"Senso ryu" Aikijutsu/ Theodore Hanulak

[Devon Smith]

Hi folks,

I've been asked about an Aikijutsu/Zen school in Indianapolis, Indiana USA, and in trying to look into the details, I've run into a roadblock.

Does anyone recognize the name "Enio Sotou Roshi" in regards to MA or Zen? The words soto and roshi make sense to me regarding Zen, but I don't understand the use of the terms in a name. Web search has yielded nothing other than what's posted on the school's page. This is a person who passed away in the '90's who taught Aikijutsu & Zen in the USA.


I checked for previous threads and found this, but I haven't any more recent info.

Thanks in advance!

[Walter Kopitov]

I have been trying to get more information about this school also. It seems that his main teacher was Behran, and then Hanaluk trained with "Enio Sotou Roshi" for a short time I'm guessing under 3 years. Hanaluk had a club for his school on Yahoo and when I had asked for more information I was told to see him at his dojo and he would answer me. Since then he closed that club and the other he had on zen. In my opinion he has been exposed to Aikijujutsu but doesn't have legitimate instruction in the art. It would be nice if he responds with some evidence, I know I would if some one was asking about my background.


Walt

[Nathan Scott]

Fair enough. I'll invite him over to discuss his (and his instructors) credentials, etc.

Regards,

[Nathan Scott]

I just got off the phone with Mr. Hanulak, and he stated that he has no interest in discussing anything on any of the internet discussion boards. He apparently has found them all to be rude, and invited us to speak freely about him as we like.

He also invited those interested in finding out information about him to call him or email him directly. I couldn't find his email address, but his phone number is: 317-789-0179

Mr. Hanulak was a bit defensive when I asked for him, so you may want to skip any niceties and state your purpose up front. It sounds like he receives these kinds of calls pretty often.

Oh well, where were we?

[Walter Kopitov]

Mr. Scott since you have spoken with him, did he give you any information at all? Do you think he will give any info if I call?

Walt

[Nathan Scott]

Yes, he said he'd answer any questions I had, but that he wasn't interested in going online. HE had mentioned the Budokai board, so if that was one place he had gone, I can only imagine the reception he must have gotten.

I didn't ask him any questions because I am not personally all that curious about him, especially on my dime. I gave him a polite invitation to come participate, and he declined. If he is not willing to publicly discuss his art and crendentials some place, then a private discussion of the same would be useless, since it would not be documented.

Feel free to contact him, and if you discover anything of interest that he does not mind being posted publicly, write it up in this thread.

[Nathan Scott]

Hello,

I forgot to update this thread. Mr. Hanulak called me back the day after I called him to apologize for being abrupt with me. He mentioned that nobody had called him yet to discuss his art or credentials, so there must not be a sincere interest in finding out.

We talked for a bit, but there is nothing really worth mentioning here.

Just thought I'd let you all know,

[Chuck.Gordon]

Anybody know anything about Senso Ryu Aikijutsu, ?

http://www.aiki-jutsu.com/

Just curious ...

Chuck

[THREADS MERGED. NS]

[Arman]

I don't have any personal knowledge regarding this style or its practitioners. Their history, however, as described on their web site, sounds somewhat dubious. They claim some tangential relationship to Daito-ryu, but they do not specify when, where or for how long.

I have no idea if their founders name is listed on any of Takeda S.'s ledgers, or if he is listed on any of Takeda S.'s students lists.

There apparently doesn't seem to be any substantial information on their web site regarding the lineage of the school.

I don't want to dimiss something without more information, but I have to say that their own web page doesn't provide enough information for a serious practitioner to determine the reliability of their claims.

I would be quite suspicious.

Sincerely,
Arman Partamian
Daito-ryu Study Group
Maryland

[Walt. V Kopitov]

There had been a couple of threads discussing him. If you do a search you should find out more. What I remember is that he was invited to discuss his art here but he turned it down.
I don't think he can connect his art to Daito-Ryu, his main instructor had been a Mr. Behran (sp?). That's all I remember.

Walt

[Brently Keen]

As far as I have been able to determine there is absolutely no connection at all between Daito-ryu and the so-called "aikijutsu" arts of Mr Behrens or Mr Hanaluk.

Mr Behrens used to frequently appear in Korean TKD magazines. While I've never met him, from his magazine articles and books he reminded me of a cross between Frank Dux and Fredrick Lovret for some reason. F.O.S. if you get my drift.

Brently Keen

[MarkF]

I think I get your drift, Brently, and would have to agree (FOS). Seems there is a little karate and/or KK, some judo "Using your opponents strength against him" as the latter is a quote from the site, and an "Everything is Zen" attitude.

