I have long had two dedicated websites for
Araki-ryu and for
Toda-ha Buko-ryu. My other activities in martial arts - training in modern systems, and writing and interviews that I've not published in book form - have led an orphan existence on my
business site. This has led to some interesting situations. For example, I was testifying as an expert witness in a deposition concerning a law enforcement interaction with a mentally ill man, and the plaintiff's attorney really didn't want to get into my expert opinion (which pretty well demolished their position in favor of the law enforcement officers). So he spent almost an hour asking me about martial arts described on the website. What was amusing is that I kept asking him how this was relevant, and he kept insisting it was.
At any rate, I'm starting to separate aspects of my work (and interests), and have set up two new websites. The first is called
武道用材木 BudouYouZaimoku . This website is all about wood - in particular, what woods are most suitable for impact weapons, such as bokken and jo. (I would certainly welcome new data. Please use the contact form on the website, if you have any information about any woods on the site, or if you have experience, positive or negative, with woods I've not discussed). The 2nd website is
KogenBudo 古現武道. I have always spent as much training time - current as well as past - with modern (gendai) martial arts as koryu. So this is a general site to highlight my interests. Any online writing I'll be doing on aikido and/or internal strength that will not be directed into book publication will go here. What I've also done is set up a blog, where I can publish all my martial arts related writing that I don't plan to put in a book. Furthermore, I'm soliciting articles from people I respect, concerning aspects of martial arts that intrigue me.
And I have placed an invitation on the site. If you have anything that you'd be curious about my thoughts on the subject (martial/combatives/etc)., send me an inquiry, using the contact form on the site (not here). If it's in my lane and really strikes my interest, I'll write a blog on it. In any event, I will respond to any such inquiry directly, even if I'm not inclined or able to write something substantive.
Ellis Amdur
