Tag: aikijujutsu

On Atemi in Aikido Pt. 2 (Modern Aikidoist Podcast with Tristan Chermack)
On October 7th, 2019, Tristan Chermack and Robert Van Valkenburgh discussed the concept of atemi (hitting body) in aikido on Tristan’s Modern Aikidoist podcast. Click on the image or the links below to listen to is part 2 of 2 of that discussion.

Listen to Part 1 HERE

Listen on:
- iTunes
- YouTube
- Stitcher
- Podbean
About Tristan Chermack:

Tristan Chermack started studying aikido in 2004 and his background includes more than thirty years in various arts. He has an extremely strong weapons background with European sword, spear, polearm, and armored combat. He is also a certified advanced firearms instructor. His ongoing study includes historical European martial arts, savate, pugilism, wrestling, pankration, and he is always eager to learn from others.

Tristan founded Spirit Aikido in Eden Prairie, MN, in 2011, a martial arts center which offers a variety of martial arts to train including judo, Shorin Ryu karate, Kobudo, and Katori Shinto Ryu.

Tristan also founded the Facebook group – Aikido: the Martial Side which (at the time of this writing) has over 8,000 members. He also hosts the Modern Aikidoist Podcast, which is available on YouTube and many different podcast platforms.

Links to resources referenced by Robert Van Valkenburgh:
- Kogen Dojo: Robert Van Valkenburgh’s dojo in Severna Park, MD
- Interview with Choi Yong-Sul, by Joe Sheya
- A Conversation with Daito-Ryu’s Other Child, by Ellis Amdur
- Dueling with O-Sensei: Grappling with the Myth of the Warrior Sage, by Ellis Amdur
- KogenBudo: The Blog of Ellis Amdur
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Esoteric Power Training Within Japanese Martial Traditions, by Ellis Amdur
- Irimi, by Ellis Amdur
- Go No Sen: The Path to Defeat, by Stanley Pranin
- Chess and Collar Chokes, by Robert Van Valkenburgh
- Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions, by Ellis Amdur
- Taikyoku Mind & Body: The organization founded by Budd Yuhasz, Jevin Orcutt, and Robert Van Valkenburgh to explore Chinese Internal Strength principles through Japanese jujutsu, aikido, and kempo
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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October 18, 2019

aikido, aikijujutsu, atemi, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, daito-ryu aikijujutsu, ellis amdur, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, internal strength, judo, kogen dojo, o-sensei, relson gracie, striking, taikyoku budo, taikyoku mind and body, takeda sokaku, ueshiba morihei
On Atemi in Aikido Pt. 1 (Modern Aikidoist Podcast with Tristan Chermack)
On October 7th, 2019, Tristan Chermack and Robert Van Valkenburgh discussed the concept of atemi (hitting body) in aikido on Tristan’s Modern Aikidoist podcast. Click on the image or the links below to listen to part 1 of 2 of that discussion.

Listen to Part 2 HERE

Listen on:
- iTunes
- YouTube
- Stitcher
- Podbean
About Tristan Chermack:

Tristan Chermack started studying aikido in 2004 and his background includes more than thirty years in various arts. He has an extremely strong weapons background with European sword, spear, polearm, and armored combat. He is also a certified advanced firearms instructor. His ongoing study includes historical European martial arts, savate, pugilism, wrestling, pankration, and he is always eager to learn from others.

Tristan founded Spirit Aikido in Eden Prairie, MN, in 2011, a martial arts center which offers a variety of martial arts to train including judo, Shorin Ryu karate, Kobudo, and Katori Shinto Ryu.

Tristan also founded the Facebook group – Aikido: the Martial Side which (at the time of this writing) has over 8,000 members. He also hosts the Modern Aikidoist Podcast, which is available on YouTube and many different podcast platforms.

