Drawing on publicly provided sources from our research, we can explore the principles and practices that define classical (koryu) and modern (gendai budo) Japanese martial arts.

Historical Context:

•Koryu bujutsu, meaning “old flow” or “classical martial arts” of Japan, generally refers to martial traditions that originated prior to the Meiji Restoration in 1868 or the Haitorei (Sword Abolishment Edict) in 18761…. This is the primary historical distinction from gendai budo (modern martial arts), which were founded after this period4….

•Another perspective suggests that koryu bujutsu are those arts developed for actual use on the battlefield, particularly those from the sixteenth century and earlier2…. These arts were developed by and for the bushi, or warrior class (samurai) of Japan’s feudal period7…. In contrast, gendai budo emerged after the disbanding of the warrior class4.

•The relatively slow evolution of Japanese tools of war in comparison to other parts of the world is believed to have afforded the warrior class the opportunity to study their weapons in greater depth10.

Purpose and Focus:

•The primary purpose of koryu martial arts was for use in war3. For traditions that still exist from pre-Tokugawa Japan, the effectiveness of the killing technique is still paramount8. Even those developed during the peaceful Tokugawa shogunate aimed to help warriors maintain fighting skills8.

•Gendai budo, on the other hand, generally have a primary focus on the self-improvement (mental, physical, or spiritual) of the individual practitioner, with varying degrees of emphasis on the practical application for sport or self-defense3…. Examples of gendai budo include judo, kendo, and aikido4.

•James Williams, sensei and Kaicho of Nami ryu Aiki Heiho, emphasizes that historically, the warrior trained to be more effective at killing the enemy, which was their “prime directive” . This contrasts with the modern shift where arts may focus on becoming a “better human being”. He also notes that the historical term budo did not mean “the way of peace” in the 16th century but had a different meaning related to the warrior’s function. Bujutsu specifically refers to the practical application of martial tactics and techniques in actual combat, while bugei refers to their adaptation for systematic instruction14.

Lineage and Transmission:

• Koryu traditions have a lineage that runs back through each headmaster or menkyo kaiden (license of total transmission) (or equivalent) to the founder. The student-teacher relationship is central to the transmission of techniques, and learning is often individualized…. Instead of the dan grades of modern arts, koryu use traditional licenses granted when the teacher deems the student ready ….

• Komagawa Kaishin-ryu is particularly unique in that the only authorized teacher is the soke (headmaster), currently Kuroda Yasumasa Sensei…. To learn any technique or kata, one must learn directly from the soke, and there are only a handful of official practice groups (keikokai) authorized worldwide…. This strict transmission is to preserve the original forms of the kata.

Training Methodology:

• In koryu, protective gear is typically not used, as safety is considered less important than efficacy. While wooden weapons are common, they can still cause significant damage, and training involves functioning “out at the edge” of danger.

• Gendai budo, on the other hand, often incorporate sporting elements and can be taught to large groups…. For example, kendo utilizes bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armor (bogu) to allow for full-speed practice. Judo emphasizes freestyle practice (randori) and competition23.

• James Williams sensei points out that koryu training, particularly those with battlefield origins, was training for war, involving multiple opponents with various weapons and an emphasis on deception and killing, which is radically different from modern sport or self-defense training. He suggests that true understanding of the ancient arts requires exposure to true danger.

• Williams also discusses the concept of an “operating system” in martial arts, focusing on underlying principles (like distance, timing, and relationship) rather than rigid techniques…. He notes that in some koryu, such as Komagawa Kaishin-ryu as taught by Kuroda Tetsuzan Sensei, kata is used to teach the theory behind the movements.

Philosophical Underpinnings:

• Koryu emphasizes efficacy in combat, sometimes with the effectiveness of a killing technique being paramount8. The student-teacher relationship within the unique social structure of the ryu is also a key philosophical element….

• While not exclusive to koryu, James Williams mentions the samurai arts aimed for states of mushin (empty mind) and mizu no kokoro (mind like water)30. He also highlights the warrior’s “prime directive” of being effective at killing the enemy12. The concept of satsujinken-katsujinken (the sword that kills is the sword that gives life by protecting the innocent) is also relevant to the classical warrior ethos31.

• Gendai budo often emphasize self-improvement, personal growth, and spiritual development…. The replacement of jutsu (technique) with do (way) in many modern arts reflects this shift towards a “path” of self-cultivation33. Courtesy (rei) is considered of prime importance in modern martial arts.

• Williams sensei suggests that as one trains from the proper perspective, they become more in harmony with universal law and less involved with ego, potentially leading to a realization that conflict is inefficient ….

