Taikyoku? Is that like Japanese Tai Chi or some kind of Karate?

A number of questions often are asked about the naming of Taikyoku Budoryoku no Tanrenhō. Some folks have been part of the evolution of the original Taikyoku Kuzushi concepts as a study within an aikido context (as coined by Ellis Amdur here: https://kogenbudo.org/taikyoku-aikido/) through various seminars and outreach that took place over the last 20 plus years. I’m going to dig in a bit further and talk about the roots of that exercise and how they continue to inform the larger scope of Taikyoku Budoryoku no Tanrenhō as well as the language that’s been intentionally chosen and how it’s been framed.

First, let’s start with the term Taikyoku. In Japan, Taikyoku is defined as “Grand Ultimate” and largely used with the same kanji that in Chinese would be pronounced as “Taiji” - 太極. Now the first thing an astute person may realize is that the kanji we use in Taikyoku Budo is - 太曲, which is a bit of an intentional pun or play on words meaning “Great Themes”. The first notable thing is that firmly baked into our lineage is a bit of irreverence and an odd sense of humor. The second is a wider acknowledgement of our roots in the Japanese arts, with a bit of a reframing to a broader grouping of ‘great themes’, while still pointing to the ontology of terms that is a bridge to studies found in Chinese arts, and those that have may be used differently in other Japanese arts.

The original framing of the Taikyoku Kuzushi - borrowing the “great themes” principles and applying them to how they impact Kuzushi - often described as that moment of seizing the opponent’s balance. In a greater sense, it can also describe the moment where you direct or manifest your own posture, strengths, position, or stance in a way that creates an advantage or power differential between yourself and another. This theme is important in a martial arts context (more irreverence - “It’s over, Anakin, I have the high ground”), but also has carryover to martial sports; Kuzushi is a prerequisite to many techniques in Judo; Brazilian Jiujitsu often teaches “position before submission”.

Since Taikyoku Kuzushi was first introduced to me in an aikido context, there were some physical rules established - such as ‘always maintain three points of contact’, ‘there is no turning away without first entering in to establish contact’, etc.. As training deepened over time and these concepts moved from having to program them into the basic set of techniques to delve into the realms of subconscious and unconscious responses to stimuli, the overlap between these approaches to physical training and the realm of what’s often described as “internal martial arts” training started to become more apparent. More details on that in a later article, but from my standpoint, even internal training is still “physical” training, but we’ll get to that.

Over time, the physical scaffolding on which the Taikyoku Kuzushi hang took clearer shape. These core movements along the vectors of vertical, horizontal, spiraling up, spiraling down, and to a point in space ( Taikyoku Kuzushi example) - formed a physical lexicon or even language baseline that could be expressed in many different conversations or contexts; Solo drills, Paired practice, Stand-up, Clinch, Ground, etc.. This concept and expanded fleshing out of principles, then training in multiple settings, including aikido, BJJ, boxing, led to the initial formation of the Taikyoku Budo concept.

Over the last ten years, each of the next generation of concept founders from Ellis Amdur’s original framing has been pursuing their own specialties of practice across classical martial arts and modern combat sports. My own practice over the last ten years has focused on personal training and empowerment - particularly in a world where the demands of building a traditional family dynamic (including special needs), plus building an executive level career in technology, plus continuing to develop the concept of Taikyoku Budo, has led me to focus on the aspects of body development, personal training, and empowering yourself to be the best YOU that you can be in order to show up for yourself and those that depend on you.

As such, the Taikyoku Budo framework has been expanded and fleshed out for my personal practice - both in order to document the work I’ve put in, the lessons learned, and add to the hierarchy of the framework and knowledge base. After discussions with Ellis, the personal training and conditioning aspects of Taikyoku Budo will be classified as Taikyoku Budoryoku no Tanrenhō - 太曲武道力の鍛錬方 (Taikyoku Budo’s Power Training Method). This special subsection really allows the focus on building personal capabilities through classical methods, as well as modern approaches to strength and conditioning.

The knowledge base and articles here will be covering the overall framework of Taikyoku Budo, the ontologies, methodologies, and components that will be released as “open source” content for adoption, review, and further collaboration. There will also likely continue to be “inside” work to flesh out further aspects as well.

Watch this space for more in 2025 and beyond. If there are specific topics or questions, shoot me a note on the site or any of the updated social links.