Though starting Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu in 1994 under Roy Goldberg, Manny Jimenez has experienced martial arts since 1973. But Daito-ryu was different to where his previous training did not overly prepare him for what was Daito-ryu. Currently, Jimenez heads his Daito-ryu NJ school, teaching to all who enter. Today, Jimenez took some time to talk about his journey through Daito-ryu and how it is different from the previous martial arts he experienced. Images provided by Manny Jimenez.
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Welcome Jimenez Sensei! Thank you for joining us to discuss Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu!
Manny Jimenez: Thank you for having me here.
MAYTT: You began Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu in 1995 under both Roy Goldberg and Hayawo Kiyama. How did you come to find Daito-ryu? What continues to motivate you to train today?
MJ: I began training with Goldberg Sensei in 1994 and in 1995 I became a member of the North American Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu Kodokai under Kiyama Shihan. I believe that there is something for everyone in the art of Daito-ryu. The art is a complete martial art and, to use Kiyama Sensei’s words, “It is very deep.” What motivates me to keep training is the fact that I still don’t understand it all. I enjoy learning as much as I enjoy instructing.
MAYTT: How would you describe the training you experienced when you first began? In what ways have you seen Daito-ryu training change or evolve since you started?
MJ: When I first started training with Goldberg Sensei, it was very different from what I was used to in other styles or schools. It was not a commercial dojo. There was no guarantee that you were going to be able to join his dojo. It was in his house, and he did not accept many students. So, it was always a small group of us. Now that Goldberg Sensei has formed the Daito-ryu Kiyamakai, in order to grow the organization and spread the art, he has opened the training and increased the number of study groups so those that want to learn Daito-ryu Kiyamakai can. Goldberg Sensei has said many times that, “If you are willing to learn, he will teach you all he can.”
MAYTT: You have been a martial artist since 1973. In what ways did your previous experiences aid you in your introduction to Daito-ryu?
MJ: I began martial arts in 1973 when I was ten years old. I had the privilege to study many arts in those years. The most important lessons that helped me in my journey in Daito-ryu was patience and commitment. Even though I had some experience when I started Daito-ryu with Goldberg Sensei, there were a great number of challenges that I had to overcome. I had to recondition my body to be able to move and apply Daito-ryu techniques in the way Kodokai and Kiyama taught. The first few years were very frustrating. I even thought about not continuing my training in Daito-ryu. Something in my heart told me to stay with it, and I’m glad I did.
MAYTT: When did you begin teaching Daito-ryu? What was that experience like for you and how, if at all, did it help you better understand the art?
MJ: At first, I didn’t even consider instructing because I was so consumed by learning all I could. After I received my shodan, I started to notice that other students would ask me to help them with techniques, especially when I would travel with Goldberg Sensei to conduct seminars at other dojos. I did not officially start instructing Daito-ryu until I received the rank of oku-sandan (the rank between third and fourth dan) in 2007. As you instruct, you are reinforcing your own knowledge by having to reconstruct the techniques and explain the principles so others can see them more clearly and understand them.
MAYTT: Interesting. What were some of the factors in establishing your own study group? Since its founding, how have you achieved some of the goals you initially set out to accomplish?
MJ: I started my study group in 2013. I believe that I did achieve my goals by representing the art of Daito-ryu and my instructors in the best way I could by doing my best to keep the art pure. My second objective was to be able to train with all different types of people and body types. One very interesting aspect of Daito-ryu, especially our branch, is that the more people you are able to work with, the more your body learns. This is the reason why Daito-ryu takes a lot of commitment, hard work and the ability to learn from your mistakes. As I say to my students, “There is no such thing as a mistake. There are only learning opportunities.” Techniques don’t work on everyone the same way. Our job, through hard training, is to find out why.
MAYTT: You bring up “keeping the art pure.” Could you explain what you mean by that?