In summary, while both koryu and gendai budo have roots in Japanese martial traditions, they differ significantly in their historical development, primary purpose (combat effectiveness vs. self-improvement), training methodologies, transmission, and underlying philosophical focus. Koryu like Komagawa Kaishin-ryu maintain a strong connection to their feudal origins, emphasizing practical combat application and often a highly structured system of teaching and lineage, as seen in the exclusive teaching authority of the soke in Komagawa Kaishin-ryu. Modern arts have evolved to serve different purposes in a post-feudal society, often incorporating aspects of sport, physical fitness, and personal development.

I have been an active practitioner of Nami Ryu since 2011. I trained with James Williams Sensei at the Dojo of the Four Winds in San Diego, CA. During my time under him, I worked a lot with Jim O’Connell Sensei on the mokuroku, the curriculum from white to black belt. I also trained with Lester Cohen in kali and Systema. I eventually achieved the rank of black belt and Yudansha and took keppan.

I train with Jim O’Connell Sensei via Zoom as much as my work schedule allows.

Circa 2018, I began to dabble in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) on the side as a way to supplement basic grappling included in my Nami ryu training. Like everyone who steps on the mats, I had a great time doing it, got a good sweat and got tapped six ways to Sunday.

Those first few months, I found places to apply Nami Ryu, but due to the nature of the sparring/rolling of BJJ, was finding myself unable to apply it, or if I did, it was dumb luck.

Moving around to different cities in the country for work, I trained Nami Ryu and cross trained BJJ. Of course, I knew about how we would not want to roll on the concrete in the real world, yet again, I was getting tapped, a little less, but would only be able to find a place to apply Nami Ryu sparingly. In order for me to beat a BJJ guy, I had to use, and be better at BJJ than them.

In 2020, I got a job in federal law enforcement and got sent to a border town. I wasn’t able to practice Nami Ryu much in a dojo environment again until late 2023-2024. I trained BJJ approximately twice a week as work allowed.

Yet, I found myself using Nami Ryu in the real world with excellent results. Head tips and ikkajo worked well on my new clientele. 

Recently, as I have been working more Jim O’Connell Sensei, I have been using Nami Ryu waza/principles/techniques in BJJ practices to much greater effect. I still get tapped, frequently, yet I’m harder to tap and I have learned a few things:

1. You don’t actually have to grapple. Grappling is an agreement. But when you grapple, you are agreeing to see who is better. This becomes a contest. This violates our first principle, don’t contest for space with force vectors.

2. Proper body movement, that comes from kenjutsu/bujutsu body allows us advantages. First off, we get the ability, through this proper movement, to disengage from the opponent. Again, why are we contesting in the real world? (I have no issues with BJJ as a workout/exercise/stress relief movement thing. And there are applicable things it offers that are beneficial.) But, often when I grapple the question I ask myself is: Why am I contesting? Proper body movement eliminates the contest. We move, they are cut (it’s all kenjutsu). 

3. Same vein, our movement allows us to apply force to areas the opponent will have difficulty/can’t defend (flanking the opponent – Nami ryu’s 2nd Prime Principle). 

4. Nami Ryu Aiki Heiho is a weapons based system. We emphasize tools and the deployment of tools under the right circumstances (laws and context are important here but are out of the scope of this write up). In your Nami Ryu journey, you will constantly hear “it’s all kenjutsu.” That phrase has many meanings, but the sword teaches us how to move properly with classical movement.

5. This is an opinion, but, when other martial artists look at something and attempt to make a determination if something works or not, most of them are under the perspective of a combat sport/contest. BJJ is a combat sport. Boxing is a combat sport. Muay Thai, Judo etc. We are not. We learn to use a sword, not to get ready for a sword fight in 2025, but to learn how to move in a classical manner that allows efficient, effective utilization of energy to solve a problem. It also changes the mind “Why am I contesting?” You do need to adapt the art to your needs, but you also need to start thinking, to an extent, like these old warriors.

6. I work in an environment where I have used this stuff, sometimes daily. I carry tools for work. I train. 

7. Training in BJJ can be a wonderful endeavor, however, remember who we are, and what we are trying to change about ourselves.

I don’t recommend Nami Ryu practitioners under a certain skill level in our art to cross train in BJJ. That comes later. Yes, pressure test, but do it when you have understanding. If you try to outgrapple a blue belt who trains 5x a week and competes every other Saturday, you will probably get tapped. And the key word is that you tried to beat someone at a game they know better than you.

Don’t play the game. Don’t contest. Learn to move properly. Bujutsu body. Disengage, access a tool, or walk away.

