NYC Aiki-jujutsu History

Below is a link to a short essay collecting what I know of NYC area Aiki-jujutsu schools inspired by the teaching of Daito-ryu Kodokai, especially Yonezawa Katsumi, especially the dojo I trained at from 1989 to 2001:

• NYC Aiki-jujutsu History, 2012.

The dojo I trained at was a mixture of early post-war Aikido and Nippon Shorinji Kempo. It was not an official lineage of any of these arts. The core aiki-jujutsu I learned was a preservation of locking and throwing methods drawn from 1950's era Aikido, especially as practiced by Tohei Koichi, combined with striking methods drawn from Shorinji Kempo that were both grafted onto a set of self-defense oriented body movements called tai-sabaki developed by Dennis Fink in the 1970's, which influenced many NYC area jujutsu styles.

The dojo also maintained a set of religious practices under the mentorship of members of a family line of Shugendo. This family history, although separate, was borrowed in an attempt to create a greater sense of authenticity to the martial arts practice. Unlike in the 1990's, for those interested there are many resources on Japanese Shugendo available online.

In NYC, I recommend those interested in aiki-jujutsu instead train at the Daito-ryu Takumaki dojo in Brooklyn. Several friends I knew from New York changed to training there from our dojo in Queens and were quite happy with their decision. There is also the NY Seibukan for traditional Sosuishi-ryu jujutsu and several koryu that train in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey.

I had begun learning Bagua Zhang after I moved to Baltimore and shifted my practice towards training in internal martial arts after leaving this school. Shortly thereafter I began training in more traditional approaches to Japanese weapons as well.