![]() In Part 1 (click here to read), I detailed my personal training history, my credentials, and my teachers. Now let's address the next area of contention, my lineage, and specifically that of my current teacher, Steven Hatfield. It is often pointed out that in the last decade, we have made adjustments to the history sections of our websites detailing where the arts of American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu and American Jidokwan Tang Soo Do come from. On both sites, there is a disclaimer that states: "DISCLAIMER: The information contained above has been compiled from years of research and training. It is accurate to the best of our knowledge and verification, however as many of the events listed above pre-date the current administration's involvement in the organization we can make no guarantees as to its completeness. As we continue our study into the history of our art, new information regularly becomes available. Whenever new information becomes available, we will make it public so as to present the most accurate and complete account of our history as possible." Put into plain terms, I began studying with Hatfield in 2012, long after these systems were established. So firstly, I can only go by what he tells me and if you know him at all, information is earned. To my knowledge, he has never deliberately lied or mislead me, but it has also taken years of dedicated study to get the entire picture. Second is that his instructors were the same way, and considering both passed away while he was still relatively young, there are a lot of holes he himself simply doesn't know and needed to research. ![]() Let's first address the art of American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu, founded by Hasaka Yutashi. The first, and really only, objection to the art comes from the fact that there are no legal records of a "Hasaka Yutashi" living in California when Hatfield did, let alone in the archives of Daito Ryu Kodokai from which we claim our art is derived. We have been upfront in that Hasaka Yutashi was not his birth name or even his legally changed name. It is an assumed name that he took later in life for personal reasons, and it is not my place to share more than that. He has since passed away, and has no bearing on the future of American Yoshinkan. Any mention of him in the history section of our website or elsewhere is simply to document where the art comes from. Hasaka Yutashi is certainly not the first person in history to change their name. Names convey and create meaning, and changing one's name often is due to a complete reshaping of their identity. One prominent instructor that comes to mind is Salahuddin Muhammad, who I have had the pleasure of working with as well back in 2014. Over the course of his life, he has been also known as Ed Smith, Ed Castillo and Tanemura Akahisa. None of that takes away from the skill level he has or his credibility as a martial arts instructor. In fact, I believe his instructor Okazaki Shuji at one point also changed his name to Tanemura Katsumi. Muhammad also is very private about Okazaki's training history, only sharing pictures and scrolls with direct students. Two other practitioners that I know of personally who have changed their names are a Shotokan instructor named Ronnie Burgess, who went by "Yamashita" until his passing, and a Goju Ryu instructor named Michael Wayne, who now goes by "Kenjiro Ashida." On previous versions of Hatfield's bio, he has also credited Hasaka Yutashi as one of his Goju Ryu instructors, with no mention of American Yoshinkan until I started training with him. Hatfield's focus in the martial arts has always been Karate, with Judo and Aiki Jujutsu being put on hold until I came around and pushed to learn them, so of course his bio at the time is only going to focus on Karate. Under his birth name, which again is not my place to share in accordance with his family's wishes, Hasaka Yutashi to the best of our research was a student of Horikawa Kodo until the latter's death in 1980. However, let's pretend for a moment that Hasaka never existed. My teacher is Steven Hatfield, and he is who passed the art of American Yoshinkan down to me. There has been more than enough evidence shared to support my claim as the current Soke of the art. For those who know anything about the aiki arts, it is a deeply held belief that one cannot develop internal skills without direct transmission from a qualified instructor. There is no debate on whether or not we have aiki, so to say that Hasaka never existed is to admit both Hatfield and I obtained these skills through osmosis. If the martial arts community would like to exalt us as geniuses that hacked internal power instead of the more likely, and true, story that Hasaka was who we said he was, I guess that's alright. That doesn't change the pictures hanging in my school of him, or the files I keep archived documenting his training that are readily available to anyone that visits the hombu dojo. ![]() Now let's come to the subject of William Sirbaugh and American Jidokwan. The first thing I'd like to address is the picture we have originally shared as Sirbaugh, but have since learned it is not. This image first came to us in January 2018 through a relative of Sirbaugh, and Hatfield subsequently sent it to me. Having no reason to question the validity of this image, we shared it. Once learning that the individual identified as Sirbaugh is actually someone else, it was promptly removed with our apologies. As stated, it has never been our intention to mislead anyone and as we learn more about events that happened quite literally before our entry into martial arts (and possibly even our births), we update what is publicly available in order to be as accurate as possible. ![]() Did William Sirbaugh train in Ohio Jidokwan under Curtis Herrington, alongside Al Fuzy? Yes. This has been confirmed by Herrington's daughter when she stated that Sirbaugh was a very common name in their household. The fact that she later recanted when becoming the target of harassment is irrelevant, and should only speak to the level of depravity that our detractors will reach in order to "prove" their narrative. She would have no reason to simply make up the story of remembering Sirbaugh when asked in the first place if it wasn't true. That said, we truly don't know for how long he studied. For all we know, it could've been anywhere from 1 class to 20 years of training. Regardless, he created the art of American Jidokwan Taekwondo (later renamed to American