DAITO-RYU 101

Daito-ryu aikijujutsu is definitely not the world’s most popular martial art. It’s not even close.

However, it is one of those mystical Asian parent arts that everyone seems to have heard of. How often have you witnessed a writer or instructor claiming, “Our art is a modern version of aikijujutsu,” or “This wrist-escape technique comes from aikijujutsu”?

In actuality, relatively little is known about daito-ryu aikijujutsu — other than the fact that its high-level techniques have a reputation for speed and effectiveness. Yet from this system are said to have evolved aikido, hapkido and judo, according to some researchers. This alone makes daito-ryu worth investigating.

In this article, Seigo Okamoto, a daito-ryu aikijujutsu from Japan’s Saitama prefecture, and two of his top