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Yamantaka
30th June 2000, 15:53
Can anybody tell me something about a judoka and jujutsuka called Steven R.Cunningham( he has a site in the Internet called "THE WORLD OF JUDO AND JUJUTSU")?
Thanks for your help
Ubaldo Alcantara

MarkF
1st July 2000, 09:22
Bienvenidos, Ubaldo,
I, too, have been wondering a bit about this guy myself, and I even received email from someone who claims to know him, but not very well. His basic claims concerning judo are not outright lies, but I questioned his organizational claims.

I contacted the USJF, the USJI, and the USJA for basic information to back up his stated claims of rank in judo. After contacting the USJF, I received an email which states he is a member, but would not confirm his status of his dan rank (claimed to be 6-dan 'rokudan'), and politely referred me to the USJA. As for the USJF, his records only go back to 1992, and, from what I get from them, his claim of rokudan is not one from them, and indeed say his original rank with them to be shodan, but did not say he didn't have rokudan status with some other organization. I went to the USJA site by a link in the USJF page, and found him to be a member and indeed, his name is one the home page of that site. He does state that he is a board member of the USJA, an organization, personally, to me, is questionable in their ranking process. The USJI simply mentions his membership an "associate member (with any of these organizations, when one signs on, one must pick an associate membership, or "backup.)"

I am a little shy in believing advertisemnts from any organization, but, of the three, the USJA is the most lenient when it does come time to promote. If I were to compare a rokudan with the USJA with the USJF, I would say that the rokudan is equivelant to sandan in the Judo Federation. Mind you, both of these national organizations are under the umbrella of the Unite States Judo Incorporated, and all three are in the IJF (International Judo Federation), the oldest and most respected of all judo groups. Mr. Cunningham's website is at http://judo1.net/index.html . He also claims the same rank of 6-dan in a ryu of jujutsu and no one with whom I have communicated seems to have much knowledge of his claims as pertaining to jujutsu. Takagi ryu is the stated style of jujutsu on his "lineage" tree, and it seems there is a Takamatsu S. who may have begun this style, but, as I said before, I cannot confirm this. There may be, however, a link to something called the California Branch-Jiujitsu organization, as the judo history on his site can be found on the homesite of one Linda Gross. Her teacher was a man by the name of Sanzo Seki (nee Jack Haywood) who is said to have been a direct student of Prof. Kano. His jiujitsu (I was a student there, in the So.Ca. area for about a year) was mainly the "forbidden" waza of Kodokan judo. He passed away in 1998 so there is really no way to know if Mr. Cunningham was a student. Cunningham is a professor of economics and, as far as I know, has no title as such in regard to Asian or Japanese culture. He teaches judo out of a school called Ju nan shin Martial Arts Academy in Conneticut.

Anyway, that is what I have, and if anyone knows anything more, I am sure it would be of interest. Cunningham says that his history of judo is kuden (oral) and admits to many errors and omissions in his writing, at least on the Internet. Most of what I have read is easily culled from a few hours work online, but some of the errors are obvious and there is a footnote which admits to this. He thus far, has made ho corrections. Is this more than you wanted to know about Steve Cunningham? No? He regularly posts on Judo-L and I have been told he is the owner of that list.

Anyone with any comments is welcome to provide more, as the only glaring omission from his history is jujutsu and that he says he practiced with a teacher who was a direct student of Kano and has stated his history of judo as "oral." This seems slightly strange in that there are many ways to clarify the information, but does not seem to want to do so.

In my opinion, if he stated that he studied judo in Japan, the Kodokan is unforgiving when requesting any kind of information. If he indeed studied with anyone with the connections of his teacher, it would be interesting. He seems to be known to many these days, and I for one would like to verify any claims he has made.

I try to stay away from the politics of judo as what I have stated is from a few emails and a viewing of his website. That he is a member of these national groups, in no way says anything about his judo, only that he is judoka. If he did study at the Kodokan, I have not seen any proof, but then the Kodokan is not the "last word" on judo.

Yamantaka
1st July 2000, 22:16
[QUOTE]Originally posted by MarkF
[B]
I try to stay away from the politics of judo as what I have stated is from a few emails and a viewing of his website. That he is a member of these national groups, in no way says anything about his judo, only that he is judoka. If he did study at the Kodokan, I have not seen any proof, but then the Kodokan is not the "last word" on judo.


Yamantaka : It's really strange...Does anyone have more information on Cunningham?

2nd July 2000, 04:23
Please note there is no known relationship between myself and Steve Cunningham. However, I have been mistaken for him on a few occasions. We're both university professors and ranked in judo (although I'm only a meager nidan from the Kodokan in Japan). I've never even met Steve before. I'm sure others have mistaken him for me, too.

Sincerely,

Don Cunningham

Brian Griffin
2nd July 2000, 08:50
The following link will take you to the USJA website & a list of current members of their Board of Directors:

http://www.csprings.com/usja/bod.htm

"Steve Cunningham" appears fourth from the bottom of the list.

The following link will take you to the USJA website & a list of USJA teachers available to give judo clinics:

http://www.csprings.com/usja/clinicians.htm

On it, you will find Dr. Cunningham listed as a 6-dan.

You will also find his phone number, and an e-mail link.

I humbly suggest that those with questions about his background/lineage/rank/horsepower/chassis specifications might find the answers they seek in a very simple and direct manner:

Ask the man!

In my experience, he has always been gracious, polite, and forthcoming. You might even make a new friend.

Yours in Judo,

Brian P. Griffin

[Edited by Brian Griffin on 07-02-2000 at 01:36 AM]

MarkF
2nd July 2000, 12:28
Hi Don,
I had planned to state you are not connected to Steve R. Cunnigham but I completely forgot. My apolgies for this glaring omission.:(

Hi, Brian,
If you are signing on everytime you post, it is not necessary. There could be a "bug" as this is new software for E-budo, but I just wanted you to know that you are welcome. Just remember or keep your password available and that shouldn't be a problem, and you may even bookmark it if you so choose.

As I stated before, there seems to be an inordinate interest in Steve's claims and this is the reason I did a little (and I mean little) investigation. I thought ths may put an end to the questioning of his claims but I thought I should state exactly what I found in regard to all three organizations. I have no problems with it, and it is not because I didn't believe you, but because another was asking.

Anyway, you are welcom to E-budo.com and if you have any sources as to Steve's jujutsu claims, you may post them here or in the jujutsu forum. Thank you for taking the time.

Sincerely,