Jidokwan Tang Soo Do) and passed the art down to Hatfield. Karl Marx, founder of Keichu-Do Karate (Cajun Karate), had no documented training whatsoever prior to founding his system, and yet to this day his system lives on in his son Victor Marx, and his other students including Michael McGann, founder of Wa-No-Michi Ryu Karate. Students of Fuzy have tried to claim that there was no mention of American Jidokwan anywhere in Hatfield's bio or site prior to Fuzy's passing in 2015, and that we have tried to hijack their system. This screenshot from July 15, 2011, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, already lists Patrick Justice as a 6th Dan in American Jidokwan (albeit misspelled as American Ji Bo Kwan) under Hatfield. So to say we simply popped up in 2015 after Fuzy passed is simply not true. Regarding Patrick Justice, much has already been written (click here and click here to read), so there is no need to rehash it. He is no longer a member of any organization Hatfield and I belong to, he holds no valid rank under us, and to the best of our knowledge is completely retired from martial arts. Hatfield and I continuously and strenuously abhor all forms of violent and sexual crimes, and do not support or condone such behavior in any way. ![]() Back to the dispute with Fuzy's students. The simple truth is that both Hatfield and I are certified representatives and international masters of the World Taekwondo Jidokwan Federation in Korea. In a debate on whose Jidokwan organization is legitimate, certification from the World Headquarters of the art has to count for something... Our American Jidokwan Association is an official branch of the WTJF in Korea, and that cannot be disputed. ![]() And lastly, we come to the subject of our Judo lineage under Jack Stern. Jack is certainly another controversial figure in the martial arts, but his footprint on Judo in America cannot be ignored. He opened his Paja Dojo in New York in 1960, where he would host numerous prominent instructors from all arts, including Naraki Hara (Hakko Ryu and Goshindo Kempo), Mas Oyama (Kyokushin), Bong Yul Shin (Judo), Sung Jae Park (Judo), and countless others. He was a member of Naraki Hara's famous demonstration team alongside Moses Powell and Ronald Duncan at the 1964 Worlds Fair. Later in life, he would relocate to South Florida and continue teaching until his death in 2012. Jack's personal training history included studying Judo at the Kodokan under Mifune Kyuzo. The picture below was supplied to us directly from the Kodokan captioned as "Mifune with his international students." Because we made the error regarding Sirbaugh's training picture, our detractors have tried to say that is not Jack circled in the picture above, but rather Harold "Hal" Sharp, and we're trying again to mislead people. A simple photo comparison of the two men quickly rules that out. The two men look nothing alike. However, Jack was convicted much later in life of Stolen Valor. He purchased a Congressional Medal of Honor and claimed it was his own, and was convicted in a Florida court. As someone who actively supports our military, to me this is an absolutely deplorable act and definitely changes my viewpoint on Jack as a person, but it doesn't change his Judo training or credentials (click here for copies of his rank certificates and ID cards). ![]() When it comes to those with criminal records, we can condemn the act without discrediting the individual. Jack had a record. Sirbaugh had a record. The current president of Jidokwan in Korea, Sung Wan Lee, has a record for using thugs in an attempted take over of the Korea Taekwondo Association, as well as his role in a 1987 attack on a Korean political party. Hapkido's Ji Han Jae served time for his role in the assassination of Korean President Park, and yet his Sin Moo Hapkido is one of the largest branches of Hapkido in the world. In Japan, the history of organized crime and underground nationalist organizations being tied to martial arts (specifically in both Judo and Daito Ryu, ironically enough) is well-documented. Takeda Sokaku, founder of Daito Ryu, tried to join the Black Ocean Society, an organization that tried to overthrow the Meiji government after the Satsuma Rebellion, and planned and executed violence against and assassinated foreigners and liberal politicians. Ueshiba Morihei, founder of Aikido, was introduced to Takeda through Yoshida Kotaro, a journalist with connections to ultra-nationalist organizations, and Onisaburo Deguchi (Ueshiba Morihei's religious mentor) was close with both Toyama Mitsuru (founder of the Black Ocean Society) and Uchida Ryohei (founder of the Black Dragon Society). The three of them (Onisaburo, Toyama, and Uchida) are pictured together below. Allen Beebe (who also goes by the names "Henjo Yuko" and "Genko Beebe" by the way) details the connection between ultra-nationalist and underground paramilitary organizations, and the leadership of Daito Ryu in his article here. This may or may not also be why we won't release more information on Hasaka Yutashi... Don't get me wrong. I am not saying this is something to be proud of, but it's simply to say that sometimes good people do bad things. That doesn't take away from their training, skillset, or the information they have to share. Even my mugshot has floated around the internet for awhile, but I was only arrested for driving with an expired license plate so I can hardly claim to be a dangerous criminal. That, of course, would be lying and fraud... All of this is to say that we will probably never know 100% about the people we train with, but to the best of our knowledge neither Steven Hatfield or I have ever deliberately lied, fabricated, or mislead anyone regarding where our training and information comes from. Do our forefathers have criminal records? Yes, but that does not make us criminals or crime supporters. Have we been wrong about dates and events in the past? Yes, but we continually make every effort to ensure our correctness and are not so conceited as to claim we are infallible. We cannot control the past, or the mistakes made by our predecessors. We can only hope to do better as we pass on the arts to our students, and that is something both Hatfield and I strive to do.
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Welcome to the official blog of Bret Gordon. Here is where I'll be posting articles relating to the politics of martial arts. For more style specific content, check out the following links:
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