now, I see the five fists as directional training, as well as very efficient exercises to generate body structure and striking power.

In early 2008, I began my study of Hebei Xingyiquan taught within Wang Peisheng's Yin Cheng Gong Fa lineage under Paul Cote and his teacher, Zhang Yun. I feel very fortunate to now be able to be exposed to all three major internal arts within a single teaching lineage.

Koryu bujutsu

Since March of 2006 I have been learning the weapons kata of Katori Shinto-ryu under the direction of students of Sugawara Tetsutaka. One thing that immediately became apparent to me is that the level of detail of knowledge about movement and strategy with these field weapons is extremely well-developed, beyond just the general patterns or principles from the more modern eclectic approach I had been exposed to previously in KAR. It is something hard to get a sense of from outside a tradition, but once exposed to the learning process, becomes quickly clear.