Links to resources referenced by Robert Van Valkenburgh:
- Kogen Dojo: Robert Van Valkenburgh’s dojo in Severna Park, MD
- Interview with Choi Yong-Sul, by Joe Sheya
- A Conversation with Daito-Ryu’s Other Child, by Ellis Amdur
- Dueling with O-Sensei: Grappling with the Myth of the Warrior Sage, by Ellis Amdur
- KogenBudo: The Blog of Ellis Amdur
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Esoteric Power Training Within Japanese Martial Traditions, by Ellis Amdur
- Irimi, by Ellis Amdur
- Go No Sen: The Path to Defeat, by Stanley Pranin
- Chess and Collar Chokes, by Robert Van Valkenburgh
- Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions, by Ellis Amdur
- Taikyoku Mind & Body: The organization founded by Budd Yuhasz, Jevin Orcutt, and Robert Van Valkenburgh to explore Chinese Internal Strength principles through Japanese jujutsu, aikido, and kempo
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
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October 17, 2019

aikido, aikijujutsu, atemi, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, daito-ryu aikijujutsu, ellis amdur, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, internal strength, judo, kogen dojo, o-sensei, relson gracie, striking, taikyoku budo, taikyoku mind and body, takeda sokaku, ueshiba morihei
Enjoyment Is Its Own Reason
Why practice a martial art that is not “the best?”

There is a lot of criticism in martial arts circles these days around what are seen as impractical or ineffective martial arts. These are martial arts that do not participate in sportive sparring, competitive bouts, or resistance-based training. At the top of the list are arts like aikido, hapkido, kung fu, and any so-called ‘traditional’ style that is not seen in, or has been shown to be ineffective in, mixed martial arts (MMA). These styles and their practitioners have come under great scrutiny, and even mockery, as MMA becomes more popular and mainstream.

As someone who spent twelve years of my life dedicated to traditional Korean hapkido and who discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) after receiving my black belt in hapkido, I can say that I understand the criticism. Hapkido did not prepare me for submission grappling. It took me a long, long time on the BJJ mats before I had anything that resembled competency. Not only was it humbling, but it was also paradigm shifting for me to get my butt kicked in BJJ after so many years in hapkido. I realized very quickly that there was more to martial art training than what I had seen or been exposed to.

Still, I loved hapkido, the group I trained with, and my teachers. Instead of quitting, I just trained twice as often, but I divided my time between both hapkido and BJJ, trying to reconcile in my mind and my body the disparity I felt between the two skillsets. Over time, my path shifted and hapkido led me to Taikyoku Budo, but I continued with BJJ. Taikyoku Budo, like aikido, hapkido, kung fu, or any other so-called ‘traditional’ style does not claim to be the best martial art for self-defense, for competitive sport, or even for physical fitness, so why do I continue to dedicate so much of my time, energy, and thought to it? Simply put, I find it interesting, fun, and full of limitless potential. For me, that is enough.

-Robert Van Valkenburgh teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Kogen Dojo

39.073857 -76.547111
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March 17, 2019

aikido, aikijujutsu, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, gracie jiu-jitsu, hapkido, japanese martial arts, kogen dojo, kung fu, Martial Arts, submission grappling, taikyoku budo, traditional martial arts
Natural Force Multipliers
Relative traits vs absolute forces.

It is a fundamental truth in martial arts that there are certain attributes that make it easier to apply techniques against a resisting opponent. Physical attributes such as strength, speed, flexibility etc. all give a person an advantage over someone who lacks these same traits. Each of these is what I will refer to as a relative trait, however.

A person may be stronger, faster, or more flexible than his opponent one round, but weaker, slower, and stiffer than a different opponent in another round. In this way, unless a person is a world class full-time athlete, it is easy to see that relying on relative traits alone is a dubious proposition. That is why combat sports tend to have weight classes, so that two opponents begin with similar relative traits, allowing skill to be the main variable in a given bout.

This is also why, since the dawn of time, humans have invented and utilized force multipliers to aid us in our daily tasks and struggles. Weapons and tools are our means of overcoming the limitations of our relative traits. Nature gives us force multipliers as well, but we must first know where to look and how to utilize what is available. I am specifically talking about using the forces of the earth in our favor, both gravity pulling down on us and the ground pushing up underneath us. This combining of relative traits with absolute forces is where specialized training comes in.

-Robert Van Valkenburgh teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Kogen Dojo

39.073857 -76.547111
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March 1, 2019

aiki, aikido, aikijujutsu, internal strength, japanese martial arts, jin, ki, kogen dojo, Martial Arts, qi, taikyoku budo

Tag: aikijujutsu

On Atemi in Aikido Pt. 2 (Modern Aikidoist Podcast with Tristan Chermack)

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On Atemi in Aikido Pt. 1 (Modern Aikidoist Podcast with Tristan Chermack)

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Enjoyment Is Its Own Reason

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Natural Force Multipliers

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