Not only couldn't he connect it to DR, I doubt he can connect it very well with aikido or anything aiki, even with the two pics of "kotegaeshi" type locks/throws.

It does seem to be, in the beginning, some striking techniques, some judo/aikido throws, and lots of breathing and meditating (takes up lots of class time, if you get my drift).


Mark

[Dan Harden]

Senso Ryu Aiki-jutsu? As in The "War" school of the art of Aiki?
It answers its own question.


I love the new international forums. Sooner or later everyone learns to read and comprehend. It makes the oxymoron art names and crazy lineages self-evident. Even the most die-hard loyal student eventually has their eyes opened.

"War" Aiki-jutsu
"Combat" Judo
Ya gotta love it
It's like all the idiots who try to validate their efforts by claiming some training time with SF. Anyone who has spent time with SF will tell you their hand to hand is no better or worse than any other similar cross section of the populace. It's all about hardware and mindset.

The "War" school of the art of Aiki? eeh gads! How men love to dream.

Dan

[Chuck.Gordon]

Hmm. Interesting comments. I don't personally know Hanulak (despite us both being in Indy and me having invited him to seminars at my place) and have never taken time to watch his classes, but a couple of my students have. When I first heard about him, I was thrilled that some traditional budo was coming to Indy, and we did, in fact, exchange notes a few times, but never got together.

Then I found his website. I remember having been contacted by Behrens some years ago, exchanged a few notes with him, too. He seemed like a nice guy, very sincere. Not, however, my cup of tea at all, at all ...

The thing that piqued my interest in Hanulak is that he fist offered to sub-let space in his dojo for my club. A kind offer, but one I declined due more to locale than anything else. He seemed okay, friendly and sincere. So, I included him in a local budo mailing list I use to keep folks informed about seminars, clinics and visitors to my place. After a few such notices, he asked (not impolitely, but not particularly friendly either) that he be removed and that I not bother him again. No problem. I complied and haven't communicated with him since then.

About that time, I picked up a new student who had visited Hanulak's dojo but had decided to come train with me instead.

Seeking some answers to his questions, I peeked back in on the www.aiki-jutsu.com website and was interested to see the changes that had occured.

I was curious about one particular background (on the dojo location and [hoto menu pages, it's still there as of today, BTW) and asked a Japanese-speaking friend to take a look. He said it appears to be a copy of a Daito Ryu menkyo.

More recently, my wife, a certified massage therapist with a growing practice here, was contacted by one of Hanulak's students because she said on her website (www.katsujin.com) that she worked on martial artists quite a bit. He extended a tentative offer to bring her in to their dojo and have her give a few clinics on budo-specific massage techniques. We both thought that was a grand idea, but (possibly after he found out she belonged to my dojo) he stopped contacting her.

Hopefully, that was a case of loss of interest or of finding some other avenue, rather than because she's part of my group.

Back to Hanulak. I've done some research, largely because some folks in the area have asked me about him. I can't find anything anywhere about the Enio Soto Roshi he refers to, except for a few hits on a few Hispanic individuals named Enio Soto (one was an insurance salesman, nice guy, but no martial arts experience a'tall).

Behrens, aside from his books, some of which are, um, quite odd, seems to have sort of disappeared as well. He used to have a fairly extensive website but I can't find anything about him except for the books these days.

I also couldn't find anything about any Senso Ryu existing pre-Hanulak or maybe Beherns, aside from the word 'senso' meaning battle. One reference I did see was the word 'senso' used to describe the daily grind of commuting in Tokyo.

It's also been my experience that aiki systems, especially the really traditional jujutsu stuff, has far less to do with Zen than Shinto or esoteric Buddhism. But thats a minor point, really. Not sure, but isn't there some governing body that oversees and deals with Zen practice? Or can anyone just set up a zendo and start teaching?

Very curious. Again, thanks for the comments!

Chuck

[Greg Jennings]

Originally posted by MarkF
Not only couldn't he connect it to DR, I doubt he can connect it very well with aikido or anything aiki, even with the two pics of "kotegaeshi" type locks/throws.

It does seem to be, in the beginning, some striking techniques, some judo/aikido throws, and lots of breathing and meditating (takes up lots of class time, if you get my drift).

From the glossary and the MPEGs, I'd say that someone, somehow or the other, borrowed a good deal of the school's nagewaza from mainline Aikikai aikido. There are even some obvious similarities of terminology and execution to my own branch. I'm not saying it got there through a student/teacher relationship, mind you. It could have come from a book, seminar or whatever.

If you're interested in details, feel free to e-mail me.

Best,