Sanrin Mountain Dojo starts every week off with a topic, and/or Principle, that we focus on. Our Mokuroku is followed, and sometimes what we are studying is the training for a specific Principle of our art. Other times, I coin a phrase to make a point on the week’s training. Recently we focused on “Axis”.

Every circle and every spiral has an axis. From a quick computer search, I found “axis” can be defined as any of the following:

When understanding the force continuum, by going to the core (pun intended), we see that the concept of axis is integral to finding out how and where energy travels from and through. So, taking it right into practical from principle, its very easy to look at the definitions above and turn them into throws and strikes.  Conversely, by looking at the opposite of “axis”, we see the path into structure breaking and interactions that take or inactivate reactive capacity and balance from opponents.

The identification of tanden as a place below the stomach in Japanese martial and other physical endeavors identifies the tanden as the center and/or center of gravity of the body. In Nami ryu, without getting too specific or esoteric in looking at the center, we see the tanden as the nexus of the two primary axis points: one vertical and the other horizontal. The distribution of mass is somewhat individual, but most people follow some build basics.

Of course, every other compass point can cross that axis as well, providing for a multidirectional capacity for human energy to travel. We start with the understanding of centerline and then extend that from our own to our opponent(s), as well as the space in between. Where we get multidirectional, is where the lifetime of study and training unfolds for those of us in search of the skills needed to accept a warrior ethos as an operating system of ultimate responsibility.

Our focus on timing, distance, and relationship need us to understand in a practical and applicable process how we can work inside the physics or how mass and energy are affected, and then harness the understanding of physics to apply effective interactions that do not rely on force, power, or other forms of collision to get the job done.

Sanrin Mountain Dojo starts every week off with a topic, and/or Principle, that we focus on. Our Mokuroku is followed, and sometimes what we are studying is the training for a specific Principle of our art. Last week’s classes focused in on “The Movement Itself Facilitates the Outcome”.

Timing, Distance, and Relationship. coming together… triggers autonomic responses. As an example, this is the foundation of basketball and football “plays”. That triggering of autonomic response to delivered stimulus/stimuli can be most easily (at first) realized through understanding the peripheral recognition when using the eyes. This is the most obvious and objective form of “seeing”. This interaction with the eyes goes both ways. Eyes can be fooled! With just about everyone who is not sight challenged, sight is the first focus of information gathering for decision.

Modern man has diminished scent and hearing, yet these are certainly part of the “go to” for many people. Primal practices, like hunting and tracking, still work to develop and use these senses for accomplishment of tasks along with sight.  

An example is the use of pushups for military training. Who has ever done a pushup as part of their combat interaction with an enemy? … and yet every modern military, that I know of, uses pushups in training.

Tactile recognition in grappling and connection with hands or other touching body parts is another way we combatively perceive movement and force. The ability to “read” another person’s “body language” or posture/posturing is where applied psychology ties into the physical. Intuition or spontaneous knowing that delivers subconscious processing to actionable information is where we tap into the psychic realm.  

Psychic realm? Danger Will Robinson! Warning klaxons! Toro!

Well now… faking out an opponent is an everyday practice in the martial and sports world. For the samurai, and other types of armed professionals, past and present, training to perceive deeper into opponents is a skill set to be acquired and used. It’s also the skillset that is easiest to get way off base with. The best test of the psychic realm is physical pressure and duress. This is an area where grappling practice and direct contact prevail. (I believe that claiming one as more conclusive than the other is, well, shortsighted.)

But what about seeing the “chess moves”? How about “reading the battlefield”? These are all standard ideas and trainable practices used in both sport and military science that fuel the higher access of training deliverables.

With practice and deep observation, the use of movement alone, or in cohesive delivery of what is or is felt to be force; is something that can be trained for and used practically. The training exercises are often not practical in form.  (An example is the use of pushups for military training. Who has ever done a pushup as part of their combat interaction with an enemy – and yet every modern military, that I know of, uses pushups in training.)

In Nami ryu Aiki Heiho, we take this training head-on, through the time and pressure-tested medium of kenjutsu kata. Classical and classically derived kenjutsu kata are  prearranged sequences that train the eye, the mind, and the nerves to access reality beyond the use of simple force application. Edged combat is one of the ultimate tests of reality.   

Kuzushi! is a common term used in Japanese martial arts. I first heard the term and had it demonstrated to me in the Burbank YMCA in 1973. I began my path of martial training with Kyokoshinkai karate where I was introduced to kuzushi (founder of that karate system, Mas Oyama, was also later in his training a student of our martial forebear Yoshida Kotaro). I was to continue my learning on the concept years later in Gendai jujutsu and Nanka style Judo training.

