Recommended Schools
There are so many different lineages of traditional martial arts — I only list ones I am directly familiar with and can recommend.
☰ Yin Cheng Gong Fa North America (YCGF) is the Chinese internal martial arts organization led by Zhang Yun laoshi, lineal disciple of the late Grandmaster Wang Peisheng.
YCGF Seminar Photos
Related study groups include:
- YCGF Group List contains pointers to many of Zhang Yun's senior disciples.
- YCGF Pittsburgh is an activity continuing internal martial arts practce in Pittsburgh.
- Impact Martial arts in Bellingham, WA is led by my senior colleague Rives Thornton.
I am a formal student of internal martial arts under Zhang Yun and practice Wú style Taiji Quan, Yin style Bagua Zhang, and Hebei Xingyi Quan in this line of practice.
☷ The Hōbyōkan founded by Dr. David Hall in Rockville, MD maintains a practice of Shindō Muso-ryū jo, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū heihō, and Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu. This is where I studied Jiki Shinkage-ryū before moving to Seattle in 2016.
Enbu for Karuna-sensei 2016
Hobyokai Masakikai Kagami Biraki 2013-2016
Related study groups include:
- The Ryūzukan is led by two of my Hōbyōkan sempai: Brian Wagner and Chris Covington; they are senior pracititioners of Daito-ryū aiki-jujutsu in the line of Tokimune Takeda and Kondo Katsuyuki.
- >David Sims, another of my Hōbyōkan sempai, is now a formal member of Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Naganuma-ha holding the rank of reikenden. He lives in North Carolina.
- Tōsha Dōjō
[
闘者道場 ] is the kenjutsu practice I began at Lonin League that is now now led by my senior students Jake Harlin and Nicky Sayah Sina. They focus on hōjō, tō-no-kata, and jigeiko. - Yōshin Kage Dōjō is a training activity in jujutsu and kenjutsu led by Michael Heiler in Washington, DC.
☲ Ellis Amdur leads Araki-ryū torite-kogusoku and is a shihan of Tenshin Bukō-ryū. Some of his martial arts writing can be found at Kogen Budō; I recommend his books highly. His senior students of Araki-ryū Torite Kogusoku and Taikyoku Araki-ryū are now teachers themselves, and some of the strongest classical budoka you will find. [ cf. 2013 Paris demo ]
☵ The Yushinkan NYC is a Daito-ryū Kobukan branch located in Brooklyn led by Rodrigo Kong. Those interested in traditional aiki-jujutsu in the NYC area would do well to train there. The Seattle Aiki Club is a related school in Burien, WA, led by Kenneth Freeman.
☵ Doug Walker leads Murakumo Dojo in Portland, OR, which focuses on Takamura-ha Shindō Yoshin-ryū, an integrated approach to grappling, swordsmanship, and related arts grounded in older methods of Shintō.