Hi, I just need some help with this school:

http://aikido.uwamartialartsclub.org/

It says Butokukai "aikijutsu", but both the site and some results and information I found after searching said it was aikido. Can anyone help me out on what it is, and the history behind it? I tried searching but no proper results.

Please reply as soon as possible. Thank you for your time.

- Mr Moogle

Well, personally I'd be extremely skeptical of an organization that has "aikijitsu" written across the top of their website, with the kanji for aikido right through the middle of it. That said, their cheif instructor is 7th dan, so it maybe worth checking out. Do you have any aikido experience? Without experience, it may be a bit difficult to differentiate between good and bad "aikido" "aikijujustu" or whatever. But I would ask them for a lineage. I would never enter a traditional MA dojo for serious training unless they had a traceable lineage to some major authority (O Sensei, for example), just as I wouldn't think it were worth my time to practice in a sporting martial arts school like an MMA school without some traceable lineage, like a winning competition record.

FWIW

Here is a video of the style's Grandmaster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBjvIqw2Uyo&eurl=

Here is two videos of Butokukai in competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQQ7HIN2GfQ&eurl=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHR98gZpMiw&eurl=

Hope this helps in forming your opinion of the school in a way.

I am also somewhat baffled by the Aikido kanji with Aikijitsu written right next to it. Especially since this style is headed by a native Japanese who is still based in Japan. Maybe this person put up the web site without his teacher's guidance.

I get the impression that by calling his school/style Butokukai, he has the goal of implying that perhaps his rank came from the DNBK. I doubt that, ot it would actually state that.

Check out the school. If you like it and can learn what you want to learn there then go for it. But look into the lineage and all claims made. Ask about the lineage, where that 7th Dan came from, etc. You can always come back here to ask more questions.

I'd follow Jim's advice. Ask some questions about rank, lineage, etc. and come back and we'll try to answer as best we can.


--Chris