Recommended Schools
Below are links to recommended schools and other resources associated to classical and traditional martial arts. 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. I am a formal student of internal martial arts under Zhang Yun in this lineage of practice.
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.
☷ 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 Jikishinkage-ryū before moving to Seattle in 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.
- Jiki at Lonin is an introductory practice in Seattle led by my senior students Jake Harlin and Nicky Sayah Sina that focuses on hōjō, tō-no-kata and jigeiko.
There are several orthodox lines of Jikishinkage-ryū surviving in Japan. For those interested, I have collected video clips of Jikishinkage-ryū.
☲ Ellis Amdur leads Araki-ryū torite-kogusoku and is a shihan of Tenshin Bukō-ryū; some of his writing can be found at Kogen Budō. 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 ]
☵ Takamura-ha Shindō Yoshin-ryū is a koryū jujutsu ryuha led by Toby Threadgill that preserves an integrated approach to grappling, swordsmanship, and related arts grounded in older methods of Shintō preserved in the line of Obata Shigeta and Takamura Yukiyoshi. Doug Walker leads Murakumo Dojo in Portland, OR and Michael Heiler leads Yoshinkage Dojo in Washington, DC.
☵ 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.