A Year in Review: 2025
This year began with wide horizons: a plan to expand our jujutsu coverage, deepen our editorial and historical writing, and finish a new book. While not every target was fully met, the year proved foundational. The work we completed, and the work we set in motion, positions the chronicle for an even stronger year ahead.…
Shuhari: When Do We Know We Are Progressing?
After spending some time within the martial arts, multiple terms start to appear more often during one’s research and conversations. Such terms begin to define what certain concepts mean or where techniques originated, or even how one should approach newer students. One such term, spoken by many high-ranking practitioners, is shuhari, or stylized as shu-ha-ri,…
Omoto-Ryu Kami-Jutsu: Spirit/Divine Art by Michael Martin
In the early 20th century, martial arts were viewed primarily as practical tools for self-defense or military applications. However, Onisaburo Deguchi, the charismatic leader of the Omoto-kyo spiritual movement, recognized that martial arts could serve as much more than that – a tool to cultivate spiritual awareness. He understood that martial arts, such as Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, held within…
Interview with Dutch Aikidoka Natanja den Boeft: International Student of Shizuo Imaizumi
When a dancer discovers aikido, the meeting point of art and budo can lead to something profound. For Natanja den Boeft, that encounter began in a Freiburg, Germany dance studio in 1986, where ki training was introduced as part of her dance education. Completely intrigued, Boeft found herself training aikido and later learning from Shizuo…
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Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 