Kuzushi, as I studied it in that context, was comprised primarily of our learning to push/pull opponents in proper timing to take advantage of making a gap in their balance and therefore unbalance them for a throw. In karate, it is often accomplished with kicks (…think yoko geri to the hip joint) that blast an opponent off balance.

Coming to train in Nami ryu Aiki Heiho with James Williams sensei, I was introduced to a more classical understanding of kuzushi. In our roots and training stemming from Don Angier sensei’s Yanagi ryu, we learn the term “gathering” to describe the act of bringing about kuzushi through “soft’, fluid, and subtle connection. This exploded my viewpoint from pushing and pulling to everything that is not pushing and/or pulling.

Coming from, and conversely adding to, kenjutsu…kuzushi becomes a principle/concept/understanding of the more or most subtle capacity for taking away balance from uchidachi . With a katana, this is often done with movement and subsequent effects on peripheral vision-based reactions. (It can get a lot more complicated than that…. bringing psychology, psyche, and conditioning into the equations).

The capacity to unbalance others begins with the capacity to develop and enhance balance in oneself. The understanding of the delivery of deception to an opponent is one of the hallmarks of advanced kenjutsu training.

Fundamental jujutsu and kenjutsu training in this context, requires conversely, first the understanding of how to balance oneself… or as we pass down the concept in Nami ryu, through the initialization of the practice of finding alignment with gravity.

Staying balanced, while unbalancing another person is one of the core skills that we use a wide variety of practices to gain and acquire a facility for the understanding and use of kuzushi.

In the clip below, you will see Williams sensei demonstrating a sensitivity exercise to help develop fine motor skills that can become accessible (through diligence) under duress. This is a very different idea of kuzushi than what I learned originally in that basketball-gym-dojo in Burbank.

Look for future posts that address this very deep element of the martial arts of Japan, and the nuances that can separate the quintessential lethal force engagement training of the samurai from its more modern formats and derivations.

Doing research this week, I was watching some video of an advanced proponent of a martial art from a different region in Asia. The gentleman teaching, who I became aware of in the late 1980s, had been someone my late mentor and hero Lester Cohen had trained with on occasion. Lester told me this practitioner was the real deal when it came to mastery, and since Lester was the real deal when it came to mastery, I occasionally wonder what I can learn about his art from the cheap seats of youtube.  

Wondering about students in this tradition I came to see that several of them have media posted, and I was surprised how different they looked from their teacher. I, of course, also resemble this remark and understand that more is often revealed over time. However, I noted two things in particular that were different. The first was that the teacher (unlike his students – with one exception!) was always ENTERING into a strike or a grab. He always attacked the attack. It was evident in his eyes and in his movement. The second difference was the very subtle OPENING and closing of his hips that I identify as the engine of the outcome(s).

Opening happens where the pelvis and the heads of the femur interact. This internal movement generates external movement in the hips. Driven first by will, and later by conditioning and the change that happens as we become what we train for, we learn how to unpin our feet from the ground and deliver energy that waves (nami 波) generated from our center. This is the boundless engine that I want always to be operating. By opening, we move in a place that is different from where we are connected to others, and they are moved without perceiving the origin or generation of that movement.

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Okay, so what? Tell me something about using it….

A few months ago, when engaged in ne waza (ground grappling) randori, or “rolling” as my GJJ practicing friends, training partners, and sons like to call it; I realized the Shishin Takuma ryu jujutsu kata were the antithesis of making grappling agreements. This was a very big “Doh!” after 20 years of (not enough) practice.

These (not really) unarmed kata seem to be stylized and are difficult for us bigger lumbering types. The knee pains begin with the starting positions of seiza and “sagamai” or other kneeling evolutions including or similar to tatehiza and iaigoshi.

From there, the movements are meant to be sudden, light, and avoiding. The attacking hand positions are training for being attacked with weapons including a tanto or other type of hidden blade. The grabbing motions are meant to hold or distract you for being sublimely “shanked” or stopped from accessing your weapons.

 “Ukimi”, meaning floating body, is to be learned for the movements and management of an attacker….or for an attempted arrest relationship.

So what happened? I started to think about all the ways those katas taught me to “not be grabbed”, to “not be stabbed”, and to “not agree” to grapple. Of course, if you get caught by a good grappler, ground fighter, or jiujitsu guys like my sons… well you better be able to pass the guard or reverse a mount.

But…what if…I could use what I have been learning to move differently, play a different “chess” game than before, and take that matrix of movement from “olden time samurai” to keep out of the mangle? What if I breathe and move a little slicker than before because I learned a bunch of what seemed like difficult and awkward kneeling positions that allowed for in-between movements that are hard to follow?