MJ: Daito-ryu is a specific art with specific principles and techniques. It was disseminated in a specific manner to specific individuals for certain reasons. As students, we are learning it as it was taught to those before us. As an instructor, I believe that we should honor that. Many instructors feel that they can add or change the art because they feel it’s missing something. Well, maybe it’s missing because you have not figured it out. Every time you step onto the mat, you’re showing respect, not just to each other but to all that trained before you. Learn it correctly. Teach it correctly. If you don’t know, go learn it. If you didn’t learn it, don’t teach it.
MAYTT: In establishing your own study group, what are some of the methods that you have used to attract students, or have you found that students seem to find you?
MJ: I’m on Facebook and I have a Web page Daitoryunj.com. I like it when people find me. I’ve been told that people have seen some of my videos and that’s the reason why they visited our school. I encourage anyone to look around and do research on different schools and come to our school to see if it’s a good fit for them. I have an open-door policy. Anyone can come to take a class or two.
MAYTT: Who do you feel would be a major contributor to spreading Daito-ryu in the United States? What about these individuals that separate them from their peers?
MJ: Any legitimate Daito-ryu school and instructor should be contributing to the growth of Daito-ryu in the US, regardless of if they have split off from a bigger organization or not. What matters is feeling the art from a qualified instructor and putting in the training to keep learning and progressing.
MAYTT: How much interaction have you experienced with Daito-ryu’s descendant art aikido and its practitioners?
MJ: I have had a great deal of interactions with aikido practitioners. Our organization has many members that have started their training with aikido and switched to Daito-ryu or some train in both. I myself have three students that have trained or still train in aikido. They would attend many of the seminars that Kiyama Sensei and Goldberg Sensei would conduct on the East Coast. And Goldberg Sensei still regularly holds seminars at aikido schools, both that have study groups and those that aren’t formally in Kiyamakai. On a recent trip to Japan for one of Goldberg Sensei’s seminars, I worked with a lot of aikido practitioners. They all seemed to get a lot out of experiencing Daito-ryu, even if it isn’t something they dive into more deeply.
MAYTT: In your opinion, why do you feel Daito-ryu may not be as popular as aikido or other martial arts in the United States?
MJ: That is a very good question! I remember Goldberg Sensei and I having this conversation years ago. The best answer that I can come up with is that Daito-ryu is a classical martial art. In any classical art, there is so much knowledge to learn to put into practice. It is not a fast-paced learning environment. A lot of people are looking for an art that they can move through quickly and with faster results. I believe that the subtleties of Dato-ryu are what usually holds people back and sometimes that creates frustration in the student. In Daito-ryu, you need to have “Nintai” – patience. A student needs to give themselves the opportunity to learn the principles, not just power through the techniques. The techniques aren’t the art. They are a vehicle for expressing the principles in your body.
MAYTT: If you were speaking with a person who had no knowledge of Daito-ryu, how would you explain the art to them? In the same conversation, how would you differentiate Daito-ryu from aikido?
MJ: The difference between aikido and Daito-ryu is really interesting. And of course, there are lots of different kinds of aikido, just as there are different kinds of Daito-ryu. I think at the very highest level they have a lot in common. But most people may see the difference in the movements of the techniques – the big circles in aikido compared to the smaller circles in Daito-ryu. I believe one of the differences is in the intent of both the person attacking and the person defending. As the person doing the technique in Daito-ryu, your intent/mindset isn’t to “blend” with the attack, it is to stop the attack before it even starts, as well as stopping any other attacks that may be coming by controlling the attacker’s center. It is usually described as a “crushing feeling” by the people receiving the techniques. Eventually, the techniques disappear and on the outside, it looks like you are doing very little. And for the attacker, the more they have a clear, committed intent in their attack (instead of just performing the movement of an attack), the more those principles in Daito-ryu are expressed and felt.
MAYTT: Where do you see Daito-ryu going in the next ten to fifteen years in the United States? What does the art’s future look like?
MJ: I believe that there are a number of very good, legitimate Daito-ryu schools in the US. As long as we all stay true to the art and not water it down or compromise it in any way, Daito-ryu will grow. People will see the beauty and the effectiveness of the art.
MAYTT: Thank you again for joining us, Jimenez Sensei!
MJ: It was a great conversation!
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