The true measure of an instructor isn’t his own skill level. It’s the quality of his students. Watching these three black belts in American Yoshinkan Aiki Jujutsu reminds me just how proud I am of the people I get to teach. Their skill, discipline, and dedication speak louder than anything I could ever say. Keep setting the standard!

Internal martial arts (such as Aiki Jujutsu, Taijiquan, Baguazhang, and Xingyiquan) are often spoken of in the same breath as health and longevity. Yet few understand why these arts produce health benefits, or what "internal" truly means. At the root of their transformative effects are three major pillars: kiko (breathing exercises), naiko (isometrics), and aiki taiso (mobility exercises). These are not empty rituals of stretching and breathing, but profound disciplines that literally reshape the human body and nervous system from within.

The story of Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu, one of Japan’s most influential martial traditions and our parent art, cannot be separated from the turbulent political and spiritual climate of the early 20th century. It was an age when the boundaries between religion, politics, and organized violence were porous. Military officers, secret societies, spiritual sects, and criminal networks all operated in overlapping worlds, bound by shared ideals of loyalty, discipline, and devotion to the Emperor.

Daito Ryu was formalized by Takeda Sokaku during Japan’s transformation from feudal isolation to imperial power. Many of his students came from military or nationalist backgrounds. For them, martial arts training was not sport or self-improvement; it was the embodiment of national strength and spiritual destiny.

This mindset found natural allies among the ultranationalist movements of the time. Groups such as the Gen’yosha (“Dark Ocean Society”) and Kokuryukai* (“Black Dragon Society”) blended patriotism, espionage, and criminal enterprise. They sought to expand Japan’s influence across Asia through covert operations, political violence, and street-level intimidation with ties to the yakuza. Their members included former samurai, military officers, and organized-crime figures who saw themselves as “patriotic outlaws.”

Walk into many traditional dojo and before class begins, you will hear the command for "mokuso!" The room grows quiet. Students kneel in seiza, close their eyes, and allow their breathing to slow. To outsiders it might look like a ritualistic pause, but for the martial artist, mokuso is one of the most powerful tools of training. It is not just about calming down before practice. It is about cultivating a state of mind that connects body and spirit, conscious and subconscious, intent and action.

The word mokuso 黙想 is composed of two characters:

• 黙 (moku) meaning "silence" or "quiet,"
• 想 (so) meaning "thought" or "contemplation."

​Together, they point toward silent reflection, or inward meditation. Unlike some forms of seated meditation meant to last for hours, mokuso in the dojo can be only a few breaths. What matters is not the time spent, but the quality of awareness achieved.