I moved to not connect, by getting-closer-not-avoiding and letting the other guys get sweaty. I worked on getting out of the way from kneeling and prone, instead of swapping guards. Now… a lot more work ahead with the guys in the dojo. I’ll probably get a lot of it wrong until I get it right. Come join us if this kind of thing is maybe for you.

 Ah so desuka,  sensei. Domo arigato gozaimasu! I think so very much!

When I first met Kuroda Tetsuzan sensei over 20 years ago, he had just arrived to teach his first seminar at the Dojo of the Four Winds. He gave each of us attending a copy of a handwritten treatise on the “theories” that he would begin to teach us. This information is held dear by those of use who received it, and what followed from that information and the following days of training became the crack to the door of understanding kata as taught in koryu….as taught in Shinbukan…as we came to practice it in our Nami ryu kata.

“Real fighting changes endlessly” was the phrase that released me from the bondage of trying to understand kata as a drilling system for what to do situationally. Situations that never really showed up “in a fight”. I came to understand that the bunkai of my karate training was no longer something I needed to struggle with, and that the flowing Korean hyungs I learned earlier in life had more depth in them than what I had accessed.

Those initial one and two person kata were more choreography in my limited understanding, yet a good base for beginning to learn coordinated movement. That early practice and learning opened me to a search for meaning that I often found easier to see as pattern conditioning.

The quandary of these movements eventually took me to search out the paradoxical interactions that I experienced in the truly adept practitioners I have always been lucky to find on my path. These were the folks that were different than what my very special teacher Big Dave described as “wind dancers”.

Kata as a training system became deeper, principle developing, and formed a new codex for movement, and eventually how I changed (and continue to change) who I am in the context of kenjutsu. The context of kenjutsu, became with guidance, the purpose of jujutsu and the skillsets that we incorporate into our Aiki Heiho.

Further down the decades, Kuroda sensei described the evolution of what he was teaching us, with the phrase “at first you cannot move”. That taught me that there is never an end in sight. Williams sensei keeps getting better with a compass pointing to “strive forward”.

Coming to understand our Principles of Nami ryu, beginning with Williams sensei’s teaching that we do not “contest for space…” has allowed me to stop trying to survive kata practice through winning; instead, I can focus and become more critical about my precision.

In turn, when practicing waza, pattern drilling, sparring, or just working on my understandings of movement, I now have the opportunity to question how the katas are working in me, instead of how they can work on someone else.

Sanrin Mountain Dojo starts every week off with a topic, and/or Principle, that we focus on. Our Mokuroku is followed, and sometimes what we are studying is the training for a specific Principle of our art. This week we focused on “Combat Intimacy”.

What does that mean for us?….for me? Well, first off, my students and kohai in Nami ryu Aiki Heiho will teach me more that I can hope to teach them. This is the reason for our dojo in Flagstaff, Arizona. I have taken keppan and owe back what I have learned and need to continue practicing.

The “Way is in Training”, and skills are all perishable. After 47 years of training, I tend to forget, unless I have someone do something wrong that someone once (who we foolin’? …. always more than once…) corrected me on. Helping us stay “evergreen” is one of the reasons we have mokuroku, a listing of the relationships that remind us to always learn by constant practice and relearning of the basics of our art.

Our focus on “intimacy” this week was on some of the ground and close “grappling” aspects of jujutsu and kenjutsu. Yes, even swords get close, although generally, they allow for not getting as close.

On Saturday we took the relationships that allow for the quick drawing of a sword from the saya and saw how just that movement can foster the other party’s movement. The closer the better, as a magnification of the effect, happens with the closest direct connection and body movement that is generated without tension.  We often refer to that as “soft”, but other words like: “pliable”, “flexible”, and “aiki” refer to this connection. We work on breath a lot, as the fuel to the engine that releases tension.

Earlier in the week, this combat intimacy was explored when we studied the entry and applications of hadaka jime, which is often referred to as a “rear-naked choke”. Turning in to a choke, getting closer, is one of the counterintuitive applications of defending and mitigating this very dangerous relationship. Another martial artist of note recently suggested remembering this with the phrase: “always face your problems”.

Speaking of choking and intimacy, everyone should know the “Heimlich Maneuver” as well. I learned it first when getting my Boy Scout First Aid Merit Badge at about the time I started learning martial arts. I believe Self Defense starts with personal health and the safety of ourselves and others

Want to learn more about this topic? Reach out through the contact form so we can arrange to get you started in training for a lifetime.

Written by: Jim O